The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Quickload......Does anything else come close?

SL1 · June 1, 2010, 07:58 PM

I have used the "Load from a Disk" commercial software. I have programmed Homer Powley's correlations into my own computer, based on an article written in an NRA handloading book. I have even used a "Powley Pressure Computer" which was a mechanical device like a slide-rule. All of those work on the same basis, a set of correlations that Homer Powley put together for IMR powders in bottleneck rifle cases. The commerical softwre "extrapolates" the correlations by assuming that many different powders are "similar" although the loading manuals with pressure-tested data show them to be significantly different.

The QuickLOAD program works on a different basis. It "simulates" the burning of the powder in a particular cartridge case with a particular bullet, based on data about the powder from "calorametric bomb" tests performed in a laboratory. The program provides information about the pressure and velocity as the bullet moves down the barrel. It provides a LOT more information and a GREAT learning experience, as well as being a lot more useful in comparing powders that are similar, but NOT identical.

SL1

June 1, 2010, 07:58 PM	#2
SL1 Senior Member Join Date: November 8, 2007 Posts: 2,001	I think QuickLOAD is the best available. I have used the "Load from a Disk" commercial software. I have programmed Homer Powley's correlations into my own computer, based on an article written in an NRA handloading book. I have even used a "Powley Pressure Computer" which was a mechanical device like a slide-rule. All of those work on the same basis, a set of correlations that Homer Powley put together for IMR powders in bottleneck rifle cases. The commerical softwre "extrapolates" the correlations by assuming that many different powders are "similar" although the loading manuals with pressure-tested data show them to be significantly different. The QuickLOAD program works on a different basis. It "simulates" the burning of the powder in a particular cartridge case with a particular bullet, based on data about the powder from "calorametric bomb" tests performed in a laboratory. The program provides information about the pressure and velocity as the bullet moves down the barrel. It provides a LOT more information and a GREAT learning experience, as well as being a lot more useful in comparing powders that are similar, but NOT identical. SL1