By JOSEPH VON BENEDIKT EDITOR IN CHIEF

GILDED
PROJECTILE
THE
Hornady’s GMX is a solid-gilding-metal projectile engineered to provide deep penetration and still
expand dramatically. The bullet on the right impacted a gemsbok on the point of the shoulder at 175 yards
and was recovered just under the skin at the opposite, rearmost ribs. The other expanded bullet passed
lengthwise through a huge warthog at 348 yards, creating a 34-inch wound channel.
52
By JOSEPH VON BENEDIKT
EDITOR IN CHIEF
The Gilded Projectile
When pursuing a range of heavybodied to lap-dog-tiny game in
widely varying terrain, it is wise
to choose a bullet for versatility.
T
here I was, above timberline somewhere on the Eastern Cape of
South Africa, fighting the frost-ridden wind and drawing down
on an animal with a bullet that I wasn’t sure was right for the
job. It was Hornady’s GMX, and the fat lady was about to sing
over an elusive vaal rhebok, either killed cleanly or, well, poorly.
Wrong Bullet, Right Bullet
I’m a believer in lead and lead-core
bullets. For centuries lead has been the
bullet component of choice for good
reason. It conforms to rifling well. It
expands predictably on impact. It’s
inexpensive, and it’s easy to work with.
Ever since its insidious beginning,
I have bitterly opposed the lead-free
bullet movement. I like my Sierra
GameKings and home-cast .45-70
bullets too much, and I don’t believe
the anti’s claims regarding lead’s
harmful effect on wildlife. More to
the point, if lead bullets ever become
banned on a broad scale, gun owners
and hunters will have just transitioned
from slippery slope to free fall.
On top of that, rumors of homogeneous bullets failing to expand flowed
pretty commonly in the early days of
nonlead designs. My brother and a
friend experienced such failures personally. Pressures tended to be unpredictable and copper fouling dreadful. Me,
I just had no use for such bullets when
tried-and-true lead-core projectiles
were, in most cases, cheaper anyway.
While they make fantastic deer bullets, traditional cup-and-lead-core, unbonded bullets are prone to
dramatic weight loss and sometimes distortion. Homogenous bullets, like the GMX at left, may not expand
as dramatically, but they penetrate better and are more suitable for heavy-bodied game.
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The Gilded Projectile
56
As new innovations do, the purecopper homogeneous bullet progressed
in leaps and bounds, mostly under the
dedicated research of the good folks
at Barnes Bullets. When the grooveshanked Barnes Triple Shock X (TSX)
bullet came out a decade or so ago, it
unexpectedly offered such excellent
accuracy that it posted a real challenge
to even traditional lead-core hunting
bullet designs renowned for shooting
tiny groups. And when the Tipped
Triple Shock X (TTSX) arrived on
the scene, its polymer tip effectively
eliminated failures to expand—in
fact, it took terminal performance to a
whole new level for homogeneous bullets by initiating immediate, complete
expansion on impact, whether bone
or soft tissue was contacted and no
matter what the angle. I caved in and
have since taken elk, several pronghorn
antelope, and a handful of cull aoudad
with the TTSX.
Hornady got on board the homogeneous bullet movement in late 2008
with its Gilding Metal eXpanding
(GMX) bullet. Sporting similar design
characteristics to the Barnes TTSX
(grooves around the bullet’s shank to
reduce bearing surface drag and bore
fouling and plastic tip to initiate expansion), it is constructed of gilding metal
(95 percent copper, 5 percent tin),
which, according to Hornady, tends to
leave less metal fouling in rifling than
the pure copper used by Barnes.
What intrigued me about the GMX
is that the brains behind the project
engineered it to allegedly have similar
in-bore pressure and friction characteristics to Hornady’s popular SST
(traditional lead-core, plastic-tipped
bullet) and InterBond (bonded,
tougher version of the SST), thus
allowing handloaders to use existing
load data for common equal-weight
projectiles when handloading the new
GMX bullet. This makes loading for it
simpler than for other homogeneous
bullet designs, which typically require
a bit of jump to the rifling leades to
SH OOTING TIMES • NOV EMB ER 20 1 2 Kudu, 180 yds, broadside, GMX passed through both shoulders.
