Hodgdon's Pistol Min-Max Pressures

[jandbn]

Curiosity got the best of me due to folks mentioning “dirty powders” and powder pressure range. So I proceeded to copy 3059 Pistol loads from Hodgdon’s website (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp) and create a database. I also used Hodgdon’s Powder Burn Rate Chart (http://www.hodgdon.com/burn-rate.html) and incorporated it into the database.

Using queries of the database, I parsed the Min and Max pressure in both CUP and PSI. Burn Rates shown in the table below are listed fastest to slowest The number after the powder is the coresponding "location" in Hodgdon’s Powder Burn Rate Chart (http://www.hodgdon.com/burn-rate.html). This data could be looked up individually for comparison purposes, but now I have it all in one place and thought maybe somebody else might be interested.

(Select/click the table below for a larger image.)
38446

[thegreatdane]

awesome. I am a spreadsheet nerd too.

I have a similar product that incorporates linear equations to predict powder charges based on desired velocities.

I know ballistics certainly are not linear, but all predictions have been pretty accurate!

[jandbn]

I was tempted to do the Rifles and shotshells too, but that was way more copy-n-paste and data manipulation than I was looking willing to take on for the time being (These days, I only have a hand gun in the arsenal.) I also thought about other powder manufacturers AA, ADI, Aliant, Ramshot, and VihtaVuori that had pressure data available. The data is in .pdf tables which doesn't get along very good with Excel/Access. Manipulating the tables copied from the .pdf's would have been very time consuming so I figured Hodgdon's data was a good enough sample for now.

[Walt]

That's great stuff there! I wish I could print it.

[jandbn]

Walt,

If you use Internet Explorer for a web browser, right-click on the picture and then select Save Picture As from the context menu that appears. That way you can Save it to your computer (remember where you saved it!). Once the file is save to your computer, navigate to where you saved it and then open it. It will open with what ever program is your default viewer for .jpg files. Once you are viewing the Saved file, then you can print it. I can email it to you if you want too. Just PM me with you email address.

[Walt]

Walt,

If you use Internet Explorer for a web browser, right-click on the picture and then select Save Picture As from the context menu that appears. That way you can Save it to your computer (remember where you saved it!). Once the file is save to your computer, navigate to where you saved it and then open it. It will open with what ever program is your default viewer for .jpg files. Once you are viewing the Saved file, then you can print it. I can email it to you if you want too. Just PM me with you email address.

The right click thing is the ticket. It let me print the chart right away. Many thanks from a computer illiterate guy. It did sound like the Ole' Ladies printer was going blow a gasket......:)

[jandbn]

Good deal! I thought maybe you would want to Save it for later reference (paper doen't seem to last around the loading bench) so thus the instructions for saving an electronic version so you have it and can print it anytime you need a copy.

[Hang Fire]

Very intersting and thank you for doing the leg work and posting

[felix]

Jandbn, you can play these games fairly easily by using window's programs: snagit and textpad to copy and cleanup any thing that can be printed on the tube. Snagit to convert pictures into words, textpad to cleanup any misinterpretation with intermediate use of photoshop if necessary. Textpad has the feature to align columns very easily. Then you can migrate the textpad output into excel and/or access. ... felix

[Walt]

Good deal! I thought maybe you would want to Save it for later reference (paper doen't seem to last around the loading bench) so thus the instructions for saving an electronic version so you have it and can print it anytime you need a copy.

I understand and was going to do just that. When I saw a possibility of printing it I had to go for it. If I had saved it I probably wouldn't have found it again! :killingpc

[jandbn]

Jandbn, you can play these games fairly easily by using window's programs: snagit and textpad to copy and cleanup any thing that can be printed on the tube. Snagit to convert pictures into words, textpad to cleanup any misinterpretation with intermediate use of photoshop if necessary. Textpad has the feature to align columns very easily. Then you can migrate the textpad output into excel and/or access. ... felix
Felix,

Thanks for the input. I'm a computer tech by trade (mostly Windows based troubleshooting and workstation repair) and am familiar with the programs you mentioned. But I do enough computer fixin’ in one day at work to prevent me from doing to much of anything on the home PC. I do spend about 99% of my home computer time on CB. I’m kind of like the mechanic that hates working on his own vehicles (I used to be a mechanic in the late 70’s too).

I just had a wild hair after reading some posts about powder pressure ranges and thought I could whip up the table I posted. Well, it wasn't near as easy or fast as I thought it was going to be. Not having any real database experience, I was shooting from the hip and learning as I was going along. Now that I have the initial database with fields, records, and queries to suck out the data, it would just be a matter of importing any new formatted data.

If I get bored this winter when it is too cold for anything else, I may exert my new database prowess and put forth the effort for the other powder manufacturers' data. That might force me to add more fields too. There is software at work that I don't have at home which would help a lot with the effort involved with the data manipulation. But there would still be a lot of manipulation and formatting to do of the data to get it ready to import into the database. If I do add more to the database, I will post the data for all.

[felix]

Jandbn, if you do this stuff for a living, I surely would not do it here. Stuff here should be a hobby only. ... felix

[jandbn]

Jandbn, if you do this stuff for a living, I surely would not do it here. Stuff here should be a hobby only. ... felix
It is for hobby when it has to do with sharing info here. I have a nagging curiosity when it comes everything gun related and can't leave well enough alone. :-) I am sure there are other's in my boat too!