Do you have trouble keeping reloading/shooting notes?

[F Class John]

Here's a simple but effective method I've adopted to keep track of targets and other shooting items. Maybe it'll help anyone who struggles like I did. I know people say keep written notes, but I struggled to do that in a way that was meaningful for me on a regular basis so I had to adapt. To me, the best notes are the ones you actually make so whatever method works is the one you should use and for me this is it.

 

[T.Rhodes]

Not sure I'll follow your system exactly, but I will see if I can incorporate this into my iPad Notes. Seems like a good use of a technology/capability has been dormant on my iPad.

Thanks for posting.

 

[dhagerty40]

should work well till your Ipad/computer crashes!

 

[CJ6]

Not knocking the tech part, but I just write the particulars on the target before I go to the range and note any discrepancies on them at the range..

 

[4xforfun]

Reloading notes, no. Range info yes. But with my new garmin and my camera things are getting easer.

 

[padom]

should work well till your Ipad/computer crashes!

Not if your syncing your devices to OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. Access those files from any device any where at all times. Regardless if you loose any device.

 

[Bill Norris]

should work well till your Ipad/computer crashes!

Yea, the computer may at some point let you down but if you download the files to an offline file (stick) it will be there forever..

 

[Andy Work]

I take notes while loading and shooting at the range. Back at home I'll write the notes on the target and save both in a binder. I take the binder for whichever rifle with me next time out.

 

[Bill Norris]

At time of loading I list all parameters of it for each rifle in a program called notepad on my computer and then transferred to Google Drive. After shooting I go back and make notes adding to that particular load. Fairly easy to reference it later.

 

[1911nut]

Yeah, like Andy I put the load data for my better loads on the targets.

 

[K22]

I've been keeping detailed a precise records of each range sessions since as far back as I can remember.

After a range session I record on the target, the environmental conditions, called shots outside my desire POI with notes of fundamental breakdowns, and of course load data and scores.

Whatever system you use, the most important point is to record the data, analyze it, and then use as a basis to work on improving your shooting.

 

[338 Mollett]

I can not be a Genius and be organized it is too much !!

 

[Tesoro]

I am probably equally computer literate as anyone on this forum but when it comes to reloading I have a bookshelf of hardback notebooks stacked in chronological order. Anything pertinent I do goes on the next page dated, and I tape in cut outs for targets if need be. My problem is not finding or losing my notes but being able to de-cypher my notes!

 

[DirtySteve]

Great video.

 

[Will Henry]

I always just leave one cartridge unfired. That way, when I can't find the note I wrote on a piece of scrap paper I had in my pocket, or if the record I scratched on the benchtop with a stick is unreadable a month later, I can pull the round apart and see what was in it. Of course, this presupposes that I at least know what powder it was. I've started several notebooks and find one every once in while. The notation "well, that load sucks" appears often. WH

 

[Kittitas George]

I may be thought of as old fashioned as I still have a buggy whip on my F-150, but I use a wire bound small note book for my shooting records. For some rifles I have 1 book, for some maybe 2 rifles per book. If reloading the info is in the book, it shooting the info is in the book, all in chronological order. The books are small enough to fit in with all my shooting stuff, can lay on the bench while shooting and I don't forget what I did. I'm a retired surveyor, my notes are of what I did, not what I thought I did. The notes could be transferred to the computer, but why bother. Could records can save your bacon.

 

[Dimner]

Here's a simple but effective method I've adopted to keep track of targets and other shooting items. Maybe it'll help anyone who struggles like I did. I know people say keep written notes, but I struggled to do that in a way that was meaningful for me on a regular basis so I had to adapt. To me, the best notes are the ones you actually make so whatever method works is the one you should use and for me this is it.

I did something very similar to this years ago with a thing called 'Evernote'. Nice name right? I changed all my note taking to 'Evernote'. Online app very similar to Apple's 'Notes' platform. I even could add tags to the notes for super fast searching.

I paid a yearly subscription for the premium features. I transcribed all my reloading data from the year before and continued with the 'Evernote' platform for the next year and a half. Was a wonderful system, everything was in the cloud. I had access from my tablet, phone and laptop.

Then the hammer dropped. They sunset the service. Probably someone in silicon valley douche had dreams of an IPO and billion dollar payout that never happened. I don't really know the story, but it was sunset and I LOST EVERYTHING.

I had hundreds of individual notes with tables of charges and velocities and Chrono data. I had images of my target results. I had everything. And all of that everything was lost. I tried to export my notes to PDF, but it only captured the first 100 or so lines of each note (based on some arbitrary HTML coding limitations).

Bottom line ... .

If all your note taking is held in a proprietary application or dependent on a specific platform, your data is at risk. Apple's notes application is no different. You at best are stuck using that system forever. At worst you lose everythjng. These companies do not spend time and money so you can easily export information so you can use a different system.

So to this day, I am back to the good ol pencil and notebook system. I have developed a decent way to be able to search for information quickly and find reference information. And I have the freedom from some corporation deciding not to support a product.

I will finish by saying, I'm not anti cloud. Computers and google drive are still an important part of my record keeping. But they are not the sole part of my record keeping. I can live without the cloud.

 

[Krogen]

I wish I could like DImner's post a milliion times! ^^^^^

You are so right. I choose to be responsible for my own data and not leave it to the cloud or the companies running the show. Like you, I'm not anti-cloud. I just take responsibility for something that matters to me and probably doesn't to a faceless company. They see $$.

I've been in and out of photography for a lot of years. Film was easy to archive. When I went digital it was more of a pain. But I keep multiple backups locally AND in the cloud. I think it's the same situation with shooting notes.

 

[memilanuk]

If all your note taking is held in a proprietary application or dependent on a specific platform, your data is at risk.

I hear ya on that. I'm currently using Google Docs / Sheets for my notes/records, but I very much would rather use something like Obsidian that uses markdown for the text/notes portion. Basically plain text, with some enhancements for formatting / styling - but at the end of the day, you can open the raw files in *any* text editor, whether it's NotePad, vi/emacs, whatever. The problem is I use the ability to embed and link pictures, tabular data from the associated spreadsheets, etc. fairly heavily... and that's where text/markdown falls apart.

 

[CharlieNC]

It's straightforward to analyze quantitative target statistics, not so easy to analyze pictures. Excel is your friend .