Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading 6.5 JDJ Reloading help needed

Hello; My source for 6.5 JDJ ammo has chosen to stop loading for others. (He is pretty old). So I need to start. Anybody have suggestions on dies? Seems like Hornady maybe the only choice? And I really want to load the 107 sierras (when I can find them) and lapua 100 gr bullets.

Main interest is shooting paper at longer ranges.

Seems like the 120-135 bullets could be better but they will be pretty slow. Any real negatives to this?

Thank you for any feedback you may have.

(Besides sell the 6.5JDJ and get a 6 arc barrel! That is to easy)

Check out the April 2022 Handloader - Issue # 337. Layne Simpson has an article on reloading the 6.5 JDJ.

Thanks. I will check it out. I appreciate the guidance.

When I loaded for it a long time ago I remember Hornady was the best choice because of the longer tapered expander. The Nosler 100 and 120 gr ballistic tips were a good choice back then and probably today also.

Thanks. I think the Hornady 123 should be good for hunting if the velo is high enough but for the range I have some 100gr lapua pills to try.

I use the the Hornady dies and 120gr NBT

Originally, Hornady was the only die maker for the 6.5 JDJ. IIRC, 34 gr of Imr 4320 was the go-to load for 120 gr bullets. At 2400 fps, it shot very accurately. It’s downrange terminal effectiveness was too good to be true, very repeatable out to 300 yards.

Thank you KenACP and Reloder28. I will be getting started soon. The article mentioned above in handloader magazine was also very helpful. 120 BT makes a lot of sense the more I think about it.

The toughest part of losing for 6.5 JDJ always seems to be finding the Win .225 brass to fire form. Nice caliber though.

My loading notes are back at home, and my 6.5 was a wildcat on an improved 30-30 but very close in performance to the JDJ. I do recall with 120 gr ballistic tips it was very accurate with RL-15, Varget and H-4350. Nice when a round isn't picky.