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I got a nice young buck this year with my Sig 516. Bullet was a Sierra 65 grain Game King. Deer was 200-225 pounds, found the bullet under the skin on far side. Wound channel was devastating, and deer ran maybe 40 yards. Most of the time this bullet drops them in their tracks, so I was a little surprised when it took off with the high shoulder shot. For the kind of hunting I do, and the distances that I shoot, the .223 works just fine. I of course wouldn`t say that for everyone. I have not shot factory centerfire ammunition for almost 55 years, everything handloaded.
Federal also offers a Fusion MSR that is designed for AR platform rifles with 16-20 inch barrels. Might be a better fit for you rifle with an 18 inch barrel. I think it’s worth taking a look at.
Yes, MSR has a faster burning powder that allows the bullets to achieve higher velocities from standard barrel lengths. The velocities advertised on the box are misleading, as i believe MSR is tested from a 16/18 inch barrel instead of the typical 22/24 inch barrel that manufacturers use to boost their numbers.
Howdy yall!! I to have used this ammo in my AR556 Ruger rifle with a 16inch barrel. I uses the 62gr. 223 round used in this video got velocity of 2650 average doing 5 shot groups! Now that being said I've personally shot 3 big does with this ammo all body shot behind the front shoulder! ALL 3 were one shot one kill!! Deer only run 10-15 yards and fall dead! I switch to the msr fusion loading and got 2860 on 5 shot group average. That being said all components are the same as the original round, but federal optimized the powder loading and aneeld the brass case at the shoulder foward. Man this was the ticket in my ar! Have shot 2 big does with the msr and they fell were they stood! Took my nephew last year and he shot a big doe with it hit it high left shoulder went on to right shoulder high exited the deer and left a quarter '25 cents' sized hole! Deer feel straight to the ground! I was one proud uncle! The saying that the 223 isn't strong enough, big enough round to take big whitetail Deer, well that just ain't the case. I am still using. 223 federal fusion ammo and the federal fusion msr ammo for all my big does and will continue into the foreseeable future. Hope this helps all who read and be safe shoot straight and true and hunt honest! God bless all yall and have a safe and fun time in the Deer woods this year!
I tried a box of these in my rem700 223, didn't run them through the chronograph but accuracy wasn't very good in my rifle. Different story in my 308win mod70, velocity& accuracy was great. Best factory load for deer in my 223 is Federal's 60gr nosler partition. Chronographed over 3000fps & 3 shot groups average moa or a tad better. Thanks for another great review!
Rifling twist rate has a lot to do with accuracy in a 223. Mine will kinda shoot super hot 62 grain. It won't shoot 55 grain at all. But 75 or 77 grain shoot great. The hotter the better in fact. Been an interesting learning curve.
fed fusion is some great old school type rounds. The bonded cup and core bullet does a great job punching through everything I've tested them on. I've used everything from 223 up to 450 bushmaster and they all do great. The 1 that you have to pay special attention to is the fusion in 300 blackout. From my testing, it appears Federal just stuck the 308 150gr fusion bullet right into the 300BO case without making any adjustments for the slower moving 300 blackout. It does ok for 150 yards in. After that expansion isn't what I'd consider ethical for hunting.
I think probably most people are going to buy 22"+ barrels in .223 Remington for varmint/hunting rifles. Betting that would result in at least another 100 fps. I just checked Ruger, Remarms, Weatherby, Savage, Browning, Winchester, and Tikka for all their standard hunting rifle and the shortest standard length (outside buying a "compact" version) was 22".
Good knowledge, l use these fusions in 165 grain 30-06 for deer. Very impressed with the performance, i can tell they hold weight really well. In my state we can't use anything smaller than 24 caliber for big game but i wouldn't want to use 223 or 556 for deer anyway, will do it but you got no room for error in shot placement. God point on pen
Thank you. If I didn't know the #s of velocity I would embrace these as one of the very best options available if you are going to us them on deer. It would be an excellent self defense option also I would think.
Good job, thanks for shooting @100 yards. I was just able to get some up here in Montana, been to cold to shoot, but I'll be running them through my new Garmin chronograph soon. Thanx again!
