Federal Premium Copper Bullets?

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Cow Tag

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Do any of your MM members know a business that has 'in inventory' the sort of new Federal Premium Copper Bullets? If so, please list the name of the business and a phone number. I cannot find any of these Federals to make a purchase. Heard pretty good reports on their performance but finding the product is difficult. P.M. me if you do not wish to post on this open forum. Thanks, Cow Tag
 
Wow, looks like Cabelas is the only place that has them in stock at the moment, and they aren't cheap there.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
MatPat, Yes, those are the bullets that I would like to purchase. Texas Hunter, I called the Cabela's store just northwest of St. Louis, MO this morn and they said that they (the St. Louis store) expected to receive a shipment of the Federal ML bullets about July 1, 2015. I ordered a box of the Hornady FPB bullets to see if I like them----should have said if my Encore .50 likes them. Thanks for your advice. Cow Tag
 
Texas Hunter, I telephoned ordered a pack of 15 of the sort of newer Federal Premium Copper bullets today from the Cabela's Kearney, Nebraska store this morning. About $32 all told. Plan on trying them in my TC Encore .50 teamed with a CCI 209 primer, Black Horn powder. I have on hand a new pack of Hornady FPB bullets in .50 and I will be experimenting with them real soon. Will keep you informed on my progress. Thank you for your info concerning these bullets. Cow Tag from southern Illinois
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-01-15 AT 09:00PM (MST)[p]You will need a short bullet starter and a loading jag to start the FPBs. Like this:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...ssories/_/N-1100209/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104436180

The rear of the FPB is bigger than 0.500 and you have to size them to your barrel. You drop it in the QLA and put the short starter on top and give it a "Whap" with your palm. That shoves it down in the barrel and sizes it. Then you can load it the rest of the way with your ramrod.

Sounds like you can load the federal bullets either the same way or with just your normal ramrod.

I will be curious to see how the federals shoot from your gun. Let us know



txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-03-15 AT 09:48AM (MST)[p]>hit or miss in performance depends
>on the idiot pulling the
>trigger IMO.
>
>www.FrontierMuzzleloading.com


Even when they're shot into water jugs, and they don't expand? How about when they're shot into game, and blow up, and don't penetrate?

They remind me of Powerbelts. Too much expansion, and none at all depending on fps.

I don't like fussy bullets. Use a Barnes, or Thor, and shoot any fps you want for perfect terminal performance.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-03-15 AT 04:20PM (MST)[p]

I would say that it is too early to know how they will perform. They were not available until late season last fall so not enough data to make a determination. The overall design looks good to me, and I see no reason they won't expand on game and the rear solid copper section should give decent penetration. Don't base too much on early and scant reports.

I once had a 0.5 inch hole of both sides of an elk with a complete pass through from a 405 gr powerbelt aerotip (yeah the ones that blow up) And this was a 20 yard shot. But it hit nothing but skin, heart and lung. But that 0.5 inch hole put him down without taking a step

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-05-15 AT 09:44AM (MST)[p]Some reviews from those who have shot game, and not dirt. I don't turn a blind eye to bullet reviews. If they don't perform for others it goes on my "don't use" list. They remind me of Powerbelts. If the fps on impact is perfect they work. Not interested. I want a bullet that will expand at all fps, and penetrate. There's better choices than the Feds.

Read.

They do load easy and shoot straight, but you can't kill anything with them. Shot moose in shoulder, missing the bone...bullet only went in a couple inches came apart and stopped. That's with three 50 grain triple pellets @ 100 yards. It never made it to the engine room. Similar shot with a Barnes bullet, blow up main should bone, two ribs on each side and stopped in the skin after passing through other shoulder. HUGE difference. Too bad, I had high hopes.


I was hoping this was going to be the muzzleloader round that was going to be my go-to bullet. Not so much.
First, let me say I shot two deer with this bullet this weekend and I recovered both of them. The bullet did do this but it still didn't perform as well as I hoped.
The first deer was a doe at 15 yards. I pulled the shot a bit, and hit her high. I hit the meat above the shoulder and she dropped immediately but did not die. I had hit her spine and the bullet did not pass thru. The bullet lodged or disintegrated in the spinal cord and I was unable to recover it. I'll take the blame for this not being a clean kill, it was a bad shot and I'm glad I was able to dispatch the doe and recover her. I was surprised that the bullet did not pass thru the deer.
The 2nd deer was that afternoon when a nice 7 point buck turned broadside at 7 yards and gave me a clean shot. The shot was good and I hit him behind the shoulder. He ran about 35 yards and then dropped and kicked for a few seconds before expiring. Again the bullet did not pass thru the deer. There was almost no blood trail to where the deer was laying. After cleaning the deer, I was able to see that the bullet had hit a rib upon entering the deer, traveled thru both lungs and then became lodged behind the opposite shoulder. The problem was that there was no bullet deformation or expansion, AT ALL. The plastic tip had come off and the cavity was filled with muscle/ bone but the bullet had not mushroomed. This was very disappointing to me. I felt lucky that the bullet had killed the deer so quickly and that the deer had not run further without a blood trail.
The bullets are easy to load, however it concerns me how little recoil there is with this bullet. It seems like the bullet might actually be too small for the .50 caliber bore.
I shot these deer with my CVA Optima .50 cal with (2) 50 grain Pyrodex pellets.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-05-15 AT 04:12PM (MST)[p]


Yes, I saw those 2 negative reviews on Cablelas website too. But the other 5 guys gave it 5 stars. Unless you know those two negative review guys personally, I still think the jury is out.

