Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Federal High Energy Ammunition

I have had very satisfactory results with Federal High Energy Trophy Bonded Bearcllaws in my 30.06 . Very accurate and very good ballistics. According to the Australian importer Federal has dropped this line .
Were there problems with this ammunition? I would be very keen to be able to buy it again.
Mark

I believe that Federal not longer produces HE ammo. I still have a few .338WM rounds of Federal HE with 225-grain TBBC, and 250-grain NOS. It was loaded pretty hot, but shot well out of my .338's.

I believe Hornady produces faster than average ammo in the Super Performance line, but not with the TBBC bullet.

It was dropped because it did not offer much in the way of ballistic performance for the extra price imo.

It was dropped because it did not offer much in the way of ballistic performance for the extra price imo.

The TBBC Hi Energy ammo was great. It could be finicky as far as accuracy in some rifles though. The Bearclaw seems to perform better on larger game than any other bullet I have used.

I still have a small quantity of Hi-Energy .30-06 180 grain TBBC. It shoots very well in two of my '06's, not so well in the third one. I reserve it for elk hunting when I use
my pre-war Model 70 for elk. Due to recoil, I use a 180 grain NPT handload in my 84L Montana.

I also have a [smaller] quantity of the Hi-Energy .338 Win Mag 225 gr TBBC loads as well. They are my go to elk load.

I did feel they lost some bullet performance when they changed from the original TBBC bullet material.

FWIW They do still appear to manufacture an enhanced velocity load at a rated 2880 fps. It is a 180 grain Trophy Bonded Tip . P3006TT4

Yep, High Energy TBBC ammo was discontinued a while back. Partly it was designed to make sure TBBC's expanded reliably. They were pretty tough bullets, so didn't always expand much on deer-sized game.

The same thing is accomplished today with the Federal ammo loaded with Trophy Bonded Tip bullets: The tip allows them to expand easily, and they retain more velocity due to the much higher ballistic coefficient. So they don't have to be driven as fast to perform well.

As far as I can tell, from both testing in "media" and big game, the TBT bullets work on game exactly like TBBC's. Which isn't surprising, since when sectioned they show exactly the same inner construction.

Fwiw... I saw a close up high velocity milk jug test on some 130 tipped trophy bonded in 270. The bullet made 6 jugs and look just like the old trophy bonded just as mule deer is describing.....awesome!

I still have a couple boxes of the Federal Hi Energy .280 Rem TBBC , 140's IIRC

- I didn't like the ballistics compared to The Federal Premium 150 NPs, in my M70 Classic Fwt, and a 700 Mtn
Accuracy was OK, but not compelling. - sample of 2

Starts with a higher MV, but loses it pretty quickly. Was losing V quicker than the 150 NP which isn't all that streamlined.
Never compared to 140 NPs Handloaded, but that would've been interesting.

Probably pretty good bullet for Black Bear from a stand, Moose in the bush etc. No Elk in my immediate AO

I chrono'ed the FP HE 180 Partition .30-06 ammo, the box claimed 2880 fps, I got 2881. That load carried some serious mail.



P

Like Pharm- shot the HE partition out of my 30-06 mountain rifle and my 700 titainium. 2888 for a 180. in those light rifles the recoi; was sharp. the partitons shot really out of each. I shot one 6x6 bull , it went right over. I have small stash of the BBC and partition . wish I could get more. especially in either the pointed ones or a hornady eld-x.

I have ordered a packet of the Trophy Bonded Tip and a packet of the new Edge TLR that Federal has just released . I will see if they are more accurate than my handloads .

Mark

I bought a box and several of us shot most of that box or so of the federal HE 180 partition in 308. In an almost 6lb all up rifle that load would bring men to there knees. No one who ever sat behind that rig with that load at the bench was psychologically prepared for what was going to happen when they pulled the trigger. The 18” barrel insured a generous ball of fire out the front along with plenty of pressure. And the recoil was way out of the league of what is typically considered “308 level recoil” a fierce combination which accounted for one moose. I’m not kidding. That rifle and load was worse to shoot than 180s out of the 7 3/4 all up 300 win mag I had then. It’s like the brain simply refused to get ready for it the same way it would for the 300 win mag. Just refused to take it seriously.

I would love to get more of either the 30-06 NP or TBBC. they were 150 fps over any other factory ammo. and the partitions were very very accurate. I know several with 308 that would like to get some that .308 HE factory ammo tooo.

I stock-piled several boxes over the years loaded with the NP and the Tipped TBBC. I have a lifetime hunting supply or better or what's left of it. I chronoed a couple of the NPs out of a Tikka T-3 Lite and got 2852fps out of them. From some of the .30-06 load data I've been sifting through in the reloading forums, I can get that with a handload. So Federal dropping the HE loads isn't that big of a deal.

Besides, the moose I shot this past fall was from about 10' elevation and about 3-4ft out from the base of the tree. I should have just popped him in the back of the head with my .45 Colt rather than waste an expensive round on him.