Test GECO EXPRESS: why do the fast and flat-trajectory partial fragmentation bullets reduce the flight distances when firing at long ranges?

Basically, the answer lies in the design of this lead-core bullet from GECO. This is because the GECO EXPRESS is a modern partial fragmentation bullet whose hollow point has been optimised in favour of improved aerodynamic properties by means of a so-called ballistic cap, in this case in the form of a red polymer tip. The bullet shape of the GECO EXPRESS is also very special with regard to the ballistic coefficient. Let us briefly explain this: the ballistic coefficient (BC for short) expresses the ability to overcome air resistance resulting from the bullet weight, diameter and shape parameters in a numerical value. The BC is therefore a measure of how much the bullet itself is decelerated or – to put it simply – slowed down by the air resistance. The higher this BC value, the faster the projectile is, the less it can be knocked off course by sideways winds and the more energy it can release on the target. Projectiles with a high BC value therefore generally have a long, slim, streamlined shape that tapers towards the front with a small cross-section and a boat-shaped tail.

This also applies to the GECO EXPRESS, which, thanks to its BC value, enables a high velocity with little loss of speed and thus a flat trajectory.

How does the GECO EXPRESS work and for which hunting applications is it particularly suitable?

The hollow point, in conjunction with the polymer tip, ensures that the bullet first mushrooms and enlarges its cross-section when penetrating the game's body, while at the same time releasing bullet fragments in the front section, which act as smaller secondary bullets in the game's body. The rear part of the bullet should be preserved as far as possible in order to ensure a bullet that provides the hunter with the desired tracking signs such as blood trails (blood leaking from the game's body), hair or bone splinters. These tracking signs can provide important clues in the event that the game still has a long distance to travel and needs to be tracked down – which can happen even with very good hits. Blood trails in particular play a major role here, as they often reveals which organs have been injured due to the blood colour and consistency.

The sectional view above shows how the jacket of the GECO EXPRESS partial fragmentation bullet is designed around the lead core so that it fulfils the required external and target ballistic criteria – high knock-down power, low air resistance, accuracy and precision. The three images below illustrate how the cross-section of the bullet increases after penetration as it passes through the game's body.

Bullets with a high knock-down power are required to minimise the need for long searches. The GECO EXPRESS bullet has therefore been specially designed to deliver as much energy as possible into the game's body within a short time. The decisive factor for wound ballistics is ultimately how much energy is released in the game's body and not just the impact energy. The specified energy is calculated from the difference in velocity when entering and leaving the game's body. To ensure that the process of mushrooming, fragmentation and exit proceeds as desired, the bullet jacket, which surrounds the lead core in the GECO EXPRESS, tapers towards the ogive so that the bullet mushrooms safely even at high velocities and fragmentation is initiated. On the other hand, the thicker jacket section at the rear holds the rest of the bullet together as compactly as possible in order to produce the exit wound. Due to the high deformation readiness in the first few meters, overfragmentation can occur. This mainly applies to the use of magnum calibers. The hunter must therefore ensure that bullet velocity and shooting distance match. This is why the GECO EXPRESS is only suitable to a limited extent for driven hunts, where game is usually shot at relatively close range. This is particularly critical with very powerful cartridges such as the .300 Winchester Magnum at very close range. The hunter must therefore ensure that the bullet is not too fast for the selected distance.

The GECO EXPRESS bullet demonstrates its advantages particularly when shooting over medium and long ranges and also has an extremely high knock-down power at distances far beyond the 100 meter mark. This is also confirmed by the experience that hunters from our team have had with the GECO EXPRESS factory load in terms of flight distances.

The performance profile of GECO EXPRESS.

This makes the GECO EXPRESS particularly suitable for situations where game has to killed on the spot in order to avoid problematic escape routes with long searches. For example, in bait hunting, when hunting wild boar or predators at night and, of course, when hunting close to the hunting ground boundary, because as a rule only a recognised tracker and his/her dog are allowed to cross the hunting ground boundary for a search. Thanks to its velocity properties and the flat trajectory in conjunction with the high immediate knock-down power at longer ranges, the GECO EXPRESS in 6.5mm Creedmoor is now also becoming increasingly popular for mountain hunting. Not least because of the high inherent accuracy of this cartridge.

