Author Topic: 6.5 JDJ caliber....which members have one? (Read 2320 times)

Kivaari · « **on:** October 15, 2004, 04:10:29 PM »

I'm a newbie with Contenders and am wondering about the 6.5 JDJ. It looks like the 120 grainers are the best choice and my stocked powder, H4350, is about tops. I don't want anything punishing on recoil as I'll shoot many rounds in a session.

I'll likely use the Contender on long range targets ( gong ) out to 400 yards or so and an occasional whitetail at closer ranges.....so a flat shooter with high bc bullets would be good.

How about some feedback from 6.5mm fans. Is this going to do what I'm expecting having shot 6.5 Swede rifles at this range? Ballistics look similar.

mkee · « **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2004, 06:58:25 PM »

I would love to have a 6.5 JDJ also, but I generally by my barrels used, and have seldom seen the 6.5 JDJ on any of the auction sites or here. I believe Ed's TC's may get one on occasion, but the best place would probably be to get one directly from SSK Ind. Will be costly, but as soon as I have a few hundred extra dollars I'll have one made by SSK.

palgeno · « **Reply #2 on:** October 16, 2004, 07:35:46 AM »

Had two,sold one to a friend. :cry: love the caliber----it will do nearly anything a guy needs to do with 120 gr Nosler BT's or 120 gr Speer sp's. pg

jhalcott · « **Reply #3 on:** October 16, 2004, 10:51:12 AM »

They,the 6.5 jdj's ,are SOOO good no body wants to sell theirs. I bought mine years ago from a guy who moved and they did not allow handguns .
I use 85's for small critters and 120's for deer.The 120's are more accurate in my gun(14" ported & scoped)but the ground hogs and prairee dogs don't know it. I have a Harris bippod on mine and it really helps on the long shots. Don't get too cocky about 350-400 yard shots with the 6.5! You are only getting about 2300 fps with the 120's at the muzzle. I have taken deer at 300 KNOWN yards.After shooting a ground hog on the 4th try, a deer came out of the brush. I had a crop permit so I had to try! She never made it back to the wood line! I've tried about every powder/bullet combo for the 6.5 and keep coming back to the 85 and 120 bullets.129 Hornadys are ok but 140's are too slow for my tastes. Other weights are not always available and do not improve on the performance of the 2 I use. BTW I had a buddy with a 308 backing me up on the 300 yard doe.

sageman · « **Reply #4 on:** October 16, 2004, 01:47:04 PM »

i would also like a jdj caliber how much dose the 6.5 kick compared to the 35 rem where do u get brss

jhalcott · « **Reply #5 on:** October 16, 2004, 02:10:12 PM »

the kick is more like a hot 357 mag in mine with all the extra weight of bipod and scope.Definetly less than a 35 rem. I bought 500, 225 win cases when I bought the gun. I have 100 cases I can still use that have been reloaded 10 times.I have lost more cases to misplaceing them then wearing them out You take a 225 case and run it thru the sizing die ,load it ,fire form it and it seems to last forever. They are not the same as a 30-30 necked to 6.5,but I don't know how much different the jdj is from the one made on 30-30 brass.I think bullberry makes the 6.5/30-30.That MAY be a cheaper way to go?

sageman · « **Reply #6 on:** October 16, 2004, 02:15:59 PM »

the only reason i ask is beacuse im 15 and my dad dosent want me hurting my wrists he wont let me get anything bigger than the 35 remington any other jdj cartoges like the 35?

bgjohn · « **Reply #7 on:** October 16, 2004, 04:35:26 PM »

I have a 226 JDJ brl that I'm anxious to try. I bought the brl used. I ordered dies for it from SSK in August and haven't seen them yet. Calling them seems fruitless. It just runs up my phone bill. Still waiting.
JM

Ladobe · « **Reply #8 on:** October 17, 2004, 08:05:51 AM »

My current 6.5JDJ from SSK is a stainless with full length T'SOB rib - looks mighty fine on a stainless frame with a Burris 3-12 and Pachy's on it. Love it and its a lot of fun to shoot. But I have to ask, at 15 do you really want to spend that much money for a custom rig? There's other "factory" possibilities for 1/3 of the expense.

sageman · « **Reply #9 on:** October 17, 2004, 12:53:35 PM »

how much exacty are we talking for a 6.5 jdj barrel and dieS? and brass

Kivaari · « **Reply #10 on:** October 17, 2004, 04:39:05 PM »

Well, I can only guess...but I'd say it burn a $500 bill easily.

bgjohn · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2004, 03:43:39 AM »

Quote from: Kivaari

Well, I can only guess...but I'd say it burn a $500 bill easily.

:shock: $500? Wow!

