Had a disappointing experience with the fusion bullet tonight to say the least. Was a 270 130 gr federal fusion ammo bullet that has me scratching my head. 90-100ish pound doe was shot at 75ish yards. Broadside. Upon skinning the deer the entrance side looking like a bomb when off. Hit cleanly behind the shoulder but the front side shoulder got destroyed. Textbook shot. Did not hit bone entering. Exit hole was the size of a quarter or half dollar. Very little damage on the off side. Only the entrance side took the punishment. What happened here? It looked like the complete 180 of what should bh have been the case. Clean hole on entrance. Bigger hole on off side....

Small deer hit with a bullet at 3000fps.

Jew think so? I've shot similar with corelokt and not seen the bomb like destruction. Seems abnormal. Actually was hoping for less destruction with the fusion than the corelokt.. damn sure shot tiny groups

Back up? Don't pick a cartridge shooting well over 3000fps for shots under 100 yds? Be glad your bullet is effective?

I took a similar deer with a 200gr Hornady .348 at about 75 yards. My first thought when I got to her was,

“Looks like I shot her with a .270”

Lotta rifle for little deer, as is an ‘06, and even a .308 with fast-expanding bullets. Keep your shots away from the steaks.

Classic bullet splash.

I’m having a hard time understanding how a half dollar size exit hole equals very little damage on the off side?

Yeah agree with the others, the way to overcome good bullet construction is with speed. 270 with a 130gr bullet at 70 yards is as good of an example as any. Rapid initial expansion on entrance and what was left after that slowed down enough to have a more controlled expansion/exit

Ok I understand what you are saying. Just havent seen those results from this rifle before. Was shocked with the damage.

What bullet might be better geared towards less meat damage?

Barnes TTSX produces consistently excellent terminal performance without tearing up lots of meat.

The comment only applies to the TTSX, not the TSX which produced inconsistent results for me on deer. Avoid the TSX.

You mentioned Core-lokt ammo. Is that no longer available? You could also go to the 150 grain Fusion load in the 270, which will give you more of what you are after, I think, due to the reduced velocity.

I’ve used the 140 Fusion in a 6.5 Creed on elk with great success and feel very confident with them.

The .270, which I’ve used since the late sixties is basically a magnum with the 130’s.
I’ve gotten bullet splash on a couple of occasions and one of the constants was that the deer were wet from rain.
One, a smallish blacktail at very close range was hit behind the shoulder with a 130gr bronze point reload. I completely jellied the shoulders! The entrance site was a huge hole....and yet the buck ran out of sight. The off side rib cage wall was peppered with fragments.

I wouldn’t count out the Fusion offering based on one example.
If your still concerned, you might consider bumping up to the 150’s.....

Yeah agree one option is going heavier and slower for less meat damage

Yeah we haven’t had those results. At least with the 55gr TTSX

I only use Barnes TTSX, or Nosler E-Tips, for deer, out of my .270 WSM, .280, and .257 Wby. No blow-ups, and nowhere the meat damage I have experienced in the past with other bullets.

Will look into trying 150s for next season. Will try to get another comparison with the 130s this season.
What are yall referring to when you say "bullet splash"?

Will also try some ttsx and see how the barnes ammo shoots. Thanks for the feedback

I’m using same bullet in 270. Not sure your speed but getting 3200fps in two of my rifles with R17. Close range tends to make a mess which I expect and place shots based on. Go up in weight or slow it down is about all you can do. I’ve had good results with fusions in 6.5, 270, and 7mm.

You could try 140 or 145’s too.

Thats why I switched from the fusions. lots of mess, not a lot of penetration... a lot of lead in my hamburgers.

switched my .308's from the 150 gr. fusions to the 130 TTSX and never had an issue. lots of dead deer, not alot of mess.

I shot a buck on Wednesday with a Fusion. It was my first time using a Fusion on game. I was impressed with the result. I was shooting a 338 Federal with a 200 grain Fusion, though. The buck was shot at about 50 yards so the speed was probably 2600 fps or so.

How were the results of the impact and exit? That's seems like the classic slow and heavy you here some preach for "eat up to the hole" results?