Thank you very much for putting this together! The low velocity can be alleviated by using Fusion MSR instead. MSR uses a faster burning powder, and the advertised velocities for it are from a standard barrel length (16 or 18 inches i believe). This caused some confusion early on because the advertised velocities for MSR are lower than those for standard Fusion. This is because standard Fusion uses a 22-24 inch barrel for their testing, which even with a slower powder causes faster muzzle velocities. Keeping barrel lengths the same, MSR should have faster velocities.
The federal power shock 64gn soft point is cheaper and works just as good. I’ve taken white tail with both bullets. The Hornady 75gn sbr interlock is really good too. The Hornady white tail 60gn interlock seems to be pretty good to but I prefer the heavier bullets. But my son did get a clean pass through on a 100lb boar with the Hornady 60gn white tail. Shot at about 75yds went in one shoulder and exited behind the last rib on the opposite side. Everything in between was mush and almost a quarter sized exit wound. From a 13.9” barrel. And I’ve taken deer with the 62grain fusion msr with a 12.5” barrel
Not all deer are created equal. In Missouri 223 was not enough especially north of I70 where deer top 300 pounds. Here in Florida a 12 point buck might go 150 pounds. 2 year old bucks weigh maybe 100 pounds maybe. The hogs average in the 100 to 150 rage on average with bugger ones mixed in. Personally I decided on the 75 grain super performance by Hornaday. They have the most energy of any factory 223 load I could find by any brand. And I got .75 MOA out of them as well. In deer this small I feel a lighter built bullet dumping energy a little faster makes sense. Many legal deer are 10 or 12 thick max and lightly built. Not sure a varmint bullet would be appropriate, but a heavy built bonded bullet might be less than ideal. All about sizing the caliber and bullet design. I recall the fusion always being at the bottom of the energy chart. Anyway cool video and just my 2 cents worth.
That's what I found as well when actually measuring deer, they really aren't that big when the measuring device comes out where 10" across the chest is a good size deer.
I would say under 150 yards behind the shoulder, double lung and yea it may run a bit but its a dead deer. The round would shoot a lot farther obviously but that would be my personal imit. The deer here in my part of WV are average in body size. I would say a mature buck on average may be 140-150 lbs. I have killed a bit larger but only a couple times.
You can get these bullets(62 gr gold dots) over 2900 fps(20" barrel) with Varget, CFE 223 and power pro 2000 MR. Excellent bullet...these are just loaded weak.
I think any bullet from 6mm to 30cal, differing by a few grams of each other are comparatively lethal on small to medium game. Once you reach 2600+ you are in good territory. I also find the 2800+ tend to explode like grenades and ruin lots of meat and down at 2500-2700 this can happen. At 2600+ these rounds make a solid hit and transfer energy very well and will probably perform better than something screaming at 3000+
For me, the most interesting point of the video is a tested velocity which was 300fps slower than advertised. Yes, a number of factors can attribute to this difference, and the most obvious would be the difference in barrel length between Federals test barrel and that of the CZ which was used in this test. For what its worth, 20-25fps loss in velocity per inch can be used as a general rule. I would have expected a 100-150fps variance to be normal, but not a 300fps difference. I wonder if this was annissue with a single lot of ammo, or if this is to be expected from this line of .223 ammo.
They make a MSR version with an accurate velocity rating of 2750 fps and harder sealed primers. Lower velocity equals less expansion but better weight retention and more penetration.
6 inches under test barrel and it lost 50 fps per inch. That's about right, depending on the powder Federal used. Don't forget that the heavier the bullet, the slower the powder (should be) and the more velocity lost in shorter barrels. I think "weak" should be substituted with slow. I bet in a 22 inch barrel you wouldn't see the same fps lost.
Looks like you got the fusion msr cartridges instead of the fusion rifle . If you look at the stats . The msr version is rated 2750 fps. And the rifle version is rated 3000fps.
The MSR velocity is supposed to be from a 16 inch barrel. If you subtract 50 fps for each inch, the loads are likely the same. Most .223 Rem hunting rifles have 22 to 24 inch barrels. The MSR load dropped a 140 pound doe at 100 yards for my young grandson. 18" Ruger MPR. 2700 fps for the Fusion load has same energy at 100 yards as many 44 magnum loads have at the muzzle. I have switched to 70gr TSX, but have not tried it on deer yet, but Bobcat and Coyote have dropped like struck by lightning, not even a quiver.