Warthog, 348 yds, GMX traveled lengthwise, recovered after 34 inches of penetration.
CENTER: Blesbok, 358 yds, GMX passed through both shoulders.
BOTTOM LEFT: Gemsbok, 175 yds, GMX broke front shoulder, stopped under skin at opposite
rearmost ribs; second GMX passed through both shoulders.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Bushbuck, 80 yds, GMX passed through both shoulders.
TOP LEFT:
TOP RIGHT:
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The Gilded Projectile
keep pressures from spiking (and they
tend to shoot more accurately with
a bit of jump anyway), as well as a
careful approach to maximum pressure
because of the reduced malleability of
pure copper or gilding metal.
The GMX is, of course, a longer bullet when compared to an equal-weight
lead-core design because of the slightly
lesser density of gilding metal when
compared to lead. Interpretation: An
equal-weight GMX will protrude more
into powder space than either an SST
or an InterBond. Hornady engineers
don’t appear to believe it’s an issue.
I have yet to handload the GMX
extensively enough to give an authoritative opinion on whether one may
indeed use load data developed for
Hornady SST and GMX bullets, but
I can say that—in my 7mm T/C Venture at least—it does not lay a speck
of metal fouling down. On the other
hand, GMX bullets foul the bore of
my brother’s trusty .30-06 like a copper ring on an unwanted bride’s finger.
I also have good rifles that foul badly
with Barnes TTSX bullets, and others
that foul very little with the same.
I suspect that the GMX will affect
various rifles similarly—some will foul
and some will not.
On the potential downside, while
Barnes heat-treats various bullet
weights and diameters differently for
projected velocities, and suggests that
the TTSX will expand at impact speeds
as low as 1,600 fps, the gilding metal
used by Hornady is harder and may
not expand reliably at velocities much
lower than 2,000 fps. The way I see it,
if you’re shooting a loveable old slowboat cartridge, like the .30-30, you’re
better off with a lead-core bullet. The
magnum cartridges that homogeneous
bullets shine with should carry 2,000
fps out farther than most of us have
any business shooting at game.
However, every homogeneous bullet—whether it be a Barnes, a Hornady, or one of the new offerings by
Nosler or Federal—will usually impact
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light-bodied, thin-skinned game with
reduced effect when compared to traditional cup-and-lead-core designs.
Why? Because traditional lead-core
bullets fragment on impact, at least
partially. The same tendency that
can cause insufficient penetration on
heavy-boned, massive-bodied game
offers extraordinary “thump,” if you
will, on smaller, more fragile animals.
Since those smaller, more fragile
animals tend to have highly developed nervous systems and instant,
dramatic reflex reactions, extra thump
is good—it can eliminate some long,
stressful blood trails.
Shots on the Eastern Cape tend to be long, and recovery can be rigorous if shot placement or bullet
performance is poor. You need a good combination of rifle, optic, and ammunition, such as this T/C Venture
Weathershield outfitted with a Zeiss Conquest scope and loaded with Hornady ammo.
Crusader Safaris
Booked through Global Adventure Outfitters (www.gaohunts.com) who helped iron out the
red tape of importing firearms into the Republic of South Africa, my hunt with Crusader Safaris
(www.crusadersafaris.com) was outstanding in every aspect. Accommodations were comfortable, the food was excellent (especially with PH Schalk commanding the hardwood-emberpowered outside barbeque), and the hunting was superb. The first several days, before the big
storm hit, I shot multiple species every day—and good trophies, too. For a westerner who grew
up packing into the Rockies for 10 days just for a chance at a bull elk, it felt almost sinful.
Hunting was mostly spot and stalk, accessing high ridges, vantage points, and canyon walls
via Toyota Landcruiser, then glassing and moving until a mature animal was spotted. Then the
stalk was on. Each day’s hunt could be as strenuous or laid back as you wanted, depending on the
species and terrain. A couple of the guys in camp had limited mobility—which didn’t faze the PHs
at all—and they got into great hunting every day.
