223 REM Federal Fusion 62gr Comparison; M&P 15 Sport II

[RDub]

Hello
Picked up a box each of the 223 REM 62gr Federal Fusion and the 62gr Fusion MSR today and shot them at 50 yards out of a M&P 15 Sport II; 16” 1-9 twist barrel. The sight on the rifle is a Lucid HD-7 red dot.

https://i.postimg.cc/qvH3Gc8Q/DSC03167.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xcg8fzpb)

The velocity data was taken with an Oehler 33 chronograph. Screens centered 15’ from muzzle.

https://i.postimg.cc/xj660MK8/DSC03272-sized.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/zXnSyhhT/DSC03282-sized.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

So Federal says the MSR ammo is loaded with a faster burning powder to perform better in ‘Modern Sporting Rifles’.. and the advertised muzzle velocity of the MSR ammo is 2750 fps. The sample I pulled down contained 23.6grs of a flattened ball powder.

The Federal Fusion 223 Rem 62gr ammo has an advertised muzzle velocity of 3000 fps. The sample I pulled down contained 24.2grs of a flattened ball powder.

You can check out all the pics and data for the pull-downs here;

https://postimg.cc/gallery/mup4vnru/
https://postimg.cc/gallery/3365tl1ju/

So after shooting five rounds each at a 4” target dot, here is how that went;

https://i.postimg.cc/QdqG94QQ/FED-FUSION-Compare-sized.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Doesn’t appear that the Fusion ammo likes the AR’s short barrel only delivering 2562 fps..

The Fusion MSR on the other hand did very well out of the AR, and was roughly a hundred feet per second faster than advertised velocity, delivering 2866 fps. And, the MSR ammo is 300 fps faster than the Fusion ammo with 0.6grs LESS powder.

So it is true that, not only does the MSR ammo shoot well out of a short AR, it is also faster than advertised velocity. This will be a great deer round for these small black-tail around here. Federal really has a winner here.

[ggammell]

1. A 16” barrel isn’t a “short AR”. That would be something in the 12.5” or less variety.
2. Why are surprised that a round optimized for gas guns is better than the round designed for 20”+ bolt guns?

[RDub]

Just a confirmation about all that I have heard about this ammunition. Wanted to see it for myself..

[NWPilgrim]

Thanks for the chrono data. Always good to see measured data versus advertised in a typical rifle length. I’ve not shot the MSR version, but the regular Fusion ammo has always been some of the most accurate factory ammo for my rifles, especially for a soft point. I handload the Fusion 62gr bullet as well.

[1168]

Hello
Picked up a box each of the 223 REM 62gr Federal Fusion and the 62gr Fusion MSR today and shot them at 50 yards out of a M&P 15 Sport II; 16” 1-9 twist barrel. The sight on the rifle is a Lucid HD-7 red dot.

https://i.postimg.cc/qvH3Gc8Q/DSC03167.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xcg8fzpb)

The velocity data was taken with an Oehler 33 chronograph. Screens centered 15’ from muzzle.

https://i.postimg.cc/xj660MK8/DSC03272-sized.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/zXnSyhhT/DSC03282-sized.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

So Federal says the MSR ammo is loaded with a faster burning powder to perform better in ‘Modern Sporting Rifles’.. and the advertised muzzle velocity of the MSR ammo is 2750 fps. The sample I pulled down contained 23.6grs of a flattened ball powder.

The Federal Fusion 223 Rem 62gr ammo has an advertised muzzle velocity of 3000 fps. The sample I pulled down contained 24.2grs of a flattened ball powder.

You can check out all the pics and data for the pull-downs here;

https://postimg.cc/gallery/mup4vnru/
https://postimg.cc/gallery/3365tl1ju/

So after shooting five rounds each at a 4” target dot, here is how that went;

https://i.postimg.cc/QdqG94QQ/FED-FUSION-Compare-sized.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Doesn’t appear that the Fusion ammo likes the AR’s short barrel only delivering 2562 fps..

The Fusion MSR on the other hand did very well out of the AR, and was roughly a hundred feet per second faster than advertised velocity, delivering 2866 fps. And, the MSR ammo is 300 fps faster than the Fusion ammo with 0.6grs LESS powder.

So it is true that, not only does the MSR ammo shoot well out of a short AR, it is also faster than advertised velocity. This will be a great deer round for these small black-tail around here. Federal really has a winner here.

Thanks for the measuring. What temperature?


1. A 16” barrel isn’t a “short AR”. That would be something in the 12.5” or less variety.

For an ammo manufacturer advertising velocities, anything less than a 24” single shot with an ultra tight chamber is “short”. Thats how we get full of shit advertised velocities.

[jsbhike]

Those work well on whitetail deer, used the MSR several years. Just loaded up some 62gr Gold Dot over Varget to chrono this week.

Assuming the test barrels were 24" standard and 16" MSR and using SWAG of 50fps/inch of barrel, your standard sounds about right while your MSR sounds fast. This guy's 20" sounds about right on MSR, but fast on the standard.


https://youtu.be/qE5ZnQmKy2o

[RDub]

Thanks for the measuring. What temperature?

Kinda easy to miss, but the temp is on the targets. 60°F

jsbhike; This is one of the videos that inspired me to try this.

[tacticaldesire]

The Fusion is a good duty round if one finds the Speer Gold Dot hard to come by.

[1168]

Here’s some more velocities of Gold Dot and Fusion from shorter barrels.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/-/16-714088/?

[RDub]

Here’s some more velocities of Gold Dot and Fusion from shorter barrels.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/-/16-714088/?

That post should be a Sticky..

Lots of valuable data there. Eagle_19er might need to update that post, I couldn't see the images..'no longer available'..

[jsbhike]

Got to Chrono Thursday night, 60° temp and 16" barrel. 2014/2015 Fusion MSR was 2778 fps and 80's Malaysian M193 was 3112 fps.

Trying to replicate the MSR with 62gr Gold Dot, CCI #41, Perfecta/Fiocchi once fired cases (flash holes are not pretty), and Varget.

24.9gr = 2788 fps
25.1gr = 2817 fps

[RDub]

Looks like 24.9grs is about right..

[Glock9mm1990]

Thanks for the chrono data, I actually prefer Fusion MSR over gold dot because it’s loaded hotter with faster velocities. The gold dot is loaded pathetically weak even for .223.

[NWPilgrim]

Good info thanks. The 62gr Bullets are the ones I’ve developed the least data for. I have plenty for 55, 69, and 77 and for 62gr TSX. A while ago I bought a bunch of the 62 GD but have not got around to developing loads for it yet. These results will be good input for my initial ladders.

[Pappabear]

I too have found the Fusion brand of Ammo to be accurate in the 308 variety. Pretty cheap and pretty accurate.

PB