Cartridge portrait: brand new GECO UTHP 9mm Luger, ideal for handgun competitions up to 50 meters

What used to be a commonplace full metal jacket cartridge for mainly military and police use is now also regarded by sport shooters as reliable ammunition for successful competitions. However, the 9x19 mm aka 9mm Luger cartridge has come a long way and required a lot of ballistic testing to make it into the narrow selection of ammo suitable for competitions. The uniformity of the ignition and the propellant charge, for example, were important prerequisites for tight shot groups, and other bullets are also in demand today instead of the mostly used full metal jacket round bullet shape.

Even in 9 mm Luger, pistols deliver excellent, tight groups when firing the right cartridges: here are some Beretta pistols with target optics, plus the new GECO UTHP Ultra Target Hollow Point, available with 124-grain hollow-point bullets (8.0 g).

The new GECO UTHP Ultra Target Hollow Point is supplied in 50-round cardboard boxes, loaded with bullets weighing 8.0 grams, or 124 grains.

New GECO Ultra Target Hollow Point cartridge in 9 mm Luger: especially for sport shooters, with high accuracy and reliability

In addition to the match shotgun, Stefan Rumpler from the GECO team is just as accurate with the pistol, his rather unusual Laugo Arms Alien 500, where the new GECO UTHP also works perfectly and with the tightest groups.

Ammunition specialist GECO (founded back in 1897, here is a company portrait) now has a new handgun cartridge, the GECO Ultra Target Hollow Point or GECO UTHP for short. The pistol ammunition (with a 8.0 grams, or 124 grains, hollow point bullet), which is initially only available in one load, has already been fired extensively by some top shooters during the market launch phase, and their verdicts were clearly positive, such as this one. "The new GECO UTHP delivers absolute top groupings in my pistols and is my first choice for target shooting."

However, the high accuracy also promises a lot at longer distances such as 50 meters – after all, the current dynamic disciplines such as PPC or Bianchi Cup are often shot with 9mm pistols and also at these long ranges, and this is where the wheat is separated from the chaff in terms of cartridge technology (as well as gun accuracy).

The innovative hollow-point bullet design also contributes to the excellent accuracy. Despite the slight indentations at the tip of the bullet, they also feed reliably from double-stack magazines, which is also an important selection criterion for reliable function, with which the "full metal jacket" bullets usually score highly. We in the editorial team are already looking forward to the first test results.