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rsrocket1 · February 11, 2011, 01:02 PM

If you had the Interior Ballistics program called Quick Load, you would get a very good idea of what different propellants to for different bullets. You could run lots of simulations with different powders and charges on different cartridges and barrel lengths. While it should not be used for loading max or min loads, it is very accurate in the mid range when it comes to calculated versus measured performance. You always work up a load from a safe starting point with real components because even a 10% difference in performance could mean the difference between too wimpy a load and a blown up gun.

You can download the demo version which only has 3 cartridge, 3 bullet and 3 powder types, but you can very the charge, bullet weights, barrel lengths, seating depth and get a general idea what happens to the max pressure (how safe is this to use in your gun), the bullet velocity and even generate tables of how different incremental charges affect the pressure and bullet speeds.

This way you can see how a light charge of fast pistol powder can actually work as a reduced rifle load for low recoil practice rounds. You can also see why big bullets with big cases really benefit from big charges of slow powder. BTW, I've tried lighting a pile of fairly fast rifle powder and it won't burn without a lot of help.

Since you are only seeking general ideas, this demo is all you need. Another item of incredible value also comes for free with the demo. That is the user guide. Read the section entitled "Reflections on Interior Ballistics" especially the section called "the process of ignition" and the "process of combustion". Skip the equations or other things that may be over your head and read the narrative. It gives an excellent description of how smokeless powder ignites in the case.

Surprisingly, it's supposed to ignite almost all grains at once, then burn from the surface to the center of each grain, not spread from one grain to the next which is the way a pile of powder burns.

Do a search for Quick Load by Neconos and download the demo. If it's way over your head, at least it didn't cost anything. If you're really interested, it's well worth the cost of the software and is an excellent tool for picking out candidate powders/bullets for a specific cartridge (great for tinkerers).

Hope that helps.

February 11, 2011, 01:02 PM	#5
rsrocket1 Junior Member Join Date: November 21, 2010 Posts: 13	If you had the Interior Ballistics program called Quick Load, you would get a very good idea of what different propellants to for different bullets. You could run lots of simulations with different powders and charges on different cartridges and barrel lengths. While it should not be used for loading max or min loads, it is very accurate in the mid range when it comes to calculated versus measured performance. You always work up a load from a safe starting point with real components because even a 10% difference in performance could mean the difference between too wimpy a load and a blown up gun. You can download the demo version which only has 3 cartridge, 3 bullet and 3 powder types, but you can very the charge, bullet weights, barrel lengths, seating depth and get a general idea what happens to the max pressure (how safe is this to use in your gun), the bullet velocity and even generate tables of how different incremental charges affect the pressure and bullet speeds. This way you can see how a light charge of fast pistol powder can actually work as a reduced rifle load for low recoil practice rounds. You can also see why big bullets with big cases really benefit from big charges of slow powder. BTW, I've tried lighting a pile of fairly fast rifle powder and it won't burn without a lot of help. Since you are only seeking general ideas, this demo is all you need. Another item of incredible value also comes for free with the demo. That is the user guide. Read the section entitled "Reflections on Interior Ballistics" especially the section called "the process of ignition" and the "process of combustion". Skip the equations or other things that may be over your head and read the narrative. It gives an excellent description of how smokeless powder ignites in the case. Surprisingly, it's supposed to ignite almost all grains at once, then burn from the surface to the center of each grain, not spread from one grain to the next which is the way a pile of powder burns. Do a search for Quick Load by Neconos and download the demo. If it's way over your head, at least it didn't cost anything. If you're really interested, it's well worth the cost of the software and is an excellent tool for picking out candidate powders/bullets for a specific cartridge (great for tinkerers). Hope that helps.