QuickLoad questions thread...

[Ridgerunner665]

It seems many folks are a little leery of really getting into QL and using it as it is designed to be used...Not sure why anyone would choose to do that, but I thought I'd offer to help some of you that may be willing to dive in a little deeper.

I'll answer any questions I can...I'm not claiming to be an expert...if I don't know the answer, I'll tell you I don't know the answer...

Feeling helpful I guess...thought I'd put the offer out there.

Ask away...I'll answer/explain as I have time.


Disclaimer: If you blow yourself up, its not my fault...as the designers of QL intended...using it assumes that you are an accomplished reloader that knows when to say when, regardless of what the program says.

 

[Mikey338]

I have a question when I'm loading ADI AR 2209 in my 7mm Rem mag with 150gr bullets books /website say 57.0 gr max load, QL shows only 39,727psi what one should I believe

 

[Ridgerunner665]

2209 is H4350 I believe...

Starting out always follow an up to date book or online data such as Nosler provides...... Always.

QuickLoad only comes into play after you have fired a few rounds with loads you got from a reliable source.

After you get case capacity from fired rounds and some accurate chrono readings from those book loads.... Then you can begin to calibrate QuickLoad.

Uncalibrated.... QuickLoad isn't much good.

 

[Mikey338]

How do you add new powders like Reloder 23,26 where does that information come from. My version is 3.6

 

[Ridgerunner665]

How do you add new powders like Reloder 23,26 where does that information come from. My version is 3.6

Buy the updates from NECO.... They cost about $26 by the time you add shipping.... They come as a disc, just install them on your computer.

I'm not sure of the update schedule.... Or if there is a schedule.

3.8 is the current version.


http://www.neconos.com/category/Software-2

 

[Mikey338]

Thanks I'll look into that

 

[DrMike]

How do you add new powders like Reloder 23,26 where does that information come from. My version is 3.6

Buy the updates from NECO.... They cost about $26 by the time you add shipping.... They come as a disc, just install them on your computer.

I'm not sure of the update schedule.... Or if there is a schedule.

3.8 is the current version.


http://www.neconos.com/category/Software-2

Updates are intermittent, usually released on an annual basis.

 

[truck driver]

Been reloading since I was 12 and you guys make me feel like a beginner. I have to admit that I'm a little intimidated by what QL does or shows so I'll rely on help from you guys.

 

[NWBlacktail]

Do you guys ever get tired of answering these "QuickLoad" requests? :mrgreen:

 

[Dwh7271]

After you get case capacity from fired rounds and some accurate chrono readings from those book loads.... Then you can begin to calibrate QuickLoad.

Might want to enlarge on this RR.
Sorry, not trying to butt in or hijack. :grin:

 

[wizzum]

After you get case capacity from fired rounds and some accurate chrono readings from those book loads.... Then you can begin to calibrate QuickLoad.

Might want to enlarge on this RR.
Sorry, not trying to butt in or hijack. :grin:

Trying to learn...ideally or to get the best info what is needed.

 

[FOTIS]

AS30N=Clays
AP50N = (No Hodgdon)
AS50N = International
AP70N = Universal
AP100 = (No Hodgdon)
AR2205 = H4227
AR2207 = H4198
AR2219 = H322
Bench Mark1 = (No Hodgdon)
Bench Mark2 = BenchMark AR2206 = (No Hodgdon)
AR2206H = H4895
AR2208 = Varget
AR2209 = H4350
AR2213 = (Discontinued)
AR2213SC = H4831
AR2217 = H1000
AR2225 = Retumbo
AR2218 = H50BMG

 

[FOTIS]

Deserves to be a sticky

 

[FOTIS]

After you get case capacity from fired rounds and some accurate chrono readings from those book loads.... Then you can begin to calibrate QuickLoad.

Uncalibrated.... QuickLoad isn't much good.

An example of calibration?

 

[Ridgerunner665]

After you get case capacity from fired rounds and some accurate chrono readings from those book loads.... Then you can begin to calibrate QuickLoad.