This is the internet you know...

And there is no way being solid copper, that they are not tougher than powerbelts. So unless you can get ahold of, size them property and happen to get Thors to shoot well, this is your only choice for a copper conical. And this thread is about Colorado conicals. Barnes sabots are not an option

And he is shooting an encore with a QLA, so solid lead conicals are not really an option either.

That said, if he can get the FPBs to shoot, they are tried and true and I would proabably go with them at this point. I have personally killed 4 elk with them. I would choose a 350 gr FPB over them for elk if they shot as well.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
I'm surprised you weren't recommending the FPB's from the beginning.

I compared them to the Powerbelts, because they need to also be going the right speed. Too fast, and they overexpand. Too slow, and they don't expand.

In water jug test by a reliable source the Feds looked good at shorter distances. As the distance got longer they stopped expanding. I talked to Federal when the bullet first came out, and even though they claim it's a 200yd bullet. They only tested at 100yds. They were surprised to here they weren't expanding at longer distances. Plus, the test on the water jugs was done with 110gr of BH 209, so it wasn't a weak load. A lesser load might stop expanding at shorter distances.

If you take long shots push it as fast as possible.

If you shoot short distances back off on the load so it won't over expand.

If you shoot both long and short distances. It's a crap shoot, and hope for some luck.


Just like Powerbelts. Keep the bullet in it's fps comfort zone, and they work.

The Fed is only a 250gr bullet without the plastic. If i'm going to use that light of a bullet on elk. I want to know it's going to perform like it should.

Anyway, that's my .02
 
Texas Hunter, Was this a fair test for the Federal bullets? I am referring to the fact that only 50 grains of the Black Horn 209 powder was the charge. Would like to see this same experiment performed but with 100 grains of the BH powder tamped behind the Federal bullet. What is your opinion on this?
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-08-15 AT 09:01PM (MST)[p]Wow, good catch. I missed that. That would make a BIG difference. Not sure why he did that. Maybe to simulate a long range shot? Will keep looking at more info. It may be fine with 100 gr out to 100 yards or a bit further.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-08-15 AT 09:01PM (MST)[p]He was simulating a long shot. His fps was the same as it would be at 200yds with 110-120gr of BH.

The problem is if you use a less powerful load than 120gr of BH. The non expansion will start at a shorter distance than 200yds.
 
Texas Hunter, The Hornady conical bullets entitled FPB. If memory serves me half way correctly, I believe a while back you mentioned what these initials stand for. Can you repeat? Cow Tag
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-09-15 AT 06:04AM (MST)[p]Actually I think it is Flextip Projectile Blackpowder

Here is a link about the bullet:

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/catalog/2009/48-52_ammo_muzzleloading_accessories.pdf

Looks like they did testing down to 800 fps and got expansion although they don't show that on their chart)

I still think it is disappointing that with that much penetration, the federal did not expand. That means if you slip it through the ribs, it may not

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
Give the Scorpion PT Gold 300 a try, last two years I've shot a cow elk and bull elk. The bull was shot at 209 yards behind the left front shoulder, the only thing the bill did was take a few steps backwards, than dropped. When field dressing the animal was a mess in the inside. Penetration was amazing, I'll never shot anything else, best bullet ever.
 
>Give the Scorpion PT Gold 300
>a try, last two years
>I've shot a cow elk
>and bull elk. The bull
>was shot at 209 yards
>behind the left front shoulder,
>the only thing the bill
>did was take a few
>steps backwards, than dropped. When
>field dressing the animal was
>a mess in the inside.
>Penetration was amazing, I'll never
>shot anything else, best bullet
>ever.

What was your powder load?
 
Well, this bullet failed in the high fps test too. It came apart.

Like I said it's like a Powerbelt.

Too fast it comes apart.

Too slow, and it doesn't expand.

No thanks.
 
Check out the mentioned thread now. He redid the test with 95 gr of powder and it looked pretty impressive.

You may be fine at moderate ranges up to 120 yards or so. I suspect you wouldn't shoot further than that anyway.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
I just seen that midway USA has 350 grain Federal premium bullets on their website now. So they have a 270 and 350 grain, has anyone shot the 350's yet?
Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
How about the bloodline bullet? Ya I know it's a saboted bullet. But these look very devastating. That's what I'm gonna try.

O--one
B--big
A--ass
M--mistake
A--america
 
Midway adds the 350 Federals to their weebsite, but not for sale. Listed as unavailable.
 

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