Shot a box of .308 Federal Fusion MSR.. BANG!!!!!

[Road_Clam]

Saw this ammo at Wally World, never saw it before so figured i'd give it a try.... HOT DAM ! Long story short, this ammo packs a nasty wallop ! I chrono'd an average of 3044 fps ! 150gr bullets, and advertised MV is 2770. My docile Rem 700 Varmint kicked almost like an -06 with the Fusions ! Accuracy was ok, I shot a 1.57" group @ 200 meters. In hindsight I should have completely read all the very fine print on the box, as it states: "For optimum performance use only in semiautomatic firearms". Oops.... should not make a habit of shooting AR-10 ammo through my bolt rifle !

 

[M14AMU]

THAT....doesn't make sense!! :

 

[nicholst55]

THAT....doesn't make sense!! :

Agreed; ammo for a gas gun is normally loaded lighter than bolt gun ammo.

 

[stool]

actually i thought the original warning was the other way around...ok for bolt maybe not in your ar...

 

[drumcorpschamp]

Road Clam,

I hope you still have the box that the ammo came in. Federal needs to have a head's up about this ammo along with the lot numbers on the box.

Do it ASAP as a service to your fellow shooters!

Jerry

 

[Road_Clam]

Road Clam,

I hope you still have the box that the ammo came in. Federal needs to have a head's up about this ammo along with the lot numbers on the box.

Do it ASAP as a service to your fellow shooters!

Jerry

I do. I only shot about 12 rounds, and thereafter was concerned about continually slamming 3000+ FPS down my barrel (me being a new precision .308 shooter). So is it a generall concensus that this is a potential safety hazard ? I'm not educated on the required safe operational ballistics for .308 semi's, so I will persue what's right in the name of safety as long as we present credible facts. Are the advertised MV specs on the box NOT to be exceeded ? This I can logically see as a potential issue in my case ?

Oddly there is even a pic of an AR-10 on the box !

 

[expiper]

clam,,,did the bolt lift hard on opening,,,were the primers flat????,,,,,if you were getting that kind of vel. then the pressure shuld be wayyyyy up there,,,Roger

 

[Road_Clam]

clam,,,did the bolt lift hard on opening,,,were the primers flat????,,,,,if you were getting that kind of vel. then the pressure shuld be wayyyyy up there,,,Roger

Did not encounter any stiff casing ejections. I still have the Fusion empty brass in the original box, I will inspect the primers (i'm at work currently)

 

[Forum Boss]

I chrono'd an average of 3044 fps ! 150gr bullets, and advertised MV is 2770.

Even allowing for a longer barrel (than used by Federal), and chronograph variances, that is a huge difference in velocity which strongly suggests to me that something "is not right" with the MSR ammo. I would stop shooting it and take it back for a refund.

To give you an idea, I plugged in a load with 27" barrel, 150gr bullets, and Varget. At 2774 FPS it predicted a pressure of 48199 psi, relatively mild. But, when I increased the load to achieve 3047 fps it showed 66532 psi. To get that high, you also had to use a highly compressed load. This seems way too hot to me for a factory load.

 

[Road_Clam]

OK folks, i've gotten enough feedback to warrant an email to Federal in regards to the this situation. I'll keep everyone in the loop as I make progress.

PS, in reference to the flattened primers, the answer is yes. The pockets do seem flattened.

 

[nmjwolf]

Any chance the chrono results were off

 

[Chief 101]

your ammo sounds normal to me, guess we will see what the manufacturer says...

 

[leadburner]

Any chance the chrono results were off

That's what I was thinking. Wonder if chrono was to close & it was catching the muzzle blast. Saw a 308 one time do 4500 fps moved the chrono 2' forward it was doing 2500 fps.

 

[MLC]

"For optimum performance use only in semiautomatic firearms"

This sounds like the brilliant folks that added repeat after lather and rinse on the shampoo bottle.

 

[Road_Clam]

Any chance the chrono results were off

That's what I was thinking. Wonder if chrono was to close & it was catching the muzzle blast. Saw a 308 one time do 4500 fps moved the chrono 2' forward it was doing 2500 fps.

I placed the chrono about 9' from my muzzle, and i'm running a side exit brake. It was moderate sunlit conditions, and my chrono alpha master is almost brand new, seemed to be functioning as it should. I did have reading errors later in the afternoon once the sun's angle got too low. I sent Fusion MSR an email explaining the situation, and now i'm curious to see how they handle the situation. The other really crazy occurrence is that I had to dope my scope dropping my POI a whopping 7" at 200 meters to get back on target ! I was guessing I was high, but never imagined 7" high !

 

[A Marsh]

Any chance the chrono results were off

That's what I was thinking. Wonder if chrono was to close & it was catching the muzzle blast. Saw a 308 one time do 4500 fps moved the chrono 2' forward it was doing 2500 fps.

I placed the chrono about 9' from my muzzle, and i'm running a side exit brake. It was moderate sunlit conditions, and my chrono alpha master is almost brand new, seemed to be functioning as it should. I did have reading errors later in the afternoon once the sun's angle got too low. I sent Fusion MSR an email explaining the situation, and now i'm curious to see how they handle the situation. The other really crazy occurrence is that I had to dope my scope dropping my POI a whopping 7" at 200 meters to get back on target ! I was guessing I was high, but never imagined 7" high !

The difference in drop going from 2775 fps to 3044 fps is less than 2" at 200 yd, using Quicktarget.

 

[CJ6]

Saw this ammo at Wally World, never saw it before so figured i'd give it a try.... HOT DAM ! Long story short, this ammo packs a nasty wallop ! I chrono'd an average of 3044 fps ! 150gr bullets, and advertised MV is 2770. My docile Rem 700 Varmint kicked almost like an -06 with the Fusions ! Accuracy was ok, I shot a 1.57" group @ 200 meters. In hindsight I should have completely read all the very fine print on the box, as it states: "For optimum performance use only in semiautomatic firearms". Oops.... should not make a habit of shooting AR-10 ammo through my bolt rifle !

If Federal chronoed this ammo in a 16" bbld AR-10 @ 2770fps and you add 25-30 fps per inch in length of bbl, a 26" var bbl would put you close to your 3044 fps. A 10" increase in bbl would give you est. 250-300 fps. increase.

 

[jonbearman]

This isnt good.I never heard of ammo being only used for a gas gun.I shoot moderate loads in my ar10 and it cycles fine.Why would they intro a cartridge that is way hot to cycle a firearm that doesnt need it in the first place and it cant be good to the locking lugs or the cam key.

 

[Road_Clam]

If Federal chronoed this ammo in a 16" bbld AR-10 @ 2770fps and you add 25-30 fps per inch in length of bbl, a 26" var bbl would put you close to your 3044 fps. A 10" increase in bbl would give you est. 250-300 fps. increase.

Good knowledge, so maybe my chrono #'s were accurate

 

[bobinpa]

All I can say is that I have used Fed Fusion before and I have to agree with the OP. It packs a wallop on both ends..... my shoulder nor whitetailed deer like it!
A few years ago I got my semi custom model 7, 300 WSM back from my riflesmith right before deer season. I didn't have time to develope a load so I bought a box of Fed Fusion in 165 grain to use for deer season. My model 7 only weighs 7.5 lbs total, and nothing I have ever shot kicks like that gun with that ammo. I didn't chrono it but judging by the recoil and the way it hit deer, I would say it is VERY stout. I would rather shoot my 338 RUM without the break instead of that little model 7. However, I never had any hard bolt lift or any other sign of excessive pressure. Just my .02