Federal Fusion Experiences and Federal Fusion vs Hornady Interlock

Which Bullet for Deer?

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S

Smith and Wesson

New member
I would like to hear people's experiences with Federal Fusions on deer. I have heard people say they sometimes blow up and are fragile, while others say they pencil right through and are too tough. So what say you? And would you prefer Federal Fusions or Hornady Interlocks? And lastly, how would you feel about using Fusions for elk?
 
I have used both the fusion and interlock in a few different calibers. They both get the job done with proper shot placement.

I have noticed that the Fusion makes a little more of a mess at close range than the interlock, but both have made a complete passthrough every time and have left plenty of internal damage on the deer's shoulder and vitals. I have never Elk hunted but I wouldn't hesitate to use either bullet on an elk. I would give the Fusion the edge because of more reliable expansion at lower velocity/longer range, and also because the Fusions have been more accurate in every rifle I've tried both types of ammo in. I've tried them both in .243, .270, .30-06 and .25-06. I reload now and use mostly Sierra or Nosler bullets, but Fusion was my ammo of choice before I started reloading.

My advice would be to shoot the one that is the most accurate in your rifle. The deer won't know the difference.

What caliber are you shooting?
 
I have put three Federal Fusion bullets into Antelope (from 125 to ~435 yards), and all of them exploded with no more than 6 inches of maximum penetration. There weren't even jacket fragments left, just dust.

On top of that, Every box of Federal rifle ammo that I've used in the last 10 years has had headspace problems ...some of them dangerous, some of them just massively annoying.

I've had Federal .243 Win ammo with the shoulder 0.080" too far forward (and impossible to chamber).
I've had Federal 8x57mm Mauser ammo with the shoulder 0.130" too short (dangerously short ...by over a TENTH of an inch).
....And everything in between.


Hornady's quality control, alone, would get my preference. But when I also consider the bullets, the Fusion goes out the window right off the bat.



Fusion for Elk? ....Not a chance. You'd be better off with sharp stick.
 
You do mean Inter-Lock, not Inter-Bond, right?

Because the SSTs / Interlocks are not bonded, whereas the Interbonds are bonded, and the Fusions are (at least in my understanding) bonded in some manner, core to jacket, if not in the same manner as Interbonds or Accu-bonds, etc. So might be an apples & oranges comparison, to an extent. I dunno.

check out these reviews:

http://www.reloadersnest.com/bullet_review.asp
 
I am suprised on all the hate on the fusion.
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When your "big game" bullet explodes like a sintered varmint bullet at 400 yards (where it's only doing 2,000 fps) and ruins 40 lbs of meat.... it tends to negatively impact your opinion of that ammunition. :rolleyes:
 
I have not used the Fusion on elk, but I have shot a 200 pound deer square in the shoulder at 20 yards with a 120 gr Fusion from a .25-06, and while it did make a mess, it did massive internal damage and penetrated completely through both shoulders, dropping the deer where it stood. I can't see how all these people are having so much trouble with them exploding on impact at 400 yards
 
When your "big game" bullet explodes like a sintered varmint bullet at 400 yards (where it's only doing 2,000 fps) and ruins 40 lbs of meat.... it tends to negatively impact your opinion of that ammunition
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This is really strange considering the other thread we had recently about fusion bullets not expanding at all. I'm wondering if there is really a quality control problem at the factory.
 
This is really strange considering the other thread we had recently about fusion bullets not expanding at all. I'm wondering if there is really a quality control problem at the factory.
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That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, considering how bad their QC is for the cases.
 
Never shot Federal Fusion period. Being a at Home Reloader those Fusion bullet aren't (as of yet) sold in bulk packaging to Home Reloaders. But I've shot a few deer with Hornady SP & FP bullets. Never once have I had a problem in the field with those bullets or even hear someone else complain of a problem. If I had to buy store bought ammo. No doubt my preferred would be Hornady over Federal. Pay a little higher price for Hornady brand ammo. But you get peace of mind knowing the bullet itself will do as advertized time after time. Federal Fusion brand. Frankly, I'm not convinced those bullets do as advertized.
 
Never shot Federal Fusion period. Being a at Home Reloader those Fusion bullet aren't (as of yet) sold in bulk packaging to Home Reloaders.
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If anyone has the desire to "roll their own" Fusions, the Speer DeepCurl is about as close as you can get. They are essentially a flat-base version of the boat-tailed Fusion bullet. It utilizes the same "electro-mechanical" bonding process as the Fusion. Speer and Federal are owned by the same parent company and many of Federal's lines of ammo use Speer bullets, so it only makes sense that Speer would be making the Fusion bullets. Why they don't offer them as a component, is beyond me.
 
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