In 1977 JD Jones of SSK Industries started making replacement barrels for Contender® and later Encore receivers for cartridges not supported by Thompson Center. His passion drove him to push the limits on pressure and accuracy creating barrels never before possible. They were bigger and they were more precise. JD used only the highest quality barrel blanks and built each barrel manually with precision techniques. SSK barrels established their place as being the "gold standard" in the market.