I have QL and have created individual bullet files, Ie: 6mm,22 cal, 30 cal, etc. Is there a way to create a powder file that contains only the powders that I can actually obtain, like IMR, Hogdon, Allient, etc. Eliminating all of the other powders would make life a whole lot simpler. I thought I read about a way to do that some where here on Accurate Shooter but I can't seem to find the article. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
QL Question?
- Thread starter Chuckhunter
- Start date
Yes, you can. If I remember correctly, open the powder file using notepad, delete the powders you don't want, do a 'Save As' Short Domestic. Or some other name, Short Domestic is what I have my short list saved as.
Or you could copy the powder file, change its name, THEN delete powders after opening it with notepad. This is probably a little safer way of doing it.
Or you could copy the powder file, change its name, THEN delete powders after opening it with notepad. This is probably a little safer way of doing it.
Erik Cortina
Team Lapua Brux Borden Captain
Nomad47 said:
White-Out also works, but the screen gets a little messy! ;D
Nomad, thanks for the help. That sure makes life easier. Took me a while to figure out how to open the file with notepad but at my age everything comes kinda slow. Thanks again.
OK Chuckhunter, how do you open the powder file using notepad? I am still using an abacus to add with! Tom
Nothing like being dumb but happy! When I open Quickload and go to Data:Add, Change, Load or Save and click that, then Propellant data is chosen, I get 4 options:
1: Change data records in active file
2: Load a powder file
3: Create a new powder file
4: Save Active file as
now if I click on load a powder file, I get qloadfw.pro as the default file and when I click on it is just loads it. I tried going to the C drive and opening the powder file there but all I found was Quickload and when I click that it just starts the program again. Little help here, where do I go to where it will allow me to click on the file and get the pop up asking me how I want to open the file? It sure will be nice to eliminate 432 powders off of the list that I will never see in my lifetime! Thanks for any help. Tom
1: Change data records in active file
2: Load a powder file
3: Create a new powder file
4: Save Active file as
now if I click on load a powder file, I get qloadfw.pro as the default file and when I click on it is just loads it. I tried going to the C drive and opening the powder file there but all I found was Quickload and when I click that it just starts the program again. Little help here, where do I go to where it will allow me to click on the file and get the pop up asking me how I want to open the file? It sure will be nice to eliminate 432 powders off of the list that I will never see in my lifetime! Thanks for any help. Tom
The 'stock' location for powder files in XP seems to be "C:\Documents and Settings\<userid>\My Documents\QuickLoad\data\powders" - besides the folder 'powders' you'll see 'bullets', 'calibers', etc.
I right-clicked on 'qloadfw.pro' file and clicked "Copy" in the pop-up window, then right-clicked again in the directories open space to 'Paste' the copy. You can safely use Notepad or Wordpad to modify that copy. A bit faster than using QL itself.
The beauty of this method is being able to tailor the powder's burning rate to your actual batch - if you use a chronograph - BUT there are many subtle adjustments that can be made. I'd like to find a forum to confer, converse & otherwise hob-knob with fellow QL users to discuss some of these parameters since some of the QL parameters (like case capacity) aren't accurate for everyone.
I right-clicked on 'qloadfw.pro' file and clicked "Copy" in the pop-up window, then right-clicked again in the directories open space to 'Paste' the copy. You can safely use Notepad or Wordpad to modify that copy. A bit faster than using QL itself.
The beauty of this method is being able to tailor the powder's burning rate to your actual batch - if you use a chronograph - BUT there are many subtle adjustments that can be made. I'd like to find a forum to confer, converse & otherwise hob-knob with fellow QL users to discuss some of these parameters since some of the QL parameters (like case capacity) aren't accurate for everyone.
Louie, you now have my vote for the next President of the USA! Thanks. Tom 
Bulseyetom said:Louie, you now have my vote for the next President of the USA! Thanks. Tom
You *know* making people responsible for their own actions would never be popular...Louielouie I like the idea of a place to discuss QL's tweaks and possibilities. The program is great and I have slowly been learning it's little hidden treasures. Bulseyetom, glad to see you got it figured out, sorry it took me so long, I hadn't realized the thread had continued.
I am slowly but surely gaining momentum in Quickload but QuickTarget still has me just doing the bare basics. A chat room someplace to discuss QL would be very helpful to lots of people like myself who know that the program has more to offer but don't really understand how to achieve those results.