All currently GECO EXPRESS hunting ammunition available calibers with ballistic data and prices at a glance

The GECO EXPRESS thus offers a wide range of common cartridges which, according to the manufacturer, covers "every hunting situation where accuracy and effectiveness at long range are important". There is also a suitable cartridge for every game species that can be hunted in Europe. This ranges from the lightweight .223 Remington 56-g bullet, which is also ideal for light game and predators, to the .30 caliber 165-g medium-weight bullets, which are ideal for light, medium and heavy game, to the 9.3x62 255-g bullet , which is recommended for medium to heavy game.

Practical test: GECO EXPRESS in .308 Win. from a Benelli Lupo and a Bergara BA 13, together with the new Ranger 8 from Steiner and the Whiskey4 from SIG Sauer Electro-Optics

© Dirk Schönfeld

One of the test guns for GECO EXPRESS in .308 Winchester was also the Bergara BA13 TD with WHISKEY4 IF from SIG Sauer.

For this test, which focussed primarily on the ammunition accuracy, we chose the .308 Winchester and wanted to find out how the GECO EXPRESS performs with the new Benelli Lupo Be.S.T. Open Country bolt-action rifle with a 56-cm barrel, and a tried-and-tested Bergara BA13 TD break-action rifle with a short 46-cm barrel. We also paired the Benelli Lupo with the new Ranger 8 2-16x50 riflescope from Steiner and the Bergara with a current 3-12x scope from the SIG Sauer Electro-Optics WHISKEY4 series and took both rifles with and without silencers to the 100-meter line.

In the next section, we reveal the results of our test in terms of accuracy and ballistic data. In addition to the manufacturer's YouTube video linked in this report, the photos we were able to take some time ago as part of a product presentation of the GECO EXPRESS also give an impression of the bullet's effect in game's body. There we fired the GECO EXPRESS from a Sauer 202, also in .308 Winchester, at a block of soap set up at a distance of around 50 meters. Ballistic soap behaves very similarly to body tissue, but as a simulant it has the advantage over gelatine that the cavity caused by the passage of the bullet does not collapse back. This provides a very clear picture of what the bullet has done inside the target, even without striking high-speed images or subsequent evaluation of the wound channels.

VIDEO: Gelatine shot with the GECO EXPRESS hunting bullet

© Dirk Schönfeld

The best 5-shot group with the GECO EXPRESS in .308 Winchester would also have fitted on a 10 euro cent coin. The lower green ring in which the group lies is 20 mm wide. Since the focus here was on the groups and not the position of the hits, the optics were not readjusted during the test, otherwise the hits would all be in the black circle in the center of the ring.

Back to our accuracy test: at 100 meters, the GECO EXPRESS fired from the Benelli Lupo delivered excellent accuracy. And the accuracy from the Bergara with a 46-cm barrel was also very usable for hunting. With the Benelli bolt-action rifle, we managed a 5-shot group with a very good 23-mm diameter without a silencer. With the Mehl BMC19, we measured a bullet velocity (_v2) that averaged around 776 m/s, which corresponds to an energy of 3,219 joules with the 165-gram bullet. With the silencer, the Lupo's group was reduced to an outstanding 17-mm diameter, the _v2 was 789 m/s on average and the _E2 was therefore 3,328 joules. The short-barrelled Bergara, as already mentioned, logically did not perform quite as well: without the silencer it delivered a 33-mm diameter group of 5, the measured _v2 was unexpectedly high at 779 m/s (∼ _E2 of 3,244 joules) and with the extra-long silencer, like the group which grew to 42 mm, it also went up slightly and finally amounted to 784 m/s (∼ _E2 of 3,286 joules).

all4hunters.com conclusion on the GECO EXPRESS in .308 Winchester

In this test, the GECO EXPRESS once again proved the very good accracy it is claimed to have. After all, it has often been involved in rifle tests with us and our colleagues from the print editorial offices, caliber and VISIER, and delivered flawless results there too. So if you are looking for high knock-down power at long ranges, we can wholeheartedly recommend the GECO EXPRESS. In terms of price, there are significantly more expensive cartridges on the market that perform far worse than the GECO cartridge with its very fast and effective partial fragmentation bullet.

Further information on the GECO EXPRESS can also be found here on the GECO website.