Uncalibrated.... QuickLoad isn't much good.

An example of calibration?

Coming soon....

 

[FOTIS]

Cool!

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I guess the first thing to address is "why" its important to calibrate QuickLoad to your components and firearm...its an easy answer...the defaults in QuickLoad are nearly ALL wrong. The bullet and powder specs are wrong, there's no way they could ever be "right" because manufacturing tolerances vary and even the same powder used in different rounds will behave differently...it varies with case capacity and pressure.

With that in mind, we have to double check everything ourselves and edit these values in QuickLoad...but before we can do that we need to fire at least 10 rounds OVER A CHRONOGRAPH using loads we got from an up to date and reputable source (Nosler, Hodgden, Sierra, etc.)...these loads MUST use the same bullets, brass, and powder you're wanting to calibrate to QuickLoad....SAVE the velocities from the chrono, DO NOT resize or deprime the cases...just set them to the side for right now, we'll need them later...ACCURATE chrono readings are critical here, without them...we're just chasing our tail! So take the time to ensure your chrono is setup properly and giving you good readings.

Bullets
Measure the OAL, length of the boattail (shank seat depth), seating depth (distance from base of the bullet to the case mouth), and the diameter. Input these values into the correct boxes in QuickLoad....these measurements will play a role in usable case capacity once the bullets are seated.

Maximum Case Capacity Overflow
Very important that one...to get this measurement you'll need your fired cases from above that haven't been resized or deprimed (all of them, or at least 10), a cup of water, a powder scale, and a dropper bottle or syringe without a needle...Let a cup of water sit out overnight...this is so all the tiny bubbles can make their way out of it. Weigh the empty unsized and still primed fired case...use the dropper/syringe to fill the case with water, take care not to let any air bubbles get stuck down in the case....overfill it actually, but not enough that it spills down the sides (wipe off any that does spill down the sides)...just enough that the surface tension of the water makes it rounded on the top, over the case mouth...this is overflow capacity, as is used by QuickLoad...weigh the filled case. Subtract the empty weight from the filled weight and there you have your overflow case capacity.

Illustration showing "overflow capacity"...notice how the water is over the the top of the case mouth (photo courtesy of muzz).


Now we're getting to the actual calibrating part...
First of all let me say this...none of these changes are permanent...as soon as you select another powder the values will revert back to the defaults, so don't worry about messing up your QuickLoad program. The powders can be permanently edited...but that is a pretty complicated process and not something you will do by accident, it takes some doing.......moving on......

Take your measured overflow case capacity and put that into QuickLoad...then input all the values for the 10 rounds you fired above (powder, bullet, OAL). Run it through the program and see what it says...it will be all wrong 99% of the time...to make it match, click the square box to the left of the "selected propellant" box, when you do that you'll see that all those parameters under the powder can now be edited...to keep this as simple as possible (for now), only edit the "burning rate factor" (Ba)...leave the others alone.

The higher the "Ba" number the faster the burn rate, the lower the slower...pretty simple...make the Ba whatever it needs to be to match your chrono data from the rounds above, it will generally be within 10% in one direction or the other.

At this point, your QuickLoad is far more accurate than it was a few minutes ago...and as a point of fact...QuickLoad isn't designed to replace certified load data...it is mainly a testing tool...a way to get an idea of the effects of changes to your load without actually firing rounds....a tinkerers dream!


Stay tuned, more to come...there will be some edits to this...rearranging, spelling etc...so bear with me.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

An example...the calibrated data for my 280 Ackley vs uncalibrated.