Some of the parameters like 'weighting factor' could use some interpretation: AccurateShooter has an great article about rating the overbore ratio of cartridges that could fit in here. 'Starting pressure' could be somehow related to the primer pressure that I've seen in another reference. Powders can vary up to 10% and QL has a function that does a "what if" with different burning rates. I have a 1:8 4-groove "ratchet" rifled barrel from Shilen and that probably has different pressure curve than a 1:9 6-groove McGowen. Several people on this board or their websites have pressure traces for when they changed components that is relevant to QL.
I do software testing (not games) so it's natural for me to <gasp> Read The Fine Manual </gasp> and adjust values accordingly with my empirical data to guide me.
What is a reasonable expectation for this tool? +/- 3% of predicted velocity in the real world? So far, with the lots of H4831sc, H4350, A3100, A4350 & Rl-17 that I've been using with my 260 Rem I'm close but this is a real small sample. I'll get some references together and post them.
I do software testing (not games) so it's natural for me to <gasp> Read The Fine Manual </gasp> and adjust values accordingly with my empirical data to guide me.
What is a reasonable expectation for this tool? +/- 3% of predicted velocity in the real world? So far, with the lots of H4831sc, H4350, A3100, A4350 & Rl-17 that I've been using with my 260 Rem I'm close but this is a real small sample. I'll get some references together and post them.
I'm far from being an expert with QuickLoad, but I have been using the program for 5 years and I can say what works for me.
I have adopted a lot of what Chris Long (of OBT fame) does for his load development. Mr Long says QL has to be calibrated to YOUR rifle and each particular powder/bullet combination. Chris uses a strain gauge and a chronograph, but he says two loads a grain or two apart shot over a chrony will also work. He first adjusts powder burning rate by no more than 5%, then weighting factor by no more than 10%, and finally bullet weight by no more than 5%. He adjusts these three values until QL "tracks" between the two charges. Chris says adjusting bullet weight compensates for differences in barrel friction from barrel to barrel.
QL says to add 7200 PSI to start pressure when seating at or in the lands. I find I have to sometimes adjust start pressure to get QL to 'track'. And for me personally I adjust weighting factor up (higher number) as bullet weight increases in a given caliber.
A barrel manufacturer told me pressure increases as twist rate increases. Makes sense to me - more force/pressure is required to make the bullet spin faster. But QL has no place to input twist rate. So, in my opinion, adjusting bullet weight and shot start pressure compensates for twist rate change.
I agree that all of us QL owners would benefit from a discussion board. Maybe someone here should start a thread titled "QuickLoad tips and hints".
I have adopted a lot of what Chris Long (of OBT fame) does for his load development. Mr Long says QL has to be calibrated to YOUR rifle and each particular powder/bullet combination. Chris uses a strain gauge and a chronograph, but he says two loads a grain or two apart shot over a chrony will also work. He first adjusts powder burning rate by no more than 5%, then weighting factor by no more than 10%, and finally bullet weight by no more than 5%. He adjusts these three values until QL "tracks" between the two charges. Chris says adjusting bullet weight compensates for differences in barrel friction from barrel to barrel.
QL says to add 7200 PSI to start pressure when seating at or in the lands. I find I have to sometimes adjust start pressure to get QL to 'track'. And for me personally I adjust weighting factor up (higher number) as bullet weight increases in a given caliber.
A barrel manufacturer told me pressure increases as twist rate increases. Makes sense to me - more force/pressure is required to make the bullet spin faster. But QL has no place to input twist rate. So, in my opinion, adjusting bullet weight and shot start pressure compensates for twist rate change.
I agree that all of us QL owners would benefit from a discussion board. Maybe someone here should start a thread titled "QuickLoad tips and hints".
Nomad47, I agree that some tailoring to a specific rifle is correct but what I was hoping to discuss is those parameters that may have across-the-board value and help others (and myself) to understand how to apply those unique values.
Here's the 6mmbr article about QuickLoad. Very informative in it's own right. The most current version is v3.6 and is Win7 compatible but I was not able to get it to run on Linux even with the most current libraries for WINE.
http://www.6mmbr.com/Quickload.html
This is the article that got me to thinking about how to adjust the 'weighting factor'. For me, the 260 Rem in the 'slightly overbore' capacity rates a 0.44 instead of the stock 0.50 and this seems to track well for me. On the other hand, BlueEyedBear uses a 6mm SLR that has a weighting of 0.61 (seen in here: http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek0102/ ) which may be because he's using a different version?