Even tho the velocity is disappointing it's hard to argue against the weight retention and expansion of those bullets. Might want to keep the range a little shorter tho. 🎯🎯
I have been thinking about using .223 or .556 for my young boys to use for deer. Probably choose barnes copper but still pretty good. Other options. 350legend I have works great but scares my 8year old. Building a 300blackout with suppressor for them. I just purchased a 6.5prc for myself...would like to see you do a review on ammo for it if you can sometime. Thanks as always
That velocity is very disappointing. The bullet performance was impressive. However, why use a .223 at 2700 fps when you have a plethora of larger, more capable calibers that will go that fast or faster?
I really hope these companies get with the times and start to test with a more realistic barrel length. Or at the very least put the damn length on the box.
So a 22-250 isn’t legal hmmm I think you might have misunderstood the rules. You can hunt deer north of the limit firearm zone with a 223 Remington. However rim fire 22 isn’t permitted
Just recently, looooong advertisements come on without a skip button. Not able to watch your video unless I wait until the advertisement is done, sometimes there are two. I’m not waiting, so I’m not watching. It’s too bad, because you have good content.
I disagree. Energy is what destroys tissues. Velocity is just a means to achieve that energy. Everything I see here, EXCEPT the velocity, impresses me! I would have expected the velocity out of your short barrel to be around 2850 FPS. And unfortunately it averaged about 2700 fps. I pretty much agree with you, great performance, but lower than desired velocity. To kill a deer, in a light deer cartridge, I like as much energy as possible. The velocity might be lower on purpose...! Its possible that at the factory, with this Fusion bullet, that they got their best accuracy at a slightly lower velocity.... especially in a faster twist rifle. So they may have purposely "throttled" it back some to improve accuracy. In other calibers that Ive tested cartridges with Fusion loads and Speer fusion type bullets, they usually performed better at slightly slower velocities. The exception was their Fusion 300 Win Mag 180 grs. Factory loads.... A good fast load, that was one of the most accurate in both a model 70, and a Savage Stevens 110 bolt actions.
Get the best range and outdoor gear here!
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Let me know what you think about the video and please share, it’s a big help!
Visiting the websites above directly supports the channel and helps me bring you more awesome videos!
Took my first buck with these! Passed clean through him at about 70 yards, double lunged. He ran about 60 yards and dropped. Love my little Model 7.
I've dropped deer drt with these!!! These are great here in south Georgia... savage axis super accurate!!!
I got a nice young buck this year with my Sig 516. Bullet was a Sierra 65 grain Game King. Deer was 200-225 pounds, found the bullet under the skin on far side. Wound channel was devastating, and deer ran maybe 40 yards. Most of the time this bullet drops them in their tracks, so I was a little surprised when it took off with the high shoulder shot. For the kind of hunting I do, and the distances that I shoot, the .223 works just fine. I of course wouldn`t say that for everyone. I have not shot factory centerfire ammunition for almost 55 years, everything handloaded.
Federal also offers a Fusion MSR that is designed for AR platform rifles with 16-20 inch barrels. Might be a better fit for you rifle with an 18 inch barrel. I think it’s worth taking a look at.
Yes, MSR has a faster burning powder that allows the bullets to achieve higher velocities from standard barrel lengths. The velocities advertised on the box are misleading, as i believe MSR is tested from a 16/18 inch barrel instead of the typical 22/24 inch barrel that manufacturers use to boost their numbers.
Good stuff! Enjoying the .223 content lately.
Glad to be of service!
Howdy yall!! I to have used this ammo in my AR556 Ruger rifle with a 16inch barrel. I uses the 62gr. 223 round used in this video got velocity of 2650 average doing 5 shot groups! Now that being said I've personally shot 3 big does with this ammo all body shot behind the front shoulder! ALL 3 were one shot one kill!! Deer only run 10-15 yards and fall dead! I switch to the msr fusion loading and got 2860 on 5 shot group average. That being said all components are the same as the original round, but federal optimized the powder loading and aneeld the brass case at the shoulder foward. Man this was the ticket in my ar! Have shot 2 big does with the msr and they fell were they stood! Took my nephew last year and he shot a big doe with it hit it high left shoulder went on to right shoulder high exited the deer and left a quarter '25 cents' sized hole! Deer feel straight to the ground! I was one proud uncle! The saying that the 223 isn't strong enough, big enough round to take big whitetail Deer, well that just ain't the case. I am still using. 223 federal fusion ammo and the federal fusion msr ammo for all my big does and will continue into the foreseeable future. Hope this helps all who read and be safe shoot straight and true and hunt honest! God bless all yall and have a safe and fun time in the Deer woods this year!
