Federl 30-30 fusion question.

[336A]

I'm hoping that I can get some info from you fine folks here in regards to this ammo. I've been using this ammo for several years now, not because it has a fancy schmancy bonded core but due to it's accuracy from my rifle. This past Sunday I got a nice sized doe, the shot was about 50 yards. The bullet entered behind the right shoulder and exited the left side. The doe showed the classic signs of being hit but she then made a couple bounds stopped and looked at me before taking off.

After she bolted I walked down to where she was when I shot her, to my surprise there was no spore what so ever. I then walked over to where she was standing before bolting and there was a mess of blood there as well as a good blood trail to follow. When I reached her I turned her over and noticed that the exit wound was not that large, at first I thought the bullet was under the skin until I ran my hand over it. This is not the first time that I noticed this with this ammo.

Have others here had results similar to mine with this ammo or even other traditional FN/RN 30-30 ammo for that matter? I'm thinking about switching to Win PP as I think they may be a bit softer and expand a little better as a result.

[iceman]

A close shot like that may have left larger exit with another bullet but so what? Deer are a tough animal I have put a 385 gr great plains lead bullet from a 50 cal muzzle loader through both lungs and left a nasty exit wound on a deer and watched it run 75 yards before it found out it was dead.Your bullet did exactly what it was designed to do, kill the deer. The exit damage might have been bigger with a different bullet, but the internal damage is what counts. I sort of laugh when I read of a bullet that failed that was recovered from a dead animal. If the animal died I don't think the bullet failed, maybe placement was off a bit, but the bullet did its job. just my .02 and worth what you paid for it.

[vancelw]

Lots of variables determine how a bullet expands and how an animal bleeds. I've shot pronghorn with a .308 that looked like you drove a basketball out the exit hole (hair explosion) and I've had the same .308 make a pencil sized hole on exit of a deer. Both animals expired (the latter after running 1/4 mile and the former on the spot). Distance (and the accompanying loss of velocity) seems to be the main factor, but the initial material hit (hair, fat, bone) seems to affect it, too.
It just reinforces the importance of good shot placement in case something doesn't work perfectly. I've never used the Fusion ammo or bullets so I can't say how they compare to others. I know the GMX bullets perform consistently (in my experience) - they tend to penetrate deeper and open less, but as long as they act in a predictable manner. . .