Federal markets Fusion for big game and pitches the line at deer hunters. The bullet is a bonded soft point, with the copper jacket plated onto the lead core. Federal rates it at a G1 BC of .400, and the 130-grain load leaves the muzzle at 3,050 fps, in step with the other 130-grain hunting loads from Federal, Winchester and Remington.

Compared with Federal's Power-Shok 130-grain, the Fusion starts 10 fps slower but pulls ahead downrange. At 500 yards, a steady 10 mph wind blowing straight across the range pushes the Fusion about 21 inches sideways and the Power-Shok about 23. Compared with Winchester's Ballistic Silvertip 130-grain, a polymer-tipped load that starts at the same speed and kicks the same in the same rifle, the Fusion falls a little behind: the same wind pushes the Ballistic Silvertip about 19 inches at 500 yards. Zeroed at 100 yards, the Fusion drops about 47 inches at 500 and the Ballistic Silvertip about 46.

Buy the Fusion if you hunt deer or other big game and want Federal's bonded soft point. Pick the Power-Shok if a plain soft point will do; at 300 yards both drop about 11 inches from a 100-yard zero, so the difference only shows at long range. Pick the Ballistic Silvertip if you want a polymer tip and a little less wind drift. If speed at the muzzle matters most to you, Remington's Core-Lokt Tipped 130-grain is the fastest start of the 130-grain loads, at 3,080 fps.