I tried a box of these in my rem700 223, didn't run them through the chronograph but accuracy wasn't very good in my rifle. Different story in my 308win mod70, velocity& accuracy was great. Best factory load for deer in my 223 is Federal's 60gr nosler partition. Chronographed over 3000fps & 3 shot groups average moa or a tad better. Thanks for another great review!
Rifling twist rate has a lot to do with accuracy in a 223. Mine will kinda shoot super hot 62 grain. It won't shoot 55 grain at all. But 75 or 77 grain shoot great. The hotter the better in fact. Been an interesting learning curve.
Glad to be of service!
Not my cal. Of choice for deer hunting especially in the thickets where I hunt. Good to know in a pinch it can do the job if necessary. Thanks A bunch
Glad you reviewed these, i dont hunt with these but i do keep some loaded for sd purposes.
Glad to be of service!
fed fusion is some great old school type rounds. The bonded cup and core bullet does a great job punching through everything I've tested them on. I've used everything from 223 up to 450 bushmaster and they all do great. The 1 that you have to pay special attention to is the fusion in 300 blackout. From my testing, it appears Federal just stuck the 308 150gr fusion bullet right into the 300BO case without making any adjustments for the slower moving 300 blackout. It does ok for 150 yards in. After that expansion isn't what I'd consider ethical for hunting.
I think probably most people are going to buy 22"+ barrels in .223 Remington for varmint/hunting rifles. Betting that would result in at least another 100 fps. I just checked Ruger, Remarms, Weatherby, Savage, Browning, Winchester, and Tikka for all their standard hunting rifle and the shortest standard length (outside buying a "compact" version) was 22".
Good knowledge, l use these fusions in 165 grain 30-06 for deer. Very impressed with the performance, i can tell they hold weight really well. In my state we can't use anything smaller than 24 caliber for big game but i wouldn't want to use 223 or 556 for deer anyway, will do it but you got no room for error in shot placement. God point on pen
Thank you. If I didn't know the #s of velocity I would embrace these as one of the very best options available if you are going to us them on deer. It would be an excellent self defense option also I would think.
I really like the way you do your videos,thanks
Those projectiles are awesome, now we just need a +P version 😁
Looks like these would be a good home defense round in any standard or short length AR platform.
Supposedly the same bullet as Gold Dots
That's what I was thinking.
Totally agree.
That load might work well down here in Mississippi! Deer are small not like Illinois’ were they can be over 300 lbs!😊
Good job, thanks for shooting @100 yards. I was just able to get some up here in Montana, been to cold to shoot, but I'll be running them through my new Garmin chronograph soon. Thanx again!
Thank you very much for putting this together! The low velocity can be alleviated by using Fusion MSR instead. MSR uses a faster burning powder, and the advertised velocities for it are from a standard barrel length (16 or 18 inches i believe). This caused some confusion early on because the advertised velocities for MSR are lower than those for standard Fusion. This is because standard Fusion uses a 22-24 inch barrel for their testing, which even with a slower powder causes faster muzzle velocities. Keeping barrel lengths the same, MSR should have faster velocities.
Just picked up a box of these to try out in my Tikka T3X 223 rem with a 1-8 barrel twist rate on a 22" barrel
You should try the MSR version of this round it is supposed to be more reliable for a 16 to 18 inch set up
The federal power shock 64gn soft point is cheaper and works just as good. I’ve taken white tail with both bullets. The Hornady 75gn sbr interlock is really good too. The Hornady white tail 60gn interlock seems to be pretty good to but I prefer the heavier bullets. But my son did get a clean pass through on a 100lb boar with the Hornady 60gn white tail. Shot at about 75yds went in one shoulder and exited behind the last rib on the opposite side. Everything in between was mush and almost a quarter sized exit wound. From a 13.9” barrel. And I’ve taken deer with the 62grain fusion msr with a 12.5” barrel
You have the best testing channel going. Would be nice to see a single wound channel to evaluate before you crowd 2 more rounds in Block.