The history of the area (about two hours out of Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is fascinating.
Settled in the very early 1800s, many of the original (huge) ranches are still intact and owned by
sixth-, seventh-, or eighth-generation descendants of the original settlers and are passed down
from father to eldest son. Battles of the Boer Wars were fought across the very land we hunted.
But perhaps the best aspect of the Crusader Safaris operation:
It is all low-fence hunting. By and large, almost all of Africa is
now in high-fence concessions. Granted, the fenced areas are
huge, often numbering into the hundreds of thousands of
acres, so the hunting is the real thing, but it still feels good to
hunt native species across low-fence lands that have changed little
since the first Europeans sunk anchor off the south-eastern coast.
—Joseph von Benedikt
shooti ngti mes.com
The Gilded Projectile
The Test of Truth
Which brings me back to the beginning of this tale. I was about to shoot
at one of the most wired, nervous
animals South Africa has to offer, with
a GMX bullet. A unique, 60-pound,
high-country animal with fur like a
Current GMX Offerings
Diameter
Weight (Grs.)
.224
.224
.224
.243
.257
.264
.277
.284
.308
.308
.338
BC (G1)
50.215
55.245
70.350
80.300
90.290
120.450
130.460
139.486
150. 415
165.447
185.420
rabbit and eyes like America’s pronghorn antelope, vaal rhebok are particularly difficult to stalk because all
their senses are set on “acute.” On top
of that, the species has a very limited
range, so opportunities to hunt them
come dear, making shot opportunities
all the more stressful.
Shortly after we began our quest,
Professional Hunter Armand Aucamp
said, “After a lifetime of hunting
vaaleys (the South African pet name
for the diminutive antelope), I can
count on my two hands the number
of rams I’ve seen taken with a single
shot.” Aucamp has a special passion
for hunting vaal rhebok—so much so
that I took to calling him the “vaaley
whisperer.”
“So many times, one must shoot
from ridge to ridge, in a wind,” he
continued in his Afrikaans-accented
English. “And since the vaal rhebok is
so difficult to approach, shots are usually long. The good part is, the animal
is very soft. You know, they aren’t
tough. If you hit one too far back, or
in the hindquarters, it will usually die
quickly. Even in the leg, it will usually stop and lie down, and you can
approach and finish it. So we don’t pass
on many shot opportunities.”
“What calibers do you recommend?”
I queried. “What with the small size of
the animal, it seems like a .223 would
be about perfect.”
“No. Because of the wind, something bigger is much better.” Aucamp
nodded at my T/C Venture Weathershield in 7mm Remington Magnum.
“The seven mil is very good.” Like
most African PHs, he pronounced it
“Sev’n m’l.”
My rifle was certainly accurate
enough—it predictably puts three
139-grain GMX bullets into less than
The Gilded Projectile
an inch at 100 yards. My only concern
was whether the GMX would open
quickly enough to produce a good
wound channel on an animal that
might only be 4 inches from one side
of its ribcage to the other.
When preparing for the safari, I
had the option of sighting-in with
either Hornady’s 154-grain SST or
the 139-grain GMX, both loaded in
the high-octane Superformance line of
ammo. Knowing that a broad gamut
of game—size-wise—was on the
menu, I opted for the GMX, figuring
that I’d rather put a small hole in a
small animal than a shallow hole in a
big one. The SST, while it is one of my
favorite deer bullets, tends to shed a
Sierra MatchKing bullets
are shot at more targets
to win more matches than
any other rifle bullet in the
world. Exacting tolerances
in design and production
assure accuracy you can
depend on for tighter
groups at longer range.
Available in a variety of
calibers, from .22 to .338,
you’ll be in championship
company when you
choose Sierra.
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Contact your dealer for the complete line
of Sierra bullets or visit www.sierrabullets.com
lot of weight, wreaking havoc on internal organs but not penetrating particularly deeply. With elk-size animals
known for toughness on license, such
as gemsbok and wildebeest, I thought
Zeiss’s new Conquest
Duralyt Riflescopes
While my primary hunting rifle—the T/C
Venture Weathershield mentioned in this
article—was mounted with a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10X 44mm with the very capable
Rapid-Z 600 reticle, I took along a second
rifle in the hopes of doing some nighttime
predator hunting for jackals and caracals,
the very aggressive native cats that prey on
sheep, goats, and the occasional calf.
