QuickLOAD question... custom propellant file?

[memilanuk]

Hello,

Well, I just got my copy of QuickLOAD 3.2 in today, and I gotta say... WOW!!! This is gonna be a major time-killer

At any rate... I have been going thru the QuickLOAD Review and User's Guide here on accurateshooter.com. Very helpful! I especially *love* the tips on making custom cartridge/caliber and bullet files... definitely helps filter out some of the extraneous stuff so it's easier to find what I need.

Now... is there a way to do that w/ the Propellant tables? Frankly, if I can't find it at the local gun store or online @ Grafs, etc. it's not of much use to me to see recommendations for Rottweil, SNPE, or PB Clermont powders again and again. How do I go about creating a propellant table file w/ just the 'normal' stuff in it?

TIA,

Monte

 

[techshooter]

Monte:

The QL data files are all ASCII files, and can be easily edited with Notepad or any other word processor.

Just go to C:\Program Files\QuickLOAD\data\powders and make a copy of the file qloadfw.pro. Rename it to something like "available.pro". Then open the file with Notepad, and simply remove the lines that have the weird unobtainium powders that you mentioned. Save, close, and you are good to go.

Now, in QL, access the following menu item tree: 'Data: Add, Change, Load, Save -> Propellant Data -> Load a powder file'

This will bring up a dialog screen that should show you the available powder files, including the one that you just created. Select it, and voila! You are now using a custom powder file with just your selections.

No risk, as you can always select the original file if you think that you boogered something up.

Hope that this helps!

Cheers,

 

[Forum Boss]

Great tip from Chris on editing the powder file.

One bit of advice though--don't delete the ADI,Australian Defense Industry) entries. ADI makes some of the more popular Hodgdon powder, such as Varget. I've found empirically that the data listed for the ADI versions usually works better than the Hodgdon data. I discussed this with the inventor of Quickload and he agreed that ADI has been more "responsive" in giving him current powder charateristics. Here's a list of ADI to Hodgdon equivalents:

ADI | Hodgdon Equivalent

AS30N = Clays
AP50N,no match)
AS50N = International
AP70N = Universal
AP100,no match)
AR2205 = H4227
AR2207 = H4198
Bench Mark1,no match)
AR2219 = H322
Bench Mark2 = BenchMark
AR2206,no match)
AR2206H = H4895
AR2208 = Varget
AR2209 = H4350
AR2213,discontinued)
AR2213SC = H4831sc
AR2217 = H1000
AR2225 = Retumbo
AR2218 = H50BMG

 

[USAPatriot]

I only load for two cartridges. I assume I could do the same for the case file, removing all but the two I use and save the file under it's own name? -Rod-

 

[memilanuk]

Thanks Chris! That worked perfectly. Much easier making sense of the propellant tables now!

Monte

 

[USAPatriot]

Great tip from Chris on editing the powder file.

One bit of advice though--don't delete the ADI,Australian Defense Industry) entries. ADI makes some of the more popular Hodgdon powder, such as Varget. I've found empirically that the data listed for the ADI versions usually works better than the Hodgdon data. I discussed this with the inventor of Quickload and he agreed that ADI has been more "responsive" in giving him current powder charateristics. Here's a list of ADI to Hodgdon equivalents:

ADI | Hodgdon Equivalent

AS30N = Clays
AP50N,no match)
AS50N = International
AP70N = Universal
AP100,no match)
AR2205 = H4227
AR2207 = H4198
Bench Mark1,no match)
AR2219 = H322
Bench Mark2 = BenchMark
AR2206,no match)
AR2206H = H4895
AR2208 = Varget
AR2209 = H4350
AR2213,discontinued)
AR2213SC = H4831sc
AR2217 = H1000
AR2225 = Retumbo
AR2218 = H50BMG

Are you saying that it would be safe,and more exacting) to use the ADI's figures rather than the Hodgdon's? If so it might be worthwhile when editing that file,to remove the extraneous entries,Rottweiler?)) to also append the name equivalents as you've done. -Rod-

 

[Forum Boss]

Hodgdon has told me that they use ADI powders as delivered from ADI. No special blending or mixing. Is it "safe"? Well you should always start low and work up. One must keep in mind that there are lot to lot variations too.

I've simply found that, when using Varget, H4350, H4831sc, and H322, the results from QuickLOAD mirror "reality" better if I use the ADI powder equivalents in the QL pull-down menu. The maker of QuickLOAD explained this simply by saying that ADI does a better job of providing him with current powder specs and properties.

But, for any particular Hodgdon powder you use, you should probably run a simulation with both options and select that which gives the best results.

 

[USAPatriot]

Hodgdon has told me that they use ADI powders as delivered from ADI. No special blending or mixing. Is it "safe"? Well you should always start low and work up. One must keep in mind that there are lot to lot variations too.

I've simply found that, when using Varget, H4350, H4831sc, and H322, the results from QuickLOAD mirror "reality" better if I use the ADI powder equivalents in the QL pull-down menu. The maker of QuickLOAD explained this simply by saying that ADI does a better job of providing him with current powder specs and properties.

But, for any particular Hodgdon powder you use, you should probably run a simulation with both options and select that which gives the best results.

Thanks, that was my thought as well. I did a powder file edit, removing powders/brands I know I'll never encounter or otherwise use and at the same time annotated the powders as well as notated the text at the top of the file that the ADI figures were just to be used as a comparison. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out. -Rod-

 

[techshooter]

Rod:

Don't know about the custom case file editing - never tried it. I don't find all the case options to be bothersome like the extraneous powders were in the output runs.

Cheers,

 

[USAPatriot]

That huge list of cartridges is daunting and I don't enjoy wading through it much. At this point I only need two. -Rod-