When To Upgrade Your Rifle Bullet

Many big game hunters east of the Mississippi River don’t pay too much attention to their rifle bullets. After all, most have taken plenty of whitetails with moderately priced cartridges available at hardware stores.

The danger of such success is it risks lulling one into believing that what works for one species or situation works everywhere. And the reality is when the stakes get higher—think Alaskan moose hunt or big Saskatchewan whitetails—details affecting the performance and construction of the bullet become critical. Hunters who delve into specifics realize they need a bullet that will deliver accuracy and lethality at all ranges, even if the cartridges with those bullets cost a little more. That’s when a bullet such as Federal’s Terminal Ascent makes tremendous sense.

“A lot of people talk about the hunt of a lifetime,” says Eric Miller, centerfire rifle product line manager for Federal. “The ammunition is often probably the least expensive part of your hunt. But in my opinion, it’s probably the most important part, because it’s the element that dispatches the animal.”

Where Normal Bullets Fail

Commonly used soft point, cup-and-core-style bullets perform well on whitetails and other medium-size big game at relatively close distances. However, they don’t always hold together well and might lose weight retention on impact. That factor becomes increasingly important when targeting larger or bigger-boned animals. In such cases, hunters should consider a high-performance bonded bullet, such as Terminal Ascent. During its development, engineers sought to combine the best elements of tough expanding big game bullets and match-style bullets for long-range shooting. Ultimately, they created what Miller calls a “match-grade hunting bullet” that delivers deep penetration, lethal performance, high weight retention and accuracy at all ranges.

Terminal Ascent bullets have a solid copper rear shank and bonded lead core. The term bonding essentially means the bullets have gone through a process that bonds the core to the jacket. That’s one of the keys to the bullet’s tremendous weight retention.

“We want the bullet to retain weight, penetrate and expand,” Miller says. “We look at penetration first, expansion and then weight retention. And they are interconnected when it comes to transferring energy. The bullet holds together. When you recover that bullet, I can’t guarantee that it’s 100 percent of its original weight, but generally I want it to have 91, 92 or maybe 94 percent weight retention, so it’s still really close to the grain weight you started with.”

Having weight retention at all ranges can be especially important on many big game hunts, as shots might be at close or long ranges. Terminal Ascent bullets feature a Slipstream polymer tip and a hollow core, which boosts long-range performance. And the bullet still performs well on close shots.

“Standard target bullets are not meant to hold together,” Miller says. “In Terminal Ascent, even at the end of the bullet’s trajectory, when it’s kind of running out of juice, you still get energy transfer. It’s hard for a bullet to be able to hold together and expand at 10 yards as well as hold together and shoot accurately at 600, 800 or 1,200 yards, but Terminal Ascent does.”

Power Of Precision

Of course, accuracy is critical for big-game hunts. Terminal Ascent bullets are grooved, which improves accuracy across a range of calibers while reducing fouling and barrel wear. Grooving typically creates aerodynamic drag, which reduces the ballistic coefficient (basically the measure of a bullet’s ability to overcome air resistance in flight). However, Terminal Ascent bullets features the AccuChannel groove, which is angled and creates less disruption as it travels through the air, giving it the highest ballistic coefficient in its class.

“A lot of that accuracy goes back to the match part and the specs we put into it,” Miller says. Because Terminal Ascent is designed for high performance, Federal uses extra quality measures during production, including more hands-on attention and tighter tolerances.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting antelope, mule deer, elk or whitetails,” Miller says. “With its accuracy, construction and bonding, Terminal Ascent makes a great all-around hunting bullet.”

Terminal Ascent is currently available in a wide variety of cartridge options, including 6.5 Creedmoor 130-grain, 6.5 PRC 130-grain, 270 Win. 136-grain, .270 WSM 136-grain, 280 Ackley Improved 155-grain, 7mm Rem. Mag. 155-grain, 308 Win. 175-grain, 30-06 Sprg. 175-grain, 300 Win. Mag. 200-grain and 300 Win. Short Mag. 200-grain.