Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Fusion on Elk?

I wanted experieced opinions on using the Fusion ammunition on Elk and moose

I realize they are "designed" for deer, and are relatively soft.

But if a guy used the 180 grain loads in a 30.06.................................????

Soft bullets do a great job as long as they hit soft tissue. The problem is when they hit a large bone.

Agreed. Any experience with the Fusions in 30.06? 180 grain?

I think you should ask the same question in a couple more forums . . . . .

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...new/1/federal-fusion-on-moose-elk#UNREAD

Avoid large bones and do not be surprised if they do not exit. The fusions are a great deer bullet in part because the expand readily but still hang together but seem to expand enough that pentration ends before passing through a moose. I have been involved in 3 moose killed with federal fusions one of which included the very load you are asking about. The 180 fusions from a .30-06 fist shot broke on side shoulder and only penetrated one lung one at a little better than 100 yards a quick follow-up shot to the neck as he tried to run put him down for good. One with a .270 and 130 grain fusions pretty well perfectly broadside top half of the heart was gone moose never moved anywhere but vertical straight down and rolled onto her back in a spot we could drive up to.bullet was against the opposite ribs.
The last one was dispatched with a single 62 grain fusion from a .223 Remington, yes that is legal here, the elderly gentleman had finally drawn a moose tag here and unfortunately broke a few ribs in august before the season and it was all the recoil he could handle. He was backed up by his son with a .340 Weatherby, never even got the safety off. I do not condone this but he is an exceptional shot with this rifle and knew his limits and has killed moose all across Canada but finally drew a tag here in his home province at 70 years old this will probably be his only moose in New Brunswick. I feel I should add having a second gun on a single tag is legal here for residents and they're only allowed a single moose.
I still haven't been able to shoot a moose after 10 years of elegibility and applying myself and may not even be involved a hunt for one this year so far no friends have been drawn so I don't even get to supply a strong back and a sharp knife though that may change.

Rude bastard, aintcha?

Thanks for the detailed, well-written post

They probably only work on large elk bones if you are a teenage girl. Mine has killed two mature elk with 150 fusions, breaking two shoulders in the process. From a .308. There are pics on here somewhere, I haven't figured out the new pic posting process yet though.

OH NO! You absolutely have to use a Premium costing 3 times as much for doing the same job!! What ARE you thinking?

Now, I have to admit the only Fusion I've shot was sighting in a friends .30-06. I started with Corelokts of my own, as I had some to spare from switching to Hornady Super Performance. I needed a base line, anyway. The Fusions, at 100 yards, printed about 6 inches low and left with considerably larger groups than the Corelokts in his gun, said Corelokts print about 6 inches low and 3" left of the SPs in my gun at 300 yards.

Apples to oranges to pears, if you will. It is probably more gun dynamics than anything inherently wrong with them, but I have yet to develop confidence in the Fusions. Which is understandable, having shot less than a box of them. through someone else's rifle, and only at paper, so don't mind me.

Range shooting will tell if they are accurate in your particular gun, and shooting game with them will tell you if they are terminally (in both senses) satisfactory for your hunting puposes. Opinions and espperince stories abound, but the only way to know if they suit your use is to use them.

Have at it, good luck, and enjoy!

Corelokts have done everything I have asked of them in a variety of calibers and bullet weights on many caribou, a few sheep, one elk (.260, 140 gr), wolf, and at least a dozen moose (30-06).

The only bullet/load I found too "soft" for my uses was a Federal load- called "Hi-Shok", IIRC. It did not have a bonded core, expanded instantly, and seperated lead from jacket almost on impact. I expect the Fusion will hold together much better, and objectively, will likely do just fine.

Fusion is soft. I have always used nosler partition for elk 180 grain. So really no experience with them.

By the time you get to a 180g .30 caliber, lead core bullet, I don't worry much about the bullet design, especially on broadsides. Fusions would not be my first choice, nor would they be my last.

If it were me, I wouldn't go elk hunting with a bullet I considered marginal or questionable. If you don't have confidence in them, use something else. If cost is the issue, you may be looking at the problem wrong. When I get through, a resident elk license and hunt costs me hundreds of dollars. When fuel prices were higher, fuel alone was hundreds of dollars. Add in other costs and the bullet cost is minuscule by comparison. As a handloader, I've often been taken to task by superior know-it-alls who criticized me for using "expensive" premium bullets, even though my loaded cost was less than cheap factory ammo. Ignoring practice costs (most of which I do with cheap bullets), the money I could save using cheap bullets in the field, if I filled my antelope, deer and elk tags every year, is minimal. Several times I've calculated that the savings, after 2-3 years, wouldn't buy me a cheap glass of wine with my dinner out.

Find a bullet you have confidence in, then find a cheap practice load that shoots to about the same point of impact. Problem solved.

For what it is worth, I would prefer a 180g WW Power Point to the Fusion for elk. Partitions are often recommended and for good reason - they work.

My own group uses 130g TTSX in .308 Win; 150g AccuBond and 168g TTSX in .30-06; and 180g TTSX and Power Point in .300WM. All of these can be found in factory loads. (I also use North Fork SS but you can't get them in factory loads to my knowledge.)

Good luck!