I have been considering buying the Quick Load software. For example after months of hunting for Reloader 23 for 6.5-06 I finally found some. There is zero load data, I emailed Alliant, Nosler, Sierra, and Lyman. They all said they had no data. So I asked someone on the Nosler forum to run it through their program to tell me where the max grain would be with max pressure.

I could see it being handy with calibers with limited data already and new modern powders. Just didn't know if anyone had it and if its worth the price tag.

I hate getting reloading data word of mouth.

Quick Load is a fantastic program for the advanced reloader. Once you learn how to navigate in the program you are only limited by your imagination. It is amazingly accurate provided you put in the exact information. However I never ever arrive at a load recipe without checking it against other manuals etc. and I only mean to insure it is within close proximity to other similar loads. You can do the "what if" game with this program until the cows come home.

I have it. It was worth it to me when I was playing with wildcats especially. Now with limited powder, it's also very useful. Like yukoncat, I always look at load data for a sanity check.

I find that it's especially helpful also for getting through long conference calls.

There is a lot of good information in QL, but it can give some bad info from time to time too. It's up to the user to be able to call BS on any given load information. Always be suspicious of info on straight wall cases and approach that info with more care than usual.

Thanks guys, I believe I will get it. Appreciate the info

In case you need to see more info from QL.

I have owned and upgraded along the way with QuickLoad for over 10 years now.It is a powerful program and I rely on it every time I sit down to reload.For load development and for checking on what you are doing, it is an indispensable part of my shooting experience.
Worth every penny!

Ive never used it and see no need to, as rifles are an inity unto them selves, and Ive been loading wildcats and std calibers by the seat of my pants for ions, and pretty much got the process figured out plus I have a library of reloading books that I refer to and find helpful to a degree, but again like the program, lots of variation in max loads etc...all this is something to be determined by ones self not by books or program but at the bench. the benchis the greatest tool known to mankind!

I's give Gordon's Reloading tool a try and see if that works for you before purchasing Quickload.

I'm of the same school as Ray. I have been reloading for over 50 years + always used a manual. Hell, I don't even have a cel phone. The old ways work best for me.

Using QuickLoad, I was able to develop my own handloads with top results. Reloads not published anywhere. In a lot of different calibers.

So for me, it is the essential tool.

Jiri

Now a days with spotty supplies of powder or even just maximizing what you have on hand you may find loads that are not published. I always do cross check with the manufacturers manuals when I can.

I have a rifle in 7mm BR. Quickload has help.

To be honest, I only use reloading data (from any source)as a crude starting point. Every rifle is different, and working up loads based on accuracy, and pressure signs are what make reloading fun. Relying on data that YOU did not work up for your own rifle seems silly to me. In 30+ years of reloading, I’ve come across rifles that couldn’t approach max loads in data manuals, and also rifles that I could load well beyond max listed data. Hell, some powders vary by lot so much, that your wonder if it’s the same powder at all. I’m not sure why anyone needs a program like quickload to tell them what only their rifle can tell them.

quote:

Originally posted by pointblank:
To be honest, I only use reloading data (from any source)as a crude starting point. Every rifle is different, and working up loads based on accuracy, and pressure signs are what make reloading fun. Relying on data that YOU did not work up for your own rifle seems silly to me. In 30+ years of reloading, I’ve come across rifles that couldn’t approach max loads in data manuals, and also rifles that I could load well beyond max listed data. Hell, some powders vary by lot so much, that your wonder if it’s the same powder at all. I’m not sure why anyone needs a program like quickload to tell them what only their rifle can tell them.

Quickload is not dogma. It is the basic guide.

Example:

Decade ago or more, there was released RL-17 to the market. It was powder for "short magnums". But with QuickLoad I realized, it could be great in .375 H&H and 8x57IS too. I got basic info where to start handloading procedure and estimation what velocity I am going to get about.

Without that, without any published data available, just tell me:

.375 H&H, 300gr Swift A-Frame, 3.48" COAL, what should be starting load for RL-17? What velocity should I expect?

Or: How much VN32C do I have to use for subsonic load with 400 gr bullet in .500 S&W?

Or: How much of 5744 should I use in .585 Hubel Express to get 1900 fps with 650gr JSP "black powder express" bullet?

You don't have a clue of course without that mathematical simulation in QuickLoad or without finding (my) data on the web.

