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Hunting Results with 115gr Fusion or 115gr Rem Ultra-Bond

3745 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by DJones2987, Feb 13, 2017

MSR_Gal

Discussion Starter · Feb 9, 2017 (Edited)

Has anyone killed anything with either of these two 115gr fully bonded bullet loads?

I'd be especially interested in Whitetail results.

I've used the Nosler 110gr Accubond, but only the last 2/3 of the bullet is bonded. The first 1/3 is not bonded so the front of the core can fragment early and the clean jacket can fold back close to the shank for deep penetration. In other words, it is supposed to mimic the Partition. The deer I killed with one at 200 yards dropped in its tracks, The bullet went through both shoulders and kept on going. The exit hole was not noticeably larger than the entrance. So if the deer would have run, I don't think I'd have had much of a blood trail to follow.

In general, with fully bonded bullets the lead core stays stuck to the jacket petals, keeping them in a more open, wider mushroom. So they don't penetrate as far, but leave a wider wound channel. I'm just wondering if, on medium game like deer, you would still get complete penetration with fully bonded bullets and also get a wider wound channel and larger exit hole.

What is actual experience with them?

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rangerbluedog

· #2 · Feb 9, 2017

All I can say is I've killed four deer in the past two years using the 115 grain Fusion. All weighed 115-130 pounds. All shots were between 60-100 yards. Three out of four dropped in his tracks. The fourth stumbled 10-15 yards and died. It's a good whitetail bullet. Clean through-hole on all four.

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MSR_Gal

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 10, 2017

rangerbluedog said:
All I can say is I've killed four deer in the past two years using the 115 grain Fusion. All weighed 115-130 pounds. All shots were between 60-100 yards. Three out of four dropped in his tracks. The fourth stumbled 10-15 yards and died. It's a good whitetail bullet. Clean through-hole on all four.

Were the exit wounds noticeably larger than the entrance wounds? Were these through both shoulders or quartering shots that had to traverse a significant amount of tissue? Or were they behind shoulder lung shots or neck shots that didn't have to penetrate that much to exit?

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MC68

· #4 · Feb 10, 2017

115 Fusion is my primary hunting round. I have shot several whitetail and axis deer with this bullet. I have also killed 20+ hogs with the same round. It has done very well and will continue to use it. It shoots under one inch at 100 yards out of my Stag 7H.

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rangerbluedog

· #5 · Feb 10, 2017

Brazos_Jack said:
Were the exit wounds noticeably larger than the entrance wounds? Were these through both shoulders or quartering shots that had to traverse a significant amount of tissue? Or were they behind shoulder lung shots or neck shots that didn't have to penetrate that much to exit?

None of the shots hit bone. I didn't recover the bullet but I'd say the exit hole is about double the size of the entry hole.

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MSR_Gal

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 10, 2017

rangerbluedog said:
None of the shots hit bone. I didn't recover the bullet but I'd say the exit hole is about double the size of the entry hole.

That's exactly the performance I was hoping for. It should leave a better blood trail than the Nosler 110gr Accubond and still has adequate penetration for medium game.

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ARx3

· #7 · Feb 10, 2017

My wife shot a small 8 pt in December using the Federal 115 Fusion. The deer was quartering towards her at 108 yards. At the shot he ran full speed right at us for about 50 yards so she hit him again and rolled him up right there. After examining the deer the second shot wasn't really needed. Her first had passed about 4" to 6" above the heart,took out the lung and exited on the off side. There was a good blood trail from where he stopped to back where he was standing when she shot him.

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Xman

· #8 · Feb 11, 2017

Brazos_Jack said:
I've used the Nosler 110gr Accubond, but only the last 2/3 of the bullet is bonded. The first 1/3 is not bonded so the front of the core can fragment early and the clean jacket can fold back close to the shank for deep penetration. ....

Brazos_Jack, I have several AccuBonds recovered from terminal testing and game. The lead core is fully bonded to the copper jacket. As you can see in the cross section below, because the ABs are tipped, they have a hollow expansion cavity with no lead to bond to the very front of the copper jacket. The 115 MSR and Ultra are soft-points with the lead all the way to the tip of the bullet.

Brazos_Jack said:
The deer I killed with one at 200 yards dropped in its tracks, The bullet went through both shoulders and kept on going. The exit hole was not noticeably larger than the entrance. ....

Sounds like more than satisfactory terminal performance penetrating both shoulders and still exiting. If you have good accuracy, you really can't ask for more.

Brazos_Jack said:
In general, with fully bonded bullets the lead core stays stuck to the jacket petals, keeping them in a more open, wider mushroom. So they don't penetrate as far, but leave a wider wound channel.

Softness of the lead core and copper jacket thickness help determine expansion. The 6.8mm ABs expand into a flat mushroom like a hammer. The 115 MSR and Rem Ultra (which I think has been discontinued) will expand to a larger diameter than the ABs but there mushrooms are more rounded. A spherical mushroom doesn't necessarily result in a larger wound cavity that a flat-faced bullet, even if it is a smaller diameter.

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DJones2987

· #9 · Feb 13, 2017

What size whitetail are you guys shooting approximately? I'm thinking I'm going to use the 115g fusion for deer and hogs and 90g for coyotes.

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Xman

· #10 · Feb 13, 2017

DJones2987 said:
I'm thinking I'm going to use the 115g fusion for deer and hogs and 90g for coyotes.

I would use the 115 on coyotes, too. It helps me become a better shot and give me more confidence in my rifle when deer season comes around.

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moboy56

· #11 · Feb 13, 2017

i've been hunting yotes this year with a variety of bullets. i've used, 90 gr Speer, 90 gr Gold Dots, 110 Vmax, 110 BTHP, 120 SST. i've shot 16 and the one that delivers the most tissue damage is the 110 BTHP, rips em open. Gold dots did pretty good, and the speer was the worst. i had one explode on a yotes shoulder and he got away,, ran 400 plus yds and never saw him again. all other bullets were fatal but not as much trauma displayed as the 110 BTHP. just my observation,,,,

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DJones2987

· #12 · Feb 13, 2017

Xman said:
DJones2987 said:

I'm thinking I'm going to use the 115g fusion for deer and hogs and 90g for coyotes.

Click to expand...

I would use the 115 on coyotes, too. It helps me become a better shot and give me more confidence in my rifle when deer season comes around.

I've read your testing on 6.8 bullets thoroughly several times, thanks for that info.

So you don't think 115g would be overkill for coyotes? How about foxes and smaller predators?

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