Federal Terminal Ascent

Exclusive Look at New High BC Hunting Bullets

- Brian Pearce

Federal Cartridge has been producing ammunition for 98 years. The company is known for outstanding quality but gained particular fame among match competitors and big-game hunters with its Premium line of ammunition introduced in 1977. It featured purpose-specific bullets from Nosler and Sierra but was eventually expanded to include bullets from Trophy Bonded, Swift, Woodleigh, Barnes, etc. New for 2020, Federal has developed a new bullet known as Terminal Ascent that is the result of considerable experience in manufacturing bullets and top-quality ammunition, but also includes extensive research and development combined with state-of-art testing and technology.

It is a remarkable bullet that is tough enough to reliably take a large Alaskan brown bear at close range, but it also offers an incredibly high ballistic coefficient (BC), low drag, accuracy and reliable expansion at low velocities. It is designed to be a contender for the elusive all-purpose, do-everything bullet. The Terminal Ascent is as timely and important as when Federal introduced its Premium ammunition 43 years ago. It will be available in the spring of 2020 and initially offered in 11 Premium factory loads, but it will also be available as a component to handloaders. As of this writing, no factory loads were available; however, I was provided pre-production bullets that are identical to production component bullets that will begin shipping around April/May 2020.