309 jdj

[Tatume]

Hi Folks,

Are any of you 309 JDJ shooters? I'm just looking to talk about a favorite cartridge. Thanks.

Take care, Tom

[bosterr]

Yep. I took a nice whitetail buck a few years ago, The shot really suprised me, running at about 120 yds. quartering away. It was dead when it slid to a halt. 165 gr. Sierra BT HP, as recommended by J. D. Jones himself. Turned the lungs into a real mess. My girlfriend got a big doe with it this past season. It ran about 30 yds. and dropped. I've got quite a few 1" groups at 100 yds. with it. One of my best shooting Contender barrels. My .358 JDJ is a real close second.

[Tatume]

Sounds good. I've used mine on wild hogs in Florida. In my opinion the 309 JDJ is the best Contender cartridge ever. Personally, I'm partial to 10" Contender barrels, and my 14" 309 barrel has been resting in the safe for a couple of years. This week I got the itch to get it out, but couldn't find any of my cases. So today I made up a fresh batch and loaded them with Sierra 165 gr spitzers at about 2200 fps for fire-form loads. My favorite hunting bullet is the 170 gr Speer semi-spritzer 30-30 bullet. It expands well, has a good profile, and is accurate. However, I agree with you that the 165 gr Sierra HP is excellent also, and I have a bunch of them to shoot too.

JD Jones is really easy to talk to, and I think his willingness to take calls from customers is one of the reasons his business has done so well.

[btroj]

I used mine on a deer and a pronghorn. Antelope was 235 yards. Mosley 165 BT worked well.

Mine does pretty well with cast. Haven't shot it real slow but in the 1700 fps range it does well.

[bosterr]

A good friend of mine who is also a good friend with J. D. told me to use the Sierra 165's, they worked so well I'd didn't try anything else. Since my load of IMR4350 all fits the unfireformed case, I never bother with fire form loads and they shoot just as well as the fireformed ones. I own quite a few of J. D.'s barrels and 2 that he re-chambered for me. Great stuff!

[bosterr]

btroj, do you mind telling me what mold you use for your .309? My friend is in the process of castifying all his big JD calibers .375 JDJ, .375 JDJ 06 (Encore) .50 B & M Alaskan (Encore) and is about to order a .309 mold from Accurate Molds.

[Tatume]

Since my load of IMR4350 all fits the unfireformed case, I never bother with fire form loads and they shoot just as well as the fireformed ones

That's been my observation too. Usually the unfireformed cases produce a little less muzzle velocity, but in my notes I'm showing only about 35 fps less. Accuracy is just as good too. Like I said, my fireform load is about 2200 fps, which (like you) happens to also be my hunting load. I could push it to 2300, or maybe even 2400 fps, but I don't see the need.

I also agree with you that IMR4350 is the best powder in this cartridge. At the moment I don't have any so I'm using IMR 4895, which also works well.

Do you get many creased necks and shoulders when you form new cases?

Take care, Tom

[btroj]

I have used the RCBS 165 sil and a Lee mould, don't remember which one. Both shot well enough.
If I was going to really get serious about it I would look at an impact cast and get Tom at Accurate to make me a mould that really fit. I think 2400 wpuld be a good powder, somewhere in the 14 to 18 gr range.
I have shot low end RE15 loads with cast. Those went over 2000 fps and shot OK. That wpuld make a good 100 yard deer load.

I suppose I should be shooting it more......

[bosterr]

Thanks, btroj, I'll pass that along. Tom, I'm fortunate to have a set of 375 JDJ dies, .358 JDJ as well, so I take my brass down in those stages. The only "creases" I get is when I overlube the brass. I didn't do well at all when I tried to go right from .444 to .309. Lost of brass.

[btroj]

I found that running the new 444 case over a 44 mag expander first rounded out the mouth and that reduced the number of cases lost to folding.

[Tatume]

Today I shot the 309 JDJ for the first time in several years. What a hoot! I was shooting groups comparable to the fellow with the new Ruger 30-06 rifle on the next bench over. My hands are a little sore now, but I've already reloaded all my cases in preparation for my next day off.

Take care, Tom

[Groo]

Groo here
The 309 is a special case, shooting faster than it should , accurate and not real hard to make.

[Tatume]

Hi Groo,

When I hear "special case" I think it's going to be followed by a mathematical proof! :-)

You're right, it is special. The gun is compact and easy to carry, yet has better ballistics than many rifles. Sighted in at 200 yards, it arrives with over 2000 fps retained velocity, and was only 2.5 inches high at 100 yards.

I think this is the best cartridge ever for a 14" T/C Contender. I also think the 357 Maximum is the best barrel there is for a 10" Contender, and I enjoy shooting mine.

What's your favorite Contender cartridge?

In fact, I'm going to start a new thread for that question.

Take care, Tom

[bosterr]

I also have a .358 JDJ barrel that was rechambered from a .35 Rem at SSK industries. I've taken two big doe with it so far using the .358 "Single Shot Pistol" bullet made by Hornady. Both deer were bang flops. Both had 1 inch exit holes. I never tried any other bullet, it ain't broke so I'm not fixing it. It shoots about as good as the .309. I put a nice 10 point on the wall with a 10" SSK .357 Max back in 2000. I used a 158 gr. flat nose XTP. Dropped right there, but had to give it a second shot. The first came apart and part of the jacket hit the spine. That was the first and only time I carried it in deer season.