Not all deer are created equal. In Missouri 223 was not enough especially north of I70 where deer top 300 pounds. Here in Florida a 12 point buck might go 150 pounds. 2 year old bucks weigh maybe 100 pounds maybe. The hogs average in the 100 to 150 rage on average with bugger ones mixed in. Personally I decided on the 75 grain super performance by Hornaday. They have the most energy of any factory 223 load I could find by any brand. And I got .75 MOA out of them as well. In deer this small I feel a lighter built bullet dumping energy a little faster makes sense. Many legal deer are 10 or 12 thick max and lightly built. Not sure a varmint bullet would be appropriate, but a heavy built bonded bullet might be less than ideal. All about sizing the caliber and bullet design. I recall the fusion always being at the bottom of the energy chart. Anyway cool video and just my 2 cents worth.
That's what I found as well when actually measuring deer, they really aren't that big when the measuring device comes out where 10" across the chest is a good size deer.
They work great on big deer here in northern Ontario Canada.
@smallbore7025 With a well placed shot definitely. Problem is not everyone can put a bullet in the best spot.
Yep, need the MSR fusions for your short barrel
Fusion ammo is absolutely awesome.
300wsm 180 I've taken 4 moose over the years . One round
Excellent performance! I’ll stick with the TTSXs or TSXs personally.
I would say under 150 yards behind the shoulder, double lung and yea it may run a bit but its a dead deer. The round would shoot a lot farther obviously but that would be my personal imit. The deer here in my part of WV are average in body size. I would say a mature buck on average may be 140-150 lbs. I have killed a bit larger but only a couple times.
I heard the fusion MSR is faster in a shorter barrel then the regular fusion
Wow, I was wondering what the difference was on those. I got so confused trying to figure out why there was a price disparity. Thanks for that!
I have shot the same ammo out of my cz 527 lux with a 23 inch barrel and got over 3000 fps on average
Deer can be taken with a .22 Hornet and it's legal in Florida. But it is not a good idea ethically and practically. Thanks for another great video.
Same rally here in Texas. Doesn’t make it smart.
Glad to be of service!
You can get these bullets(62 gr gold dots) over 2900 fps(20" barrel) with Varget, CFE 223 and power pro 2000 MR. Excellent bullet...these are just loaded weak.
I think any bullet from 6mm to 30cal, differing by a few grams of each other are comparatively lethal on small to medium game. Once you reach 2600+ you are in good territory. I also find the 2800+ tend to explode like grenades and ruin lots of meat and down at 2500-2700 this can happen. At 2600+ these rounds make a solid hit and transfer energy very well and will probably perform better than something screaming at 3000+
For me, the most interesting point of the video is a tested velocity which was 300fps slower than advertised. Yes, a number of factors can attribute to this difference, and the most obvious would be the difference in barrel length between Federals test barrel and that of the CZ which was used in this test. For what its worth, 20-25fps loss in velocity per inch can be used as a general rule. I would have expected a 100-150fps variance to be normal, but not a 300fps difference. I wonder if this was annissue with a single lot of ammo, or if this is to be expected from this line of .223 ammo.
Phone messed up. To finish my statement, good point on penitration too since if there is no exit hole there won't be a blood trail to follow.
Nice !!
They make a MSR version with an accurate velocity rating of 2750 fps and harder sealed primers. Lower velocity equals less expansion but better weight retention and more penetration.
6 inches under test barrel and it lost 50 fps per inch. That's about right, depending on the powder Federal used. Don't forget that the heavier the bullet, the slower the powder (should be) and the more velocity lost in shorter barrels. I think "weak" should be substituted with slow. I bet in a 22 inch barrel you wouldn't see the same fps lost.
Looks like you got the fusion msr cartridges instead of the fusion rifle .
If you look at the stats . The msr version is rated 2750 fps. And the rifle version is rated 3000fps.
Probably tested in different barrel lengths.
The MSR velocity is supposed to be from a 16 inch barrel. If you subtract 50 fps for each inch, the loads are likely the same. Most .223 Rem hunting rifles have 22 to 24 inch barrels.
