Quickloads????

[NSP64]

Who has and uses quickloads?
I was thinking of getting it but not sure I would use it much.
I am working on loads for 30 carbine contender using heavier then normal boolits, and thought it might save some time and powder if I could run loads through a program to check first.

[nfg]

I bought QL last year after watching various forums and reading the comments for at least and playing with the sample program for over 2 years.

IT IS GREAT...BUT...it is STILL just a predictive program, NOT PERFECT by any stretch of the imagination. It will only predict what YOU input...which means "garbage in, garbage out" in the parlance of early coders. It also costs twice what "Load from a Disk" costs and LD has a design program if you want to do wildcat cartridge design work.

I use "Load from a Disk", several online and computer Powley predictor programs, TONS of reloading books, article, manuscripts etc going back to the late 50's.

QL is a very involved, complicated program that will give you tons of excellent information...BUT...you need to have a good grasp of ballistics to keep out of trouble...it ISN'T "point and shoot"...you need to keep your wits about you to stay in one piece.

If you are an advanced reloader, well read in the reloading manuals then go for it, otherwise I would suggest purchasing "Load...Disk" first and also become very familiar with the online Powley free programs... http://kwk.us/powley.html ...as a good one that I use frequently and is on my desktop for easy access.

GOTO "STEVES PAGES" http://stevespages.com/page8.htm ...he has several freebe internal ballistics programs that also work like "Winload" which is another Powley bases program to calculate load data that is in my "Stuff" folder on my desktop.

I've been at this game a long time, I use QL, LD and online Powley programs daily, plus reloading manuals and check one against the other.

One thing you learn early on is NOT TO BELIEVE ANYTHING UNTIL IT HAS BEEN CHECKED AND PROVEN RELIABLE AAND SAFE...this goes for ALL the "calculating" software programs and the data posted on forums. QL produces mistakes all the time and it has ALL THE WIGGLE WORDS prominently displayed at the bottom of the screen.

[NSP64]

Thanks nfg,
I went to steve's pages and downloaded LFD demo.
I was running some demo loads and was only getting a few powders and bullet weights to select from. Is this normal or just because its a demo model?
Plus getting a warning, weight ratio is outside corrolation limits.?

[nfg]

Demos only have a few popular cartridges, powders and bullet weight, just to whet your appetite to buy the program...the "carrot on a stick" syndrome. The full program had 85-90% of all the "normal" components except for the very latest, and the programs get updated periodically.

That warning means you have exceeded one or more "normal" parameters. The mathematical algorithms had set limits so the program will run quicker and will also tell you when something is amiss.

Go back and check ALL the different parameters...i.e, COAL, bullet length/weight, powder type/amount, etc, and fiddle with them one at a time and keep notes. Somewhere along the line something is not kosher. It happens to me all the time and when I check everthing I have inputted a data that isn't compatable...the warning is a built in safety.

Post the parameters that gave you the Warning, so I can maybe determine where the glitch is and give you the "whattheheck and why".

Powley programs are designed to develop loads in the ~85% of max pressure range, roughly 40-46KPSI, and within "standard" SAAMI parameters of COAL, bullet weight per caliber/cartridge, etc. LFD is basically a Powley offshoot...QL has a completely different set of algorithms.

All these programs have a learning curve so take copious notes, analyze by changing ONE parameter at a time starting from "the bottom going to the top" so you can compare your notes.

I've been using Powley since his first cardboard "slipstick" WAY back in the day and todays computer programs do a very good job except they don't have the "latest and greatest" components. Several of my rifles that go back 30-40 years still use the same load I developed with those early Powley programs and I see no reason to change the load just because there are newer powders...

BUT...everytime I develop a new wildcat, I crawl all over all my software programs...THEN...spend some time actually shooting to develop the most accurate, highest velo(within safe limits) load I can get...I design the cartridge in LFD, work up the load parameters in QL and MOST of the time only require <50 rounds on target to fine tune.

Download "Winload" for a comparison.

[NSP64]

Thankx nfg,
I was running a sample with heavy boolits in 30 carbine and the oal was longer then normal

[40Super]

I have it and really like it for testing combos beforehand.As said earlier you have to plug in the right info to start with, the more indiviual pieces of info that you customize to your individual guns the more accurate it's predictions.

I used it to develope several loads for my .40Super caliber that didn't have any published recipes. When comparing to how the loads acually shot, Quickload was surprizingly accurate and many were spot on as far as what the max charges and velocities came out to. I did customize my gun and didn't use the default values, I phisicaly measured every area and put those numbers in the program,which is important.

Other calibers I've played with ended up with similar results. Don't ever use the numbers as a stone solid reliable source though, always double check with other sources if possible and do the normal load workup.

Some of the warnings can be overidden if you know for positive that your numbers are right,the programs perameters are set for "normal" loadings and when using non-normal componets it will warn you just to make sure you didn't make a mistake.