Federal Fusion 30-06 165 grain

The Fusion bullets are made by Federal, in a proprietary process. The copper jacket is more like a plating, it is so thin. The idea is to build a bullet for deer of all sizes, not a tough bullet for really big game, and keep the ammunition costs low.

Federal is owned by ATK, which owns Speer and Trophy Bonded, both of whom have long experience with bonded core bullets.
 
The copper jacket is more like a plating, it is so thin. The idea is to build a bullet for deer of all sizes, not a tough bullet for really big game,
I have used Federal Fusion 180gn on wild Boar to good effect, I wouldn't call Wild Boar big game but I would say they are classed as tough ole b++++s.
 
Federal says some of its Fusion ammunition is for elk, which is pretty big game ( and very big deer ). They recommend it for boar and black bear.

What I was saying is that it is not like preceding bonded bullets with thick jackets and bases, such as the Swift A-Frame, Swift Scirocco, Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, Speer Grand Slam, and Nosler Accubond - all of which are much more expensive bullets, and the ammunition costs 2 to 2.5X as much as the Fusion ammo.
 
Reason for asking is I used them a couple of years back in eastern cape plains game. They flattened everything pretty much on the spot and the accuracy was superb for factory ammo.
I'm heading out again this year but am home loading my ammo and was wondering if I can buy the heads or something similar? The only difference is I have a kudu bull and an Eland bull in the mix this year. Any other bullet suggestions will be appreciated.
Im taking my Blaser R8 black with a 30-06 and 300 win mag barrel
Regards
Drew
 
I have not even tried the Fusion for deer, as I have so much factory ammo and handloads, but I see that they now have Fusion Safari for the .375 H&H, .458 WM, and .416 RM. The price of the .375 H&H was half that of the Federal Premium, so it got my attention, and researching a bit, I see that it has a much thicker jacket on it, so my guess is that the 180-gr for the .300 Win Mag does, too. Why don't you send an e-mail to Federal? The answer could be interesting.

Standard old faithful bullets have killed everything reliably. Appropriate bullet weight, velocity, shot selection and shot placement are still the top factors in clean kills. No Wonder Bullet makes up for goofing up on those.

Also, check some of the African sites. There are always going to be mixed results and opinions on everything from vanilla ammunition to the most expensive, from bullets blowing up to not expanding at all, but you can make up your own mind. And there are lots of folks here who have used all sorts of bullets from the R8 in .30-06 and .300 WM, so you might post in the Big Game thread to get some over here to respond.

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/federal-fusion-ammunition-for-south-africa.3797/
 
The Fusion bullets are made by Federal, in a proprietary process. The copper jacket is more like a plating, it is so thin. The idea is to build a bullet for deer of all sizes, not a tough bullet for really big game, and keep the ammunition costs low.

Federal is owned by ATK, which owns Speer and Trophy Bonded, both of whom have long experience with bonded core bullets.
I have sectioned some of these bullets. The same basic technology is used in the federal fusion and deer thug ammo as well as the now discontinued deep curl reloading projectiles. The jacket is actually pretty thick and as advertised completely bonded.
 
Reason for asking is I used them a couple of years back in eastern cape plains game. They flattened everything pretty much on the spot and the accuracy was superb for factory ammo.
I'm heading out again this year but am home loading my ammo and was wondering if I can buy the heads or something similar? The only difference is I have a kudu bull and an Eland bull in the mix this year. Any other bullet suggestions will be appreciated.
Im taking my Blaser R8 black with a 30-06 and 300 win mag barrel
Regards
Drew

The closest would havebe6en speer deep curl which are same as fusion projectile except have no boat tail. However they were discontinued as a reloading component. The fusionshave earned a good reputation for accuracy andperformance on a tight budget.
Have you considered the nosler accubond....
 
Of all the bullets I have used, the retrieved fusion bullets seemed the closest to look like out of a picture book. Weight retention was extremely good I thought (84% lowest and 94% highest). This was with 150gr 308. Distances between 20yds and 270yds.
Fusion ammo out of the box is just so hot and cold. Some batches hold under 1/2" others are more like 1,5".
edi
 
I don't think Fusion is a soft bullet. They seemed pretty tough to me. Too tough actually. I shot three smaller wild boars with 180 gr Fusion in 308 win. The effect was not impressive, they just ran along as if nothing has happened. I retreived only one of the three, after miles of tracking. Blood trails were very modest too. This all points to a tought bullet, which is designed for big game and it just doesn't open up enough on smaller game. Never used it again after this experience.
 
Since they can control the deposition of the copper, Federal can make the bullets not only of different lead alloys, but different copper thickness. So a 140-gr for a 7mm-08 can be optimized, while a 270-gr for a .375 H&H or a 180-gr .308 bullet can be tougher.
 
.30-06 or .300 Win Mag, Fusion, Interlock, CoreLokt, Gameking, Accubond, or whatever, the 180-gr bullets seem to be what are made for the bigger animals.
 
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