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/04/overbore-cartridges-a-working-definition/
This is the article that Nomad47 was referring to about Chris Long's dissertation of Optimal Barrel Time and his method for modifying QuickLoad values.
http://www.the-long-family.com/optimal%20barrel%20time.htm
German Salazar's excellent article about pressure, not trusting the primer appearance, etc.
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2011/08/reloading-pressure-by-any-other-name.html
A simple web page with no date but using a homemade relative-force gauge for primer strength.
http://www.castingstuff.com/primer_testing_reference.htm
Chris Long's study (with pressure traces) of how a hotter primer can be better.
http://www.the-long-family.com/primer_study.htm
More excellence from German Salazar about primers using strain gauges.
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-small-rifle-primer-study.html
I use the stock Shot Start Pressure of 3625 psi for Wolf LR & CCI BR2's, 4200 for Federal GM210M and maybe 4500 for Winchester LR. My 15 y/o A3100 powder did need some changes in Ba (burn rate) but the other powders I mentioned were just a few percent different. Of course the big thing is to be accurate enough to avoid a catastrophe.
Sorry that I had verbosity turned up to max...
Here's the 6mmbr article about QuickLoad. Very informative in it's own right. The most current version is v3.6 and is Win7 compatible but I was not able to get it to run on Linux even with the most current libraries for WINE.
http://www.6mmbr.com/Quickload.html
This is the article that got me to thinking about how to adjust the 'weighting factor'. For me, the 260 Rem in the 'slightly overbore' capacity rates a 0.44 instead of the stock 0.50 and this seems to track well for me. On the other hand, BlueEyedBear uses a 6mm SLR that has a weighting of 0.61 (seen in here: http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek0102/ ) which may be because he's using a different version?
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/04/overbore-cartridges-a-working-definition/
This is the article that Nomad47 was referring to about Chris Long's dissertation of Optimal Barrel Time and his method for modifying QuickLoad values.
http://www.the-long-family.com/optimal%20barrel%20time.htm
German Salazar's excellent article about pressure, not trusting the primer appearance, etc.
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2011/08/reloading-pressure-by-any-other-name.html
A simple web page with no date but using a homemade relative-force gauge for primer strength.
http://www.castingstuff.com/primer_testing_reference.htm
Chris Long's study (with pressure traces) of how a hotter primer can be better.
http://www.the-long-family.com/primer_study.htm
More excellence from German Salazar about primers using strain gauges.
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-small-rifle-primer-study.html
I use the stock Shot Start Pressure of 3625 psi for Wolf LR & CCI BR2's, 4200 for Federal GM210M and maybe 4500 for Winchester LR. My 15 y/o A3100 powder did need some changes in Ba (burn rate) but the other powders I mentioned were just a few percent different. Of course the big thing is to be accurate enough to avoid a catastrophe.
Sorry that I had verbosity turned up to max...
OK, knowing that info can be power (and confusing sometimes) I measured the bearing surface length of the 6.5 mm bullets (using two comparators)I have on hand as a possible adjustment to "Starting Pressure" when you pull up the bullet parameters:
Not intending to be an absolute value but some kind of guideline for how bearing surface affects pressure - +1% every 0.025" over the shortest bullet? Perhaps something similar can be worked out for primers?
For instance, with the temp holding steady BR2s had an 10-rd avg of 2631 with an SD of 20 but when I used GM210Ms the avg was 2647 with an SD of 7.
| Possible Starting | ||
| Bullet | Length | Pressure Value? |
| Sierra 120gr SP | 0.579" | 3625 (Default) |
| Norma 130gr Target | 0.6155" | 3675 |
| Hornady 129 Interbond | 0.616" | 3675 |
| Nosler 140 CC | 0.6245" | 3700 |
| Hornady 140 BTHP | 0.633" | 3725 |
| Sierra 140 SBT | 0.636" | 3750 |
Not intending to be an absolute value but some kind of guideline for how bearing surface affects pressure - +1% every 0.025" over the shortest bullet? Perhaps something similar can be worked out for primers?
For instance, with the temp holding steady BR2s had an 10-rd avg of 2631 with an SD of 20 but when I used GM210Ms the avg was 2647 with an SD of 7.
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