Jiri

quote:

Originally posted by Jiri:

quote:

Originally posted by pointblank:
To be honest, I only use reloading data (from any source)as a crude starting point. Every rifle is different, and working up loads based on accuracy, and pressure signs are what make reloading fun. Relying on data that YOU did not work up for your own rifle seems silly to me. In 30+ years of reloading, I’ve come across rifles that couldn’t approach max loads in data manuals, and also rifles that I could load well beyond max listed data. Hell, some powders vary by lot so much, that your wonder if it’s the same powder at all. I’m not sure why anyone needs a program like quickload to tell them what only their rifle can tell them.

Quickload is not dogma. It is the basic guide.

Example:

Decade ago or more, there was released RL-17 to the market. It was powder for "short magnums". But with QuickLoad I realized, it could be great in .375 H&H and 8x57IS too. I got basic info where to start handloading procedure and estimation what velocity I am going to get about.

Without that, without any published data available, just tell me:

.375 H&H, 300gr Swift A-Frame, 3.48" COAL, what should be starting load for RL-17? What velocity should I expect?

Or: How much VN32C do I have to use for subsonic load with 400 gr bullet in .500 S&W?

Or: How much of 5744 should I use in .585 Hubel Express to get 1900 fps with 650gr JSP "black powder express" bullet?

You don't have a clue of course without that mathematical simulation in QuickLoad or without finding (my) data on the web.

Jiri

I go by burn rate. I’ve been a wildcatter for a very long time, and since there’s no data available for the cartridges I’ve come up with, I’ve had to make an educated guess as to where to start. It’s actually quite simple to pick the right powders, as well as starting loads based on bullet weight, twist, and volume.

quote:

I go by burn rate. I’ve been a wildcatter for a very long time, and since there’s no data available for the cartridges I’ve come up with, I’ve had to make an educated guess as to where to start. It’s actually quite simple to pick the right powders, as well as starting loads based on bullet weight, twist, and volume.

Sure it works, very approximately. And this is evolution. Still approximation, but much more accurate:

For example here is what QuickLoad estimates, real velocity measured with labradar was I think 2403 fps.



Jiri

I managed a program of my own on the 10.75x68 without help of any kind..Same for the 9.5x62 I built, and a host of others..Today its easier than it was back in the day of the wildcat..

I would suggest if one cannot do that without a internet program, they might oughta give up reloading!! :rotf

The secret is not to find a starting load, the secret is to know when to back off, and be "correct." before its too late!

An example is working for years with the Savage 99s. full max is iffy to wrong in the books and web and is different form gun to gun, BUT WHEN YOU FEEL THE LEVER DROP A TINY TAD, AND YOU WILL, THAT IS DEFINATLY MAX AND YOU SHOULD DROP A GRAIN OR TWO..You wont read that in any book or on the internet..

The same seems to apply to the win. lever actions, Ive felt that push and uncock with them, but with milder loads, so not sure what its trying to tell me..Im working on it, but for now I suspect slight headspace..

That's my intent exactly. I was just loading sime 7wsm a few weeks ago and 2 books gave me a max load 4 grains above my 3rd book. Granted each gun is different but it would have been nice to have 4th opinion. Im glad I didn't start at max because my starting load had heavy bolt lift and cratered primer. I stopped immediately and pulled bullets on alk of them. Starting over.

What I "read" here is:

We do not use and we do not recommend to QuickLoad because of it is not "true, proper, classic, old school, right..." way to do reloading.

Jesus, it is the same way as using computers for everything else. It is the third decade of 21st century, right?

Or do you prefer to do for example "car engine development" with pencil, paper and slide ruler? Because if you are using "program from internet" (CADs/CAMs, MATLAB, Simulink...), you should quit designing engines?

But maybe I am "different generation". We had computers here even in "communist time", learning to work with in basic school already.

I just want to explain my point of view. It is not my concern to insult or to offend anybody.

And I agree of course, that without the basic knowledge and principles of safe reloading any software can't be the solution.

Jiri

Well er a guess it depends on your approach to the subject..I have no quarrel to your post however..even though I approach it with a different point of view, but then Im not internet brain washed!!

quote:

Originally posted by Jiri:

You don't have a clue of course without that mathematical simulation in QuickLoad or without finding (my) data on the web.

Jiri

Before there was quickload there were burn rate charts and previous data with X chambering and Y bullet. I think to say "don't have a clue" is a bit of a stretch. There is nothing magic about quickload. It didn't invent math for reloaders and it is only as good as the data that is put into it. I would kind of like to have quickload though. I just find it to be more of a convenience than a necessity.