That rifle was T/C’s innovative new
switch-barrel Dimension, mounted with
Zeiss’s new Conquest Duralyt 2-8X
42mm scope. Sporting a 30mm tube for
greater strength and light transmission,
the Duralyt is available with an illuminated
reticle hosting a very fine dot that comes
alive in the center of the crosshairs when
activated—perfect for drilling a predator
shadowing the outer edges of visible light.
The Duralyt’s body is machined from a
single block, and the scope is waterproof
and nitrogen purged to help prevent fogging.
—Joseph von Benedikt
SPECIFICATIONS
CONQUEST DURALYT
Manufacturer:
Zeiss Sport Optics
www.zeiss.com
Magnification:2-8X
Eye Relief: 3.54 in.
Field of View: 15.7-52.2 ft. @ 100 yds.
Adjustment 1/3 in.
Clicks:
Vertical 63 in.
Adjustment:
Horizontal 63 in.
Adjustment:
Parallax 110 yds. (100 m)
Settings:
Length: 11.88 in.
Weight:18.34 oz. (illuminated
reticle)
Price:$1,444
s hooti ngti m es .com
The Gilded Projectile
it was better to opt for penetration on
the big stuff and risk a knitting-needle
hole in the tiny game.
Exiting at 3,172 fps (as chronographed from my 24-inch-barreled
T/C Venture Weathershield), the GMX
had penetration in spades. The first
day of my safari I shot clean through
both shoulders of a heavy old kudu
bull at 180 yards, and the next day I
took the only shot I had—right up the
tailpipe—on a gigantic warthog as he
made an attempt to disappear forever
into a wall of thornbrush at 348 yards.
PH Schalk de Villiers and I found
the perfectly expanded GMX against
the pig’s breastbone at the base of its
throat, at the end of an impressive
34-inch wound channel. Needless to
say, it worked.
Now, lying in the frosty grass of a
high ridge, my eyes tearing up from
the bite of a stiff wind, I was about
Hornady’s high-octane
Superformance 7mm
Rem. Mag. ammo
pushes a 139-grain
bullet at 3,172 fps from
the author’s T/C Venture
rifle, providing a flatshooting, hard-hitting
combination.
to launch a GMX at a very good vaal
rhebok. A thin screen of grass shuddered in the breeze a few yards in front
of me, partially obscuring my view, and
the animals were skittish, their sixth
sense for danger prompting them to
scan the wide, treeless basin nervously.
They wouldn’t stand much longer.
Think small, I told myself as I extended
my bipod and slid the rifle forward,
finding the ram in my 3.5-10X 44mm
Zeiss Conquest scope and aligning the
Rapid-Z reticle on his shoulder. At
10X the vaal rhebok didn’t look tiny,
but I knew he was. I exhaled and sent
the 139-grain GMX across 220 yards
of African hanging valley.
My ears registered the thwuck of
impact as I racked another shell into
the chamber, mindful of Aucamp’s
admonition that vaal rheboks are
rarely taken with one shot. The ram
64
SH OOTING TIMES • NOV EMB ER 20 1 2 s hooti ngti m es .com
The Gilded Projectile
was over the far ridge in an instant,
carrying a leg, clearly shot in the
shoulder. No chance for a follow-up,
and as it turned out, no need.
We found him 30 yards over the
rocky ridge, his slate-gray fur blending perfectly with old stone outcroppings. The bullet had impacted
perhaps 3 inches below where I had
aimed. The shoulder was broken, and
the GMX had passed across the vaal
rhebok’s brisket, expanding dramatically and splitting the hide from armpit to armpit, laying muscle and skin
open like a crushed melon. Though
the GMX had not penetrated the vital
cavity, the animal was as dead as the
gray stones it lay on. To my surprise,
foamy lung blood was emerging from
its nose and mouth, and we concluded that hydrostatic shock must have
hemorrhaged the lungs and very likely
ruptured the heart.
