Federal Fusion Ammo

[slick814]

OK, this is a quick question. PLEASE, don't take what I'm saying as a complaint.

I shot a decent 8 pointer on opener. First time I'd used Fusion on a deer. He was quartering away, and I got a decent shot on him. A little high, but still good enough to bring him down, which it did.

Things is, when I was skinning it on Sunday, I noticed that the entrance wound was a LOT bigger than I'd have expected. Broke 2 ribs on the way in. But no real exit wound. There was a small hole near the front shoulder on the opposite side, right about where I expected the exit to be, but it was so much smaller than the entrance, it almost looked like I had shot him from the other side.

My question then, is this. Has anyone seen Fusion ammo break up inside? It was almost like the bullet had partially disintegrated while going through. If so, is it normal for it to do that? I've never seen this before with my 30-30.

Like I said, no complaints, it did the job quite nicely, I'm just curious if it was the angle of the shot that might've done that or if the Fusion bullets normally come apart like that.

Thanks -

[mrklean]

One of the guys i hunt with shot a doe with his 30-30 and the entrance hole looked like the exit hole and the exit was just a smaller hole but he was using core-lok, maybe its just the 30-30? Im not sure though

[DRH1175]

I used that ammo a few years back in my 30-30 The seemed to do a great job. I since started re loading and found a great load with the hornady interlock 170gr. How far did the buck go? if it did a good job and left a good blood trail i Guess I would not worry much. The 30-30 is one of my favorite under appreciated calibers for deer.

[fishingforester]

My Dad had a huge entry wound once using a Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and a more typical-sized exit wound. I can't remember if he had his '06 then or 300 mag, not important I guess. The bullet did its job and the deer did not go far. The Bear Claw has a pretty decent reputation of weight retention, so I don't think disintegration was the cause, but with no bullet to recover, it is hard to say.

[Tippman]

I used fusion's in a .270 to shoot two deer last year. Both deer went down quickly and the entry and exit holes looked as expected.

[huntnfish]

I shot a deer this year through both front shoulders and the holes looked like I would expect from that type of shot. I did shoot one with the Fusions that was quartering away and hit some ribs on the way in and left a huge hole. Like yours, I didn't have much of an exit but the deer never took another step. I have shot 6 deer with the Fusions and I haven't had to track any of them.

[Big-Al]

I have also experienced the larger entrance than exit. I did not have the blood trail on the two deer I shot with Fusions that I thought I should. Are they fragmenting or what? I did not find any fragments. It seems they are not doing what they are advertised to do. They did the job, but I may switch.

[huntnfish]

I did not find any fragments anywhere but I didn't find the bullet while butchering either. On the other deer I had a nice pass throughs with the holes looking like they should. On the deer that I had the huge entrance hole and not exit I am guessing the bullet was somewhere in the gutpile.

[slick814]

That's what I was thinking. The bullet is in the gutpile somewhere. He went about 40 yards or so, nice blood trail, it was just the entry and exits looked so odd. He was quartering away a bit, but still. I'll pretty much guarantee that it's not the .30-30. Been using it for as long as I can remember, and never saw anything like this.

I'm most likely going to stick with the Fusion, at least until this box is done, and maybe if I can bag more than one deer I'll have something to compare to.

Thanks for the repies, guys.

[huntnfish]

I would give it another try, Slick. They are the best bullet I have shot out of my rifle and I can't see myself trying anything else. If you have the same results on the next one please let us know.

[Jnelmark88]

I shot an 8pt last year with a 165 grain fusion out of a 308. The bullet seemed to blow up on impact, I couldnt find an exit hole at all. The deer was quartering away just like the one slick814 shot. There were little pieces of bullet in the chest cavity. The deer didnt go very far but I would be curious what would happen to the bullet if the deer was quartering toward you and you hit it in the front shoulder. I went back to the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw even though they cost more than twice as much.

[candiru]

I picked up a box (.308 150 gr) a couple of years ago. My gun shot 1" groups with them. I shot a deer and was happy. I picked up a couple of more boxes. They looked slighty different. A different color primer and no visible cannelure on the bullet. This new batch shot 4" groups. I tried a different lot number yet. The groups were OK but they shot 4" higher than anything else. I have no time for ammunition that does not have consistancy between lot numbers of the same load.

[Big-Al]

I too had 1" inch groups from the ammo, but if it is not performing like other bullets I have used when it hits.

[Powerstroke]

I'm assuming that the entry hole was so much more devastating because of the broken bones and the extra power it had on impact. I don't know. I've never checked it out that much that I was concerned about it.