It was pretty much perfect. I was a small entry with a silver dollar exit. There was no fragmentation or bloodshot meat. It was a double lung shot (I don’t like to waste meat) and it took a couple hops and dropped dead. The blood was like a path. It couldn’t have done much better. I only got the Fusions because that’s one of the few factory loads available in 338 Federal. It was the cleanest kill I have ever had on a deer. It worked to perfection. I was impressed.

I have used a 150g Barnes TTSX on a buck out of a 308. It worked but did not expand well and did not leave much of a blood trail. The buck dropped after about 50 yards though. If I use a Barnes out of the 308 again, ig will be a 110 ot 130 grain. I think a Barnes would work well for you with 270 velocity - especially a lighter one. 100 or 110 grain if they are available in 270. Or a heavier Fusion.

Well, with my .270 I went and had it rebored to .45 Whelen for bigger bullet at slower velocity

But basically step up to a heavier bullet. Also the recommendation of Barnes is good too.

Definitely doesn't sound like Federal Fusion performance. Maybe it hit a piece of scrub brush prior to hitting the deer???

45 whelen?

If you're looking to buy new factory 270 ammo to try this year, good luck finding it and if you do I would appreciate a heads up. Ammoseek is out as well as most of the local stores and online stores.

My first thought as well.
I use Fusions in both my .270 and .243 and have no issues[most shots are 100 yards or less].

Year before last, I shot a medium size buck at about that distance with a Federal Fusion 150 grain .308 factory load out of my 26 inch Ruger 1B. Shoulder shot, pretty much the same results the OP described...a real bomb that just destroyed the shoulder. That was the first deer I’d shot with a factory load in about 35 or 40 years. The last deer previous to that, that I’d shot with that .308 was with a 150 grain Ballistic Tip home load going a little faster at about the same distance and the same shot placement. Same size deer. Nowhere near the rapid expansion, bomb effect.

i had the exact same issue you are having but..........mine was outta a 35 whelen 200grain fusion factory load at 20 yards so i kinda expected some explosiveness. but i've never seen an entrance hole substantially bigger,softball entrance vs 35 cal exit,than the exit before personally.
Big Ed

Not sure about all, but alot of the fusions are pretty soft. You basically got instant expansion on the surface of the near shoulder, shed the most of the mushroom inside the cavity, and the tail end, minus most of the mushroom, went through the off side.

I like the fusions. They are generally accurate and they tend to expand well at lower speeds. As mentioned above, move up to a 150 and this problem will go away. The tradeoff being the deer probably won't die as quickly.

the deer i have shot with fusions all were pretty blown up. but the deer didn't go anywhere.

No this one didnt go anywhere either. this deer looked like she had been hit with the hammer of Thor! Was like a dramatic Hollywood movie shot reaction.

I tried the 130’s in my 270 also. A couple of DRT kills but lots of meat damage seemed to be the norm. It seems like they’re more suited for lower velocities. I wouldn’t trust them on elk.

I've had good luck with Fusions in .270, but they were the 150g.

I've since gone to big, slow 45/70, big, slow 44mag, or 300BO with a can (supersonic).

Less meat damage, especially since my average shot over the last dozen or so deer would be 50 yards or closer.

Are you shooting the shoulder or the ribs?

I can't think of a deer I've shot with the Federal Fusion that has taken a step after the shot. It's a pretty good pick-up load too. That said, I've also recovered a few, but they've been picture perfect mushrooms.

Fusions have generally been pretty good in 30-06 for us in the past.

Last buck I shot with an AMax, it took me 15 mins to find the entrance hole. Perfect little .284 sized hole in shoulder.

Grenade inside.

Ribs on most of them but not all deer stand perfectly broadside. Shot one through the neck at about 50 yards. You could've dropped a beer can through the hole. Too much jellied up meat for me

I would use a heavier bullet. While you don't need a heavier bullet for penetration they would likely do less damage.

Found some 150 round nose federal soft point ammo today at cabelas. Will see how these shoot. Speed seems to be much slower. Any opinions on these round nose SP compared to pointed?