200 FPS
UP TO 1
Clearly, I had been stressing over
bullet performance for no reason. The
GMX had performed perfectly, imparting tremendous shock and humanely
dispatching the vaal rhebok even with
a less than perfect hit.
I recovered just one other bullet—
because only one other stopped in an
animal, a gemsbok that I shot at 175
yards on the point of the shoulder.
The GMX broke the shoulder, penetrated through the vital cavity, passed
“The GMX had performed perfectly,
imparting tremendous shock and humanely
dispatching the vaal rhebok....”
A Myriad of Performance
I shot a total of 11 animals ranging from 60 pounds to 600 on that
trip, at ranges from 70 to 391 yards.
The 7mm 139-grain GMX performed
perfectly in every case. Massive wound
channels and complete pass-throughs
provided excellent blood trails, but
none were really needed.
through the rearmost ribs on the far
side, and came to rest under the skin.
Africa is an interesting place for
the dedicated ballistician and bullet
scholar. I have friends in the U.S. that
spout strong opinions on this bullet
or that bullet, courtesy of a decade
of deer hunting with whatever their
favorite design happens to be. And yet,
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The Gilded Projectile
when one does the math, counting a
deer almost every year—we all go a
season now and then without getting
our buck—that decade of experience
may only represent seven or eight
deer shot with that bullet. A hunter in
Africa will shoot eight to 12 animals
of varying sizes and at varying ranges
with a bullet in a week, providing
SPECIFICATIONS
VENTURE WEATHERSHIELD
Manufacturer:
Thompson/Center Arms
www.tc-arms.com
Type: Bolt-action repeater
Caliber: 7mm Rem. Mag.
Magazine 3 rounds
Capacity:
Barrel:24 in.; 5R rifling, 1:9
twist
Overall Length: 43.5 in.
Weight, empty: 7 lbs.
Stock:Synthetic
Length of Pull: 13.5 in.
Finish:Weathershield (ceramic
based)
Sights:None
Trigger:Adjustable 3.5–5 lbs.
Safety: Two position
Price:$569
extensive material to research and from
which to draw conclusions.
My conclusions? Though I am adamantly opposed to the lead-free movement on a political level, I’ve discovered
that there are new homogeneous bullets
that simply demand respect as hunting
bullets. The GMX is one of the most
versatile projectiles I’ve ever chambered in a rifle. I’ll reserve them for my
faster-stepping cartridges, and I’d like
to see a broader choice of weights for
the various calibers (Hornady rep and
good friend Neil Davies assures me they
are coming), but I’d confidently hunt
everything from coyotes to bull elk with
that 7mm Rem. Mag. 139-grain Superformance load if called upon to do so.
Of course, America being America and
me being me, I doubt that will happen.
As long as I have good lead-core bullets
as well as homogeneous bullet designs
to choose from, I’ll mix it up and pick
the most perfect projectile for the particular task at hand.
T/C Venture rifle
I’ve been a fan of Thompson/Center’s
Venture rifle line ever since it emerged as
top scorer in Shooting Times’s hard-core
2011 budget rifle shootout (August issue).
It’s an accurate, dependable rifle that offers
outstanding shootability. A Venture’s action
can be counted on for silky function, a good
trigger, and reliability. As a cherry on the
topping, the Venture comes with a 1-MOA
accuracy guarantee, and it really meets it.
The Weathershield version that I took to Africa is not stainless; rather, it sports a ceramicbased, corrosion-resistant finish. I hunted through four days of penetrating, misty rain—the
kind that’s not quite violent enough to drive you inside to the fireplace but is so persistent
that you get wet through and through. The rifle never even hinted at rust. It’s a great option
for foul-weather hunters who go where they must to get the game no matter the conditions.
Available in .22-250, .308 Win., 7mm-08, .270 Win., .30-06, 7mm Rem. Mag., and
.300 Win. Mag., the T/C Venture Weathershield retails for $569.
—Joseph von Benedikt
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