by Dr. Jim and Mary Clary
Los Lunas, NM -(AmmoLand.com)- When this Federal bullet was introduced, it was touted by many writers as being the “end all – be all” of muzzleloader bullets.
According to the sages it was going to make all saboted and powerbelt bullets obsolete. And, Federal’s advertising makes this bullet sound like the “final answer” for all muzzleloaders:
“Federal Premium is redefining modern in-line performance with the all-new Trophy Copper Muzzleloader Bullet. Its exclusive B.O.R. Lock MZ System provides outstanding accuracy in a non-sabot design that’s easy to load, scrubs fouling from the breech and ensures consistent bullet seating. The system’s foundation is a polymer cup that’s permanently attached to the bullet base. The force of ignition pushes the cup forward onto raised bands along the bullet shank, expanding its diameter. This engages the rifling and seals the bore, optimizing velocity and accuracy. The rear of the B.O.R. Lock MZ cup features a hard, fiber-reinforced polymer ring that scours fouling from the breech as the bullet is pushed into place. This decreases the need to clean between shots and makes it easy to seat the bullet at the exact same depth for every shot. Because there’s no bulky sabot, required loading force averages about half that of most sabot bullets. Like other projectiles in the proven Trophy Copper line, the copper-alloy bullet features a polymer tip, with a deep, hollow cavity and skiving that allows for consistent, devastating expansion.”
Not so fast. We may be just plain old country folks, but we are skeptical when salesmen come around promising to solve all of our problems. “Trust me” is their favorite line, “we are the experts.” Granted, Federal Premium ammunition is some of the best on the market. No argument there…. but, how about their new muzzleloading bullet? Does it live up to the Federal reputation or is it just another bullet? There was only one way to find out ….. take it out and shoot it.
Before going to the range, we compared the Federal Trophy Copper MZ (270 gr.) bullet with the CVA Aerolite (250 gr.), Harvester Scorpion PT Gold (260 gr.) and Shockwave (Hornady) SST (250 gr.) . We are not ballistic experts; however, it seems logical that the smooth surfaces of the latter three bullets will be more aerodynamically stable and “fly” better than the Federal with its “on-board” accessories (polymer sleeve and fixed fiberglass-reinforced base). However, only range tests will confirm or refute our conclusion based on that observation.
Per Federal’s recommendation, we used our 1:28″ twist rifles for the tests. With the recommended two-pellet load (100 grains) of Triple7, the Federal Trophy Copper MZ was fired into ballistic gel at 80 yards. The results were rather startling, to say the least. Not only did the bullet not expand, it had apparently tumbled, prior to impacting the gel and went in backwards. From the picture below, one can see the path of the bullet entering the gel on the left and the polymer sleeve after it detached from the bullet. This picture also confirms that the integral polymer sleeve and fiberglass disc base remain with the bullet in flight.
We took two unfired Federal bullets and removed the polymer sleeve with its fixed base and the ballistic tip. We weighed them as well as two of the fired bullets and they all weighed exactly the same – 251.1 grains. Federal was correct on that point, the bullet does retain 100% of its weight. The picture below compares a fired bullet (left) with an unfired bullet (right). It clearly illustrates that there was no expansion.
Since our tests with the ballistic gel indicated that the bullet can tumble, we didn’t have much hope that it would be accurate, but we had to try. We fired three rounds at 100 yards, using the Caldwell Lead Sled for stability and obtained the following results:
In the hope that we could get a more satisfactory group, we set up a new target and fired 7 more rounds, allowing the barrel to cool between rounds. Those results are recorded in the following target:
We could not get satisfactory groups with the Federal bullets. I suppose it’s possible that we got a “bad” batch of bullets and that someone else might obtain better results with a different batch. However, only additional testing can determine that.
Looking at the above target, a shooter on the range next to Jim remarked, “Well, it isn’t minute-of-angle, but it might be minute-of-deer, if you were lucky.”
That pretty well sums up our conclusion.
For comparison, in case you are wondering, the following targets are typical for the CVA Aerolite, Harvester Scorpion PT Gold and Shockwave SST bullets at 100 yards from the same gun with a two-pellet Triple 7 load.
Our conclusion? The Federal Trophy Copper MZ is not a bullet that we would want to go hunting with.
James R. Clary, Ph.D.
Contributing Editor, Guns & Shooting Online
Field Editor, Universal Hunter Magazine
Associate Editor, N.A. Muzzleloader Hunting Assoc.
Mary H. Clary, B.S., R.N.
Women’s Editor, Guns & Shooting Online
Associate Editor, N.A. Muzzleloader Hunting Assoc.
Field Editor, Universal Hunter Magazine
How on earth do you explain the Youtube videos of this bullet cutting the same hole in video after video from different producers? This is the first negative review I have read.
I’ve just gotten home from the range. I don’t know what’s wrong with their rifle, or perhaps their shooter, but I got 1 1/2″ groups with these new bullets. That’s better than some centerfire rifles. If you believe this site, I am sorry for you. Good hunting.
Wanted Reduced Smokeless powder Load for my Savage ML II. I am beginning to think I am the only ML shooter not wanting to kill a bear or shoot 300 yards. I am a young 80 year long time shooter. I reload for 4 different center fire military rifles. I have learned it does not take a magnum to kill a piece of paper. I would like a 1500 fps load with a bullet under 300 grs. REMEMBER the Savage is a true smokeless powder ML rifle. My reason for having the Savage is I do not like to clean… Read more »
I bought 2 15 rd packages of this bullet and shot 7 rounds out of an original Rem 700 MZ using 2 50 gr 777 pellets. The results were 2 2 rd groups of touching bullets but in different places on the target, 2 rounds went wide and hit the target sideways. The last bullet was really high and to the left of center. This gun shoots dead on at 25 yds using 245 gr Power Belts with 2 50 gr 777 pellets. I was hoping to find an accurate, easy to load bullet to replace the Power Belts which… Read more »
These are great bullets in the right gun. It has to be in most cases 1:27 twist or faster 1:27 1:26 1:24 also they like velocity and at least 150 grain loads . I wonder on light 100 grain loads weather the base fully seats on the bullet? I have freind using them who shoots 100 grains max load of loose pyrodex and found that if when loading he compressed the bullet into the base his groups improved greatly, of course you can’t do this with pellets as you will crush them. I use them in a Remington 700 ultimate… Read more »
I shot is bullet out of my CVA and Traditions and they tumbled as well. I’m glad I came across this article because I thought I was only one having this problem. With one shot it actually left a perfect bullet imprint as if the bullet was standing upright.