Federal Fusion

NHSHOOTER · August 26, 2016, 01:04 PM

I just got done reading the ad on the back of Gunhunter magazine, not much except that this new bullet it "MOLECULARLY FUSED JACKET,PRESSURE FORMED CORE". What I need to know, are these projectiles available to the public or just on Fusion ammo?.

Clark · August 26, 2016, 01:17 PM

In 9-8-2014 I got (420) 338 cal 200 gr federal fusion bullets for $130 from a St Marks surplus deal.

I have not shot them nor cross sectioned them.

briandg · August 26, 2016, 03:05 PM

Let me point out that the fusion, as was reported once, is nothing at all but just another plated bullet. It has a swaged core (pressure formed) and a plated jacket (molecularly fused) and essentially it's creation is not even a tiny bit different from the speer, remington, or other plated rifle bullets. The only difference you will find is the design, such as shape and jacket thickness.

There are dozens, maybe hundreds of bullet types available, we don't even see the great german and other overseas brands. Federal has to create some buzz about their ammo. Is this genuinely any more effective than even 50% of what you can pick up? I don't know.

Quote:

It’s a radically different technology that radiates energy, empowers the predator and unleashes performance.

That sort of nonsense sort of sticks in my craw.

briandg · August 27, 2016, 10:33 AM

By the way, I don't believe that federal makes all of their own bullets. Some company probably makes those things. They have used bear claw, trophy bonded, nosler, lots of other brands, it's probable that this is actually manufactured by another company. They may be speer, or almost any company that has invested heavily in plating.

Dufus · August 27, 2016, 11:45 AM

Speer used to market the Deep Curl as their replacement for the Hot Cor. Speer guy told me that the Hot Cor was being phased out.

Since then, Speer removed the Deep Curl from the component list and they are now marketed as the Federal Fusion.

Longshot4 · August 27, 2016, 12:50 PM

Marketing words (Fusion) sounds high tec. A!

If you want a bullet to hold together. The Barnes tipped STX can't separate. Its 100% one piece copper.

briandg · August 27, 2016, 01:19 PM

That's correct, the hot core used to be a gilding jacket cup with a flux on the inside, and lead injected, but I've also read that they put fluxed cores in and ran the things through an oven to melt the cores. I don't buy the second part.

The new ones, the deep curl, were just plated bullets, no different than the gold dot. Properly formed cores were tumble plated. Internal skiving could be done by ridges on the core. after the cores were plated, they bullets would be run through several swaging operations to perfect profile and set up expansion characteristics, just like they do with gold dots.

munitions makers the world over are still kicking themselves that they came to the plated bullet game so late. Plated bullets date back to the power locked by remington, back past the sixties. We could have had gold dot pistol bullets back in the seventies. This whole thing could have happened in the eighties. I can pretty much guarantee that it costs a whole lot less, but R&D and startup would have been expensive. Operations would have been a piece of cake. A rifle bullet requires over a half dozen drawing and cupping procedures, then other steps related to jacket forming. With a plated bullet, you swage a core with great precision, plate until thickness of jacket is attained, then toss the slug into the machinery to form it.

There is a reason that a plated pistol bullet costs so little. I wonder if a plated rifle bullet like the fusion costs less than half of what a premium drawn and cupped bullet to manufacture.

August 26, 2016, 01:04 PM	#1
NHSHOOTER Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2012 Location: Concord NH Posts: 1,002	Federal Fusion I just got done reading the ad on the back of Gunhunter magazine, not much except that this new bullet it "MOLECULARLY FUSED JACKET,PRESSURE FORMED CORE". What I need to know, are these projectiles available to the public or just on Fusion ammo?.

August 26, 2016, 01:17 PM	#2
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	In 9-8-2014 I got (420) 338 cal 200 gr federal fusion bullets for $130 from a St Marks surplus deal. I have not shot them nor cross sectioned them. __________________ The word 'forum" does not mean "not criticizing books." "Ad hominem fallacy" is not the same as point by point criticism of books. If you bought the book, and believe it all, it may FEEL like an ad hominem attack, but you might strive to accept other points of view may exist. Are we a nation of competing ideas, or a nation of forced conformity of thought?

August 27, 2016, 10:33 AM	#4
briandg Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2010 Posts: 5,468	By the way, I don't believe that federal makes all of their own bullets. Some company probably makes those things. They have used bear claw, trophy bonded, nosler, lots of other brands, it's probable that this is actually manufactured by another company. They may be speer, or almost any company that has invested heavily in plating. __________________ None.

August 27, 2016, 01:19 PM	#7
briandg Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2010 Posts: 5,468	That's correct, the hot core used to be a gilding jacket cup with a flux on the inside, and lead injected, but I've also read that they put fluxed cores in and ran the things through an oven to melt the cores. I don't buy the second part. The new ones, the deep curl, were just plated bullets, no different than the gold dot. Properly formed cores were tumble plated. Internal skiving could be done by ridges on the core. after the cores were plated, they bullets would be run through several swaging operations to perfect profile and set up expansion characteristics, just like they do with gold dots. munitions makers the world over are still kicking themselves that they came to the plated bullet game so late. Plated bullets date back to the power locked by remington, back past the sixties. We could have had gold dot pistol bullets back in the seventies. This whole thing could have happened in the eighties. I can pretty much guarantee that it costs a whole lot less, but R&D and startup would have been expensive. Operations would have been a piece of cake. A rifle bullet requires over a half dozen drawing and cupping procedures, then other steps related to jacket forming. With a plated bullet, you swage a core with great precision, plate until thickness of jacket is attained, then toss the slug into the machinery to form it. There is a reason that a plated pistol bullet costs so little. I wonder if a plated rifle bullet like the fusion costs less than half of what a premium drawn and cupped bullet to manufacture. __________________ None.

August 27, 2016, 11:45 AM	#5
Dufus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2014 Posts: 1,965	Speer used to market the Deep Curl as their replacement for the Hot Cor. Speer guy told me that the Hot Cor was being phased out. Since then, Speer removed the Deep Curl from the component list and they are now marketed as the Federal Fusion.

August 27, 2016, 12:50 PM	#6
Longshot4 Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2014 Posts: 868	Marketing words (Fusion) sounds high tec. A! If you want a bullet to hold together. The Barnes tipped STX can't separate. Its 100% one piece copper.