6.5 JDJ
Introduced in 1978, the 6.5 JDJ and
.375 JDJ
are the most popular of an entire family of wildcats designed by J.D. Jones
of SSK Industries for the T/C Contender pistol. One has to spend only a few
days afield with these two cartridges to understand why. In the hands of
an experienced hunter who holds his fire until the right bullet can be put
in the right place, a Contender with barrels chambered for these two is capable
of handling everything from varmints at long range to elk size game at woods
ranges.
The 6.5 JDJ is an excellent choice for hunting deer size game, mainly because
many of the available bullets of this caliber are designed to perform at
the relatively low impact velocities of rifle cartridges such as the 6.5x54
Mannlicher Shoenauer, and the
6.5x55mm Swedish.
Due to its considerably higher velocity, the 6.5 JDJ is considerably more
effective on whitetails and the like than other Contender chamberings such
as the .30-30,
and .35
Remington. Its higher velocity and therefore flatter bullet trajectory
also makes the 6.5 a far better choice for open country hunting. And yet,
when the 6.5 is loaded to maximum velocity with the 120 grain bullet, its
lighter recoil seems less than that of the .30 and .35 caliber cartridges.
Load the 6.5 JDJ with the 85 grain hollow point bullet, and it becomes one
of the better choices available for taking larger varmints like groundhogs,
and rockchucks with the Contender.
The 6.5 JDJ case is formed by necking up the extremely strong
.225 Winchester
case and fireforming it in the SSK Contender barrel. Any of the starting
loads can be used for this purpose. Case loss during fireforming is usually
zero. After being fireformed, the case has a minimum body taper and a 40
degree shoulder angle, a combination considered to be ideal for subjecting
the standing breech of the Contender frame to minimum backthrust during
firing.
The most popular bullets among those who hunt deer size game with the 6.5
JDJ are the Speer 120 grain Spitzer and the
Nosler 125 grain Partition. Both have
been used quite successfully on North American and African game. Since its
more recent introduction, the Nosler
120 grain Ballistic Tip has also gained a following among the fans of this
cartridge.
IMR-4320 is the
traditional 6.5 JDJ powder, but several others, including
H414,
W-760, and
Reloader 19 are
just as capable of making this cartridge sing its deadly song.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
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