Federal Terminal Ascent Hunting Bullet: Field Review

Once you pick your rifle, decipher the list of caliber choices, and top it with the perfect hunting scope, it’s time to pick a projectile. Picking a bullet to shoot out of your gun is nearly as important as the caliber itself. Depending on what you pick, your accuracy and down-range efficiency, and terminal performance can change drastically.

These days the ammunition market is flooded with options for the long-range shooter, hunter, and hobbyist. So, what do you pick? The shelves have match, cup-and-core, bonded, non-bonded, controlled-expansion, and the list only goes on. Federal Ammunition has a long history in the ammunition world and set out to make the ultimate hunting bullet—whether you’re at 10 yards or 1000.

The Terminal Ascent bullet from Federal meets the needs of the hunter from start to finish. Designed to perform in any shot scenario, this bullet has a bonded core, the company’s Slipstream Tip, and a long sleek design that features a very high ballistic coefficient across all caliber offerings. Federal guarantees this bullet to work flawlessly at any reasonable hunting range, on any animal, in any condition.

I was lucky enough to use this load on a whitetail hunt in Kansas this past December. My rifle of choice was the Springfield 2020 Waypoint chambered in 6.5 PRC. This round has devasting energy and yields impressive accuracy. Even though I was hunting whitetails from a stand, shot opportunities ranged from 50 yards to 500, a perfect hunt to test the Terminal Ascent.

The shot on my buck presented itself in an awkward position from a treestand at a range of 240 yards. I centered my crosshairs on the buck’s shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I heard the tremendous impact and knew immediately my shot met its mark then the buck’s’ body language confirmed.

The thick woods didn’t allow me to watch the buck fall, but the blood trail was thick, easy to follow, and incredibly short. He lay dead not even 50 yards from where her stood when the bullet struck at the rear of the scapula, shattering bone and exploding through the ribs on the offside. The internal damage, created by the temporary wound channel, was immense, destroying many vital organs. We tried to retrieve the bullet from the ground, but unfortunately it buried too deep into the root system of the trees. I can imagine that most, if not all, of the original bullet weight was retained after the impact.

Prices Vary with Caliber | federalpremium.com

Upon review of the performance of the Terminal Ascent, it is plain to see that this bullet is designed for hunters and will work flawlessly when used in the field. With an abundance of caliber options and weight ranges, this line of bullets will work for everyone, for every hunting scenario, and on any game in North America.