Does anybody have any experience loading for this round? Where can I find load data?

You can get data from SSK, but keep in mind that this is NOT necessarily J.D.'s personal data but rather loads that have been "reported" by others. When I got mine, some of the powders listed made no sense at all and were way too fast.

Re-15 is probably the best all-around powder for this round and will provide the highest velocity and generally the best accuracy. I used it for 85, 87 and 100 grain bullets. For fireforming, I used the Hornady 120 grain HP and both IMR-4831 and H4831 powders (depending on which I had the most of at the time). The key is to use a bullet/powder combo that gives you a compressed load and still creates enough pressure to fully form the case. And you need to seat the bullet to just engage the rifling. This setup gives the case the best possible support during the fireforming process and results in zero case loss. Long ago, before I learned a few things, I used to load IMR-4320 for fireforming loads, but once in a great while, I'd get a case that wasn't fully formed or one that had a slight crack in the shoulder/neck area.

But back to the round itself: you are going to love it. It will drive an 85 grain Nosler BT to nearly 2900 fps or a 100 grainer to 2650 fps from a 14" barrel. I favored the 100 grain BTs for deer-sized game as they seemed to drop animals with a bit more authority. But Jones favors the 85 grainer and has had positive results with it as well. I've also enjoyed terrific results with the Hornady 87 grain bullet.

As Bobby usually is, he is spot on with the information he has provided. I have a 6.5 JDJ, which is based on the same 225 Win case, and everything Bobby said also applies to fireforming my cases.

Reloader 15 also worked out to be the best powder for me in the 6.5, both accuracy and velocity wise. Good luck, and I am sure that you are going to enjoy your 257 JDJ.

As a Varmint/Deer combination, it's probably the best to be had in a Contender, and some people have successfully taken elk with 85 grain bullets through the lungs. JD Jones recomends avoiding angled shots on deer with the 257 JDJ, side and frontal shots are ok with the lighter bullets. For large deer, JD recomends the 100 gr partition. Heavier bullets are too heavily constructed to expand at longer ranges in the 257 JDJ...Rusty.

I had one and loved it. Sold it Mark Hollen. Here is a link to an article he wrote about about my rig after he bought it:

http://www.handgunhunt.com/feature/s22/index.html

The only thing he had wrong was that the trigger was done by James Henry in California, not SSK.

I had no idea that the trigger had been done by someone other than SSK.......

Mark - I guess we never talked about it. For the last 25 years, James Henry has been the official "Unofficial" TC repairman for west coast silhouette shooters. I bought the frame from him and he did the trigger job. JD just chromed it.