6.5×25mm CBJ

Design

Named after CBJ Tech AB's founder and president Carl Bertil Johansson, the 6.5×25mm CBJ has the same functional dimensions as the 9×19mm Parabellum and was designed to produce the same recoil and pressures to allow most 9 mm caliber weapons to be converted to 6.5×25mm CBJ with a simple barrel change. Also, because the 6.5×25mm CBJ has the same overall dimensions as the 9×19mm Parabellum, it can be used in the same magazines. The primary loading of the standard ball round fires a saboted 2 g, 4 mm diameter tungsten kinetic penetrator, weighing a total of 2.5 g with the sabot. It has a muzzle velocity of 730 m/s from a 120 mm barrel with a muzzle energy of 533 J.

From a 300 mm barrel, it has a muzzle velocity of 900 m/s with a muzzle energy of 810 J, and has good armor penetration out to 400 m. The standard saboted tungsten ball, when fired from a 300 mm length barrel, can pierce 9 mm of armor plate and leave a 6 mm diameter entry hole. Against the same plate, both 5.56×45mm NATO SS109 and 7.62×51mm NATO M80 failed to penetrate. From a 300 mm barrel, the tungsten saboted round has the same trajectory as a 5.56 NATO from an M4 carbine and a velocity of 578 m/s at 300 m, which will penetrate CRISAT armor. The 6.5×25mm CBJ brass-jacketed ball rounds are heavier than similar rounds in the FN 5.7×28mm and HK 4.6×30mm. From a Glock pistol, the round is capable of penetrating 7 mm armor plate.

There are several other 6.5×25mm CBJ bullets other than the sabot in full-caliber. Military rounds include a "spoon-tip" loading that increases the chance of the bullet to cavitate on impact and a cheap training version with a different core material. Police rounds include a 2.5 g high-energy-transfer round that can penetrate CRISAT armor up to 50 m, and a frangible round for training and situations requiring minimal barrier penetration. A subsonic armor-piercing round for use with a suppressor weighs 8 g.

Platforms

References

References

1. [http://gotavapen.se/gota/cbj/cbj_crtg.htm Cartridge Information retrieved 24 November 2009]
2. [http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010/07/08/the-amazing-6-5x25mm-cbj/ thefirearmblog.com – The amazing 6.5x25mm CBJ]
3. "CBJ Tech – About Us".
4. [http://sadefensejournal.com/wp/?p=625 Brugger & Thomet’s MP9 in 6.5×25 CBJ] – SAdefensejournal.com, 14 October 2011
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025121720/http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/PDWs.htm Where Next For PDWs?] – /www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
6. "6.5x25mm CBJ: Shooting Through an APC with a Glock?" YouTube, uploaded by Forgotten Weapons, 15 11 2025, www.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ECrL_4GPc
7. https://modernfirearms.net/en/submachine-guns/sweden-submachine-guns/cbj-ms-pdw-eng/
8. (2023-09-10). "the new 6.5x25 CBJ cartridge".