JM

Pie-bald · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2004, 04:20:46 PM »

I have a 6.5JDJ #2 that I've been working on. It's based on the 307Win. case not the 225Win. Can't find anyone who also shoots this combo. Dies were XXXXpensive! $135.00 from SSK, but I bought the barrel from Ed's at about 1/2 price with a TSOB. It's 14" SS Killed some hogs with it this summer using up a bunch of 140gr bullets I got cheap. Switching to 120's when I get the 1st firing out of the way on 200 rounds of brass. The only problem is the only powder info I got was IMR4350 from JD. Sure would like to find someone else who shoots the 6.5JDJ#2(this is shot out of a reg. Contender frame so 260 info is too hot)

Kivaari · « **Reply #13 on:** October 19, 2004, 05:47:42 AM »

Hodgdon's update "magazine" lists the 6.5 JDJ:

120 grain Speer sp

H4350
35 grains start (2119) to 40 grains max (2479)

Interesting that the smaller bullet weights gain little velocity over the 120s and that larger bullets, 140s are significantly slower . It appears the 120s are the very best in terms of energy (mv) and are the magic bullet in this round. The only other powder listed was H414 which is essentially a spherical 4350 approx. Best varmit bullet might be the 90 grain Speer hp, Hornady makes a 100 grain bt, but the Nosler 120 B tip looks very tempting.

I'm thinking your case will have less volume.

Interesting also that the 6.5 BR has very similar ballistics but uses faster powders. It is similar with the 120s but seems to outperform the JDJ with both smaller and larger bullets; it appears more versatile but the JDJ data is very limited and thus not fair to compare.

palgeno · « **Reply #14 on:** October 19, 2004, 06:46:49 AM »

No need to mess with perfection. Nosler 120 gr BT's will do most animals and the Speer 120's will do the rest. Some say the 6.5 JDJ is good from mice to moose. :twisted: pg

Hopalong7 · « **Reply #15 on:** October 19, 2004, 07:32:46 AM »

Have had one for many years. One of the luckiest days of my life was finding a good used one for sale w/ dies. Let me put it this way, IF I had to get rid of all my barrels one by one, This would be the last one to go. If I had to start all over again, I would immediately get a 22lr and a 6.5JDJ and there wouldn't be much I couldn't do. Mine loves IMR4320 and any 120gr, but also shoots 85 Sierra's real well. Hmmm, maybe I ought to sell some other barrels.....Naw....I don't think sooo.
GOOD SHOOTIN', Walt :-D :-D :-D

Ladobe · « **Reply #16 on:** October 19, 2004, 11:59:25 AM »

Quote from: sageman

how much exacty are we talking for a 6.5 jdj barrel and dieS? and brass

sageman -

Just the barrel alone configured like mine from SSK now "starts at" $658 plus shipping. But it's top drawer with a lot just for show. You could get a bare 14" chrome moly in 6.5JDJ from SSK for $345 + S/H. Been a long time since I had to buy JDJ dies (have about 8-9 sets), so don't know what JD is charging for them these days. Rarely they do come for sale used, but most who sell a JDJ barrel also gets asked by the buyer to sell the dies with it.

HTH

Ladobe :bye:

myronman3 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 19, 2004, 01:17:37 PM »

once upon a time i was thinking on getting a 6.5 jdj. then i thought about brass availiblity, dies, and the cost a the barrel. i figured that although it is surely a fine cartridge, i would be way ahead going with a 7-30 waters. for my need it makes more sense. and then on my quest for my 7-30 barrel, the stars aligned right and a nice 30-30 barrel fell into my lap. after some research, i found that the 30-30 doesnt give up much to the 7/30 when loaded with the right bullets. and more importantly, it would do everything i would ever need to do with it. brass is availible everywhere, matter of fact i am swimming in the stuff.

my point is not to talk you out of the 6.5; but to point out there are other options that might suit you needs better. but if you have that itch that can only be scratched one way, by all means... good luck with your decision.

z1 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 24, 2004, 02:39:53 PM »

The 6.5 JDJ is great based on my experience today. Look at the post I sent earlier on this forum. In my opinion it recoils less than a 375 Mag but that may be because of the way I have set it up.

There are ways to cut SOME off the cost of owning a JDJ round. You are probably better off calling JD and getting one of his barrels. I may have saved 200-250$ by going the route that I did and I do not have the stainless hand lapped barrel JD offers.

J.D. makes good stuff. The 375 JDJ I have makes rifle shooters cry when I do my part. His barrels are that good.

Ed's Contenders can usually come up with any barrel you want. I bought my 6.5 TCU barrel from him. He is a good man to deal with and is an advertiser on this site. He does not sell junk. I bought a really nice 14 blue barrel from him at a good price. I think the 6.5 was sold only in blue from the factory.

After talking to J.D.'s shop I sent the TCU barrel to J.D. and had them rechamber it to 6.5 JDJ. At my request they cut the barrel behind the rear front sight screw and recrowned the barrel.