Uncalibrated

 Cartridge          : .280 Ack Imp
Bullet             : .284, 150, Nosler Accubond LR 58734 G7
Useable Case Capaci: 65.437 grain H2O = 4.249 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length      : 24.0 inch = 609.6 mm
Powder             : Norma MRP

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 0.807% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms

-08.1   91    57.00   2731    2483   40695  11661     96.2    1.380
-07.3   91    57.50   2756    2531   41817  11768     96.5    1.362
-06.5   92    58.00   2782    2578   42971  11872     96.9    1.345
-05.6   93    58.50   2808    2626   44163  11973     97.2    1.327
-04.8   94    59.00   2834    2675   45389  12070     97.6    1.310
-04.0   95    59.50   2860    2724   46653  12163     97.9    1.294
-03.2   95    60.00   2885    2773   47954  12253     98.1    1.277
-02.4   96    60.50   2911    2823   49295  12340     98.4    1.261
-01.6   97    61.00   2937    2873   50679  12422     98.7    1.245
-00.8   98    61.50   2963    2923   52104  12500     98.9    1.229
+00.0   98    62.00   2988    2974   53576  12575     99.1    1.214
+00.8   99    62.50   3014    3025   55092  12645     99.3    1.199
+01.6  100    63.00   3039    3077   56658  12711     99.4    1.183  ! Near Maximum !
+02.4  101    63.50   3065    3129   58270  12773     99.6    1.168  ! Near Maximum !
+03.2  102    64.00   3090    3181   59937  12831     99.7    1.154  ! Near Maximum !
+04.0  102    64.50   3116    3233   61657  12884     99.8    1.139  ! Near Maximum !

Results caused by ± 5% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 5% relative to nominal value:
+Ba     98    62.00   3073    3145   59876  12423    100.0    1.160  ! Near Maximum !
Data for burning rate decreased by 5% relative to nominal value:
-Ba     98    62.00   2888    2777   47756  12507     96.7    1.275

Calibrated...matches my chrono data to within very few fps, and based on what I've learned about reading pressure over the last 30 some odd years...it matches that pretty close too.

Cartridge          : .280 Ack Imp
Bullet             : .284, 150, Nosler Accubond LR 58734 G7
Useable Case Capaci: 65.437 grain H2O = 4.249 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length      : 24.0 inch = 609.6 mm
Powder             : Norma MRP ?

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 0.807% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms

-08.1   91    57.00   2877    2758   48703  11741     99.6    1.277
-07.3   91    57.50   2902    2806   50070  11807     99.7    1.261
-06.5   92    58.00   2927    2854   51474  11870     99.8    1.245
-05.6   93    58.50   2952    2902   52916  11927     99.9    1.230
-04.8   94    59.00   2976    2950   54398  11981    100.0    1.214
-04.0   95    59.50   3001    2999   55922  12030    100.0    1.199  ! Near Maximum !
-03.2   95    60.00   3025    3048   57489  12075    100.0    1.184  ! Near Maximum !
-02.4   96    60.50   3050    3097   59099  12117    100.0    1.170  ! Near Maximum !
-01.6   97    61.00   3074    3147   60756  12158    100.0    1.155  ! Near Maximum !
-00.8   98    61.50   3098    3196   62459  12199    100.0    1.141  ! Near Maximum !
+00.0   98    62.00   3122    3246   64210  12240    100.0    1.127  ! Near Maximum !
+00.8   99    62.50   3146    3296   66012  12280    100.0    1.113  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+01.6  100    63.00   3170    3346   67865  12319    100.0    1.100  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.4  101    63.50   3193    3396   69773  12357    100.0    1.086  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.2  102    64.00   3217    3447   71735  12395    100.0    1.073  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0  102    64.50   3240    3497   73756  12432    100.0    1.060  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 5% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 5% relative to nominal value:
+Ba     98    62.00   3187    3383   71179  11987    100.0    1.081  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 5% relative to nominal value:
-Ba     98    62.00   3041    3079   57321  12509     99.8    1.181  ! Near Maximum !

 

[Ridgerunner665]

And thats cool that you made this a sticky!!!

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Do you guys ever get tired of answering these "QuickLoad" requests? :mrgreen:

I remember the first time I asked somebody for QuickLoad help...he was kind enough to lend a hand so I try to pay it forward when I can.

It was MontanaMarine (Shane) who I first asked...several years ago now, on the old Snipers Hide.

:lol: Maybe if we can get everybody trained up on it, they'll buy it for themselves and we'll have less requests :lol: