Fed Fusion and MSR

[Chefjon]

Reading the 5.56 Duty Load sticky, I came across the Federal Fusion .223 62 grain as a recommendation. As I have seen this at reasonable prices compared to the other loads, I was thinking of stocking up for HD. I just went to YouTube and there was a TNOutdoors9 video on it. It was looking really good until the 9" of penetration...for both rounds. Is this "acceptable"?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE5ZnQmKy2o

[Sigfan26]

It was not done using true Ballistics Gel. I know it is "very similar"... But "very similar" and "the same" are quite different. I'm gonna trust Doc's results.

[oldtexan]

The difference in Federal's claims about MV between the two loads is explained on pages 66-67 of the 2013 Federal catalog, linked below. A chart on those pages indicates that Federal used a 16" barrel to test for MV for the .223 Fusion MSR load, but a 24" barrel to test for MV for the .223 standard Fusion load. I believe the rifle in the video had an 18" or 20" barrel, so it would make sense that the videomaker would get a higher MV than Federal's claim for the MSR load, but a lower MV than claimed for the standard Fusion load.

http://www.federalpremium.com/resources/catalog/federalpremium-catalog/

[Moshe Dayan]

I shot a 160lb hog with Federal Fusion 64 gr. out of a 20" AR15 at 150 yards. The bullet passed through the right leg, through both lungs, struck the left shoulder shattering the bone, and exited. The pig dropped. I would say it worked pretty well...

Image of the damage to the animal of one is so inclined:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a248/LegumeOfTerror/Perry%201-19-13/IMG_2665.jpg

[ST911]

Federal 62gr Fusion, #223FS1, 3000fps, 24" test barrel
Federal 62gr Fusion (MSR), #F223MSR1, 2750fps, 16" test barrel
Speer 64gr GDSP (LE), #24448, 3000fps, 24" test barrel

Here's a 64gr GDSP (#24447) recovered from tissue a few weeks ago. Performance between this loading and the commercially packaged 62gr Fusions are often identical.

This round was recovered from a 200lb whitetail buck. I shot him at about 35yds from a kneel. He was shot broadside once just behind the shoulder above the heart. After spinning 180 degrees he offered up the opposite broadside, and was shot at the same approximate location. After jumping in place a few seconds, he fell dead.

During recovery, two entrance wounds and two bullet paths were identified. The first round entered and struck the opposite chest wall and caused trauma as it tried to exit but ran out of gas. The second round had a more angular trajectory and ended up traveling into the guts and was not recovered.

This load chronos about 2700fps from the gun.

In the third photo, it looks like a petal has broken off. It's actually folded over onto an adjacent petal, maintaining full structural integrity.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j18/Skintop911/Speer%20GDSP%20Rifle/IMG_0151.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j18/Skintop911/Speer%20GDSP%20Rifle/IMG_0149.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j18/Skintop911/Speer%20GDSP%20Rifle/IMG_0145.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j18/Skintop911/Speer%20GDSP%20Rifle/IMG_0148.jpg