The MSR load dropped a 140 pound doe at 100 yards for my young grandson. 18" Ruger MPR.
2700 fps for the Fusion load has same energy at 100 yards as many 44 magnum loads have at the muzzle.
I have switched to 70gr TSX, but have not tried it on deer yet, but Bobcat and Coyote have dropped like struck by lightning, not even a quiver.
These are not MSR, the velocity on the box shown in the video is 3,000 fps
@@masonoutdoors_masonleather Likely the same load with a different package is my premise.
@@williamgaines9784
The powder, cartridge annealing, and primer are different.
Fusion msr 223 is actually 5.56 velocity it goes 2800 from my 11.5 ar 2960 from my 16
Velocity be damned. The performance in gel was excellent.
Even tho the velocity is disappointing it's hard to argue against the weight retention and expansion of those bullets. Might want to keep the range a little shorter tho. 🎯🎯
I have been thinking about using .223 or .556 for my young boys to use for deer. Probably choose barnes copper but still pretty good. Other options. 350legend I have works great but scares my 8year old. Building a 300blackout with suppressor for them. I just purchased a 6.5prc for myself...would like to see you do a review on ammo for it if you can sometime. Thanks as always
Glad to be of service!
Is the federal fusion and the gold dot the same bullet???
That velocity is very disappointing. The bullet performance was impressive. However, why use a .223 at 2700 fps when you have a plethora of larger, more capable calibers that will go that fast or faster?
I really hope these companies get with the times and start to test with a more realistic barrel length. Or at the very least put the damn length on the box.
That’d make too much sense though
Deer can be taken with 22lr in NC.
223 seems kinda sketchy for deer. But this looks great for Javelina!
Not very fast, but I bet they work fine on antelope & deer. 🤠
Supposedly the fusion MSR's are faster.
Legal in my state.
A needs to know how it preformed.
Post more 30-06 content please
Kills eastern whitetails....might try bigger, if i was close, and it was all i had at the time.
Slow fps is because you have a 18 inch barrel, test barrels are 24 inches normal fps lose is100fps per inch
and the most common barrel lengths for .223, by orders of magnitude, is 16-20 inches.
It's illegal in Michigan to use a 22 caliber centerfire for deer
.
So a 22-250 isn’t legal hmmm I think you might have misunderstood the rules. You can hunt deer north of the limit firearm zone with a 223 Remington. However rim fire 22 isn’t permitted
Not horrid but I have 44mag loads through my 4.25” that get more energy than that.
Lol! Yes absolutely, at 4 times the weight! 44mag is undoubtedly up to the task of whitetail, especially if you up your accuracy and use a carbine.
Just recently, looooong advertisements come on without a skip button. Not able to watch your video unless I wait until the advertisement is done, sometimes there are two. I’m not waiting, so I’m not watching. It’s too bad, because you have good content.
Velocity was lousy
Who wants to see a Grendel test?
No one
@@John_Redcorn_ it should way out perform the 223,300bo, and 350 legend.
I deer hunt in Mississippi. Their laws don't let you deer hunt with something that small caliber
Wrong.
@@AdamParker91 you're correct. I misread it
Head shot
I disagree. Energy is what destroys tissues. Velocity is just a means to achieve that energy.
Everything I see here, EXCEPT the velocity, impresses me!
I would have expected the velocity out of your short barrel to be around 2850 FPS. And unfortunately it averaged about 2700 fps.
I pretty much agree with you, great performance, but lower than desired velocity.
To kill a deer, in a light deer cartridge, I like as much energy as possible.
The velocity might be lower on purpose...! Its possible that at the factory, with this Fusion bullet, that they got their best accuracy at a slightly lower velocity.... especially in a faster twist rifle. So they may have purposely "throttled" it back some to improve accuracy.
In other calibers that Ive tested cartridges with Fusion loads and Speer fusion type bullets, they usually performed better at slightly slower velocities.
The exception was their Fusion 300 Win Mag 180 grs. Factory loads.... A good fast load, that was one of the most accurate in both a model 70, and a Savage Stevens 110 bolt actions.
Especially for the price, you can't beat the fusion ammo. They flat work
308 content maybe?