I opted to go with the TSOB mount because I want to use it on a 358 JDJ I plan to build next year. I do not think you need it on a 6.5 based on my experience with a 35 Rem TC I have used for about 25 years. Back then we did not have the internet and not a lot of TC shooters. I had a local smith cut another slot on a Weaver mount so I could add a 3d ring. It still works.

You will not need a brake on the 6.5 but should put you earplugs in before touching it off. This morning my Dad told me he could not tell from the report if my brother shot his 270 or if I shot my 6.5. He did say it had a loud boom. What do you expect from a short barrel?

If you cruise the internet you can find 225 Winchester brass at somewhat reasonable prices about once a year. They, they being whoever makes Winchester brass, seem to run a special batch of stuff like that one time a year. I found mine at Midway a year or two ago at a really nice price. Not much more than the cost of 30-30 brass. J.D. can sell you the brass, no idea what his prices are. You have to get the dies from him anyway.

Have you considered the 7-30 Waters? Does OK. The 30-30 brass is cheap, you can get dies from almost anybody and there are a bunch of good bullets out there to choose from.

Good option, but you would not have a JDJ.

Javelina · « **Reply #19 on:** October 24, 2004, 03:06:52 PM »

I have an SSK Krome 14" 6.5 JDJ and it's an excellent gun - NO, it's not for sale! :grin: I would hate to be without it since it can make a lot of rifle shooters pack up and leave the range with really RED faces!

Are SSK 6.5 JDJ's expensive? In my book, yes. Are they worth it? Without a doubt, YES! Are there some alternatives until you get a little more flush with cash and don't have to break the bank to get one? Also, without a doubt, yes.

Ladobe has it right, a full-blown 6.5 JDJ gun will knock the %!*#% out of a $1K bill (you can even spend more if you're a kajillionaire and money is no object) but there are some cheaper ways to go. The 7-30 Waters is always a good choice and can be had in both new/used configurations for reasonable prices. I think our host, GB is a fan of the 7-30 Waters also, and you have to give that a lot of credence if he likes it - he's not just another pretty face, he actually knows a lot about T/C's! (Sorry GB, I had to plug you!) I know a lot of the other experienced T/C shooters and hunters here have some great alternative ideas too.

If a 6.5 JDJ is what you have to have, I understand because I have to have one too. JD Jones at SSK makes GREAT guns, they do what he says they will do! The 6.5 JDJ was my first T/C, and it will probably be the last T/C to be pryed from my cold, dead fingers. :grin:

Here's a picture of the old warhorse in case you're interested:

Safe and good shooting to you!

Javelina

Kivaari · « **Reply #20 on:** October 27, 2004, 05:06:07 PM »

Uh oh.......I hate it when this happens :shock:

....what's the 6.5 JDJ #2 that uses .307 Win brass..

?

....is this from SSK; it's not on their web page?

Is this a Contender cartridge or an Encore cartridge?

How do the ballistics compare?

Pie-bald · « **Reply #21 on:** October 28, 2004, 04:06:32 PM »

The 6.5JDJ#2 is based on the 307Win.. The 308 and 307 use the exact dies. The brass is thicker in the 307 because of it's rim, thus the web is thicker than a 308. This means that the 307 takes more of the pressure off of the Contender frame. The 6.5 has a short-neck and a JDJ neck(similar to a 30-06JDJ). Got some in the tumbler right now ready for some reloading. First results with 140's weren't bad. The case handles safely 41gr of IMR4350 with 140's. Loading up some 120's for 100yd groups. Load info is hard to find!!!! SSK doen't offer this anymore in a Contender(or doesn't at all). I bought this from Ed's T/C last year and just getting around to trying different loads. Trying different powders by using 260Rem load info on the lightest load info available. Killed about 10 groundhogs with it this summer. Just looking for something different and aparently found it!! As I've talked to no-one who has one.

Kivaari · « **Reply #22 on:** October 28, 2004, 05:31:22 PM »

Have you chrono'd any?

..you said you have no data?

Pie-bald · « **Reply #23 on:** October 28, 2004, 05:50:48 PM »

Will chrony some this winter. It's faster than a traditional 6.5JDJ but, how much I don't know yet. A 260Rem. is a 308 necked down to 6.5 so, since I have a 6.5/307 I'm going to use the low side of 260 load data available. Like I said on previous post the 307 brass handle's pressure much better than standard 308 making it safe(WHEN USING COMMON SESNSE). JD told me he could make the xtractor change so I could use 308 brass but I passed on the idea. The only data he had was using IMR4350.
41gr/140
42gr/120
43gr/100gr all using IMR4350

palgeno · « **Reply #24 on:** November 03, 2004, 12:21:24 PM »

Don't know if I should be called dumb or smart by you guys, but I'm back up to two SSK 6.5 JDJ's again----I do know what my wife called me though. :shock: pg

yottey · « **Reply #25 on:** November 03, 2004, 01:06:38 PM »

palgeno if it would keep you in good graces with your wife I would take it off your hands! lol
Former motors welder transplanted north.