Quickload - Powder Data - Missing?

[bruss01]

Hey all, I'm just getting started in hand loading.

One of my main interests in reloading is to customize a load for my various guns. Obviously a load is going to shoot differently from my Charter Bulldog than it will from my 5" 629. I want to customize loads for each of them.

So, I heard of software program called "Quickload" that allows you to do just exactly that. It even tells you what percentage of the powder is burned by the time the bullet leaves the barrel. How cool is that? So I figured, this is just what I need... so I plunk down the $140 for the program and a few days later the disk shows up in my mail box. Cool beans so far.

So I install the program and start tooting around in it. I see a lot of listings for bullets of various shapes and sizes, and even a utility to create your own new "bullet data" record if you have something not listed. I notice they have the same ability for powders. Excellent, I think.

So, I go to plug in the numbers for a few loads I'm considering. I haven't gotten very far into this process when I go to tap in the numbers for a .40 cal load I'm considering using IMR 800x - and I can't find the powder in the list. I waste a few minutes looking around for a different powder file on the disk - nope, can't find one. I look for a way to download an updated powder file... nope, can't find one. So I go out to my bench and grab 3 powders at random - Alliant American Select, IMR 700x and IMR 800x, thinking there is data on the side of the bottle I can enter - nope, not there, and guess what the other two powders are not in the list either!!

By now I'm getting confused and a tad frustrated. These are main stream powders with load data in just about every reloading manual. I can understand maybe if it was something off-beat, like leftover Pakistani surplus or something. But these are COMMON powders. They SHOULD BE THERE in a product I have paid over $100 for.

As a last ditch, I figure the manufacturer MUST have the propellant data on their web site. I've been all over the IMR site, and no powder data was to be found.

What's the deal? I bought this program to be able to try out various bullet/powder combinations without having to do it Thomas Edison style (trial & error) and waste a lot of time and material finding 1000 ways it doesn't work. Now I find out that the program doesn't accomodate some of the most popular & available commercial powders on the market? Or is there something I just haven't discovered yet? Maybe there is a simple solution I just haven't caught wise to yet... that's why I'm asking here. Little help, please guys.

BTW I did my homework before purchasing, read at least 5 reviews of the product. No one said anything about major manufacurer's very mainstream powders being missing from the roster. I am feeling I am not getting what it was that I believed I was paying for at the time of purchase. I'm unhappy with the product right now and I'm hoping someone can shed some light to improve my mood.

Thanks for any help.

 

[loadedround]

Just a quick answer...all IMR powders are being handled by Hodgdon Powder Co. now. Go to their website @ www.hodgdon.com and look up the powder information you need. BTW, they also list the W-W powders also, along with their own house brands.

 

[jfh]

In addition to using computer programs such as the QuickLoad, be sure to buy at least two good current references. I recommend the Lyman Pistol and Revolver / current edition (3rd?), and Speer #14--the latest one.

I want to buy QuickLoad to, and use it for load development with other powders--but, like you, I found out that powders I want to work with are missing, and that the data you need for database incorporation is based on tests that only the manufacturer can provide; the information is not even 'guessible.' So, for now I am holding off on buying the program, and I am reading at the real reloading-nerd type forums and threads to learn more about layman techniques to do this.

It is NOT a trivial exercise, so I am afraid I can provide no quick suggestions.

As loadedround pointed out, there are databases on the 'net from most powder manufacturers where you can find the recipes they recommend. You might inquire about what tweaks to published loads you can consider at a site like handloads.com

Finally, since you are just getting started, I strongly recommend you cease worrying about custom loads at this point, and begin with a) learning the proper reloading techniques for the gear you own, b) learning to build consistent loads based on c) lower-to-medium pressure loads using 'favorite' components.

The desire to jump in and find the 'neat load' for one's personal gun is great, I know--but the route to that is to learn the fundamentals first and learning to build safely; and then learning load development paradigms that will get you to your sweet spot load realistically.

Any questions, fire away--

Jim H.

 

[bruss01]

jfh -

Thanks for the reply.

I have 3 good hardbound reloading references - Speer, Hornady and Lee. They are my first recourse in getting ideas for loads to create.

One of the things that attracted me to Quickload was the ability to plug in certain criteria, and get alternate suggestions for powder combinations yielding pressure/fps over a wide spectrum. This would allow the reloader to zero in on powders best suited to his needs, instead of simply relying on what the publishers of the manual in question are trying to sell.

Sounds like I am up creek without paddle, so to speak. Not happy about that - I think QL should have a disclaimer up front stating that they DO NOT provide data from some major powder mfr's and I also fault the reviewers for not pointing out this important fact. When I turn to a reloading manual and see loadings using only 4 or 5 powders, when I know that there are a dozen or more on the market that are usable in that caliber, I feel like I'm only getting a partial picture. Obviously, they can't make a hardbound reloading manual 3000 pages long, listing every possible combination. THAT'S what I was interested in QL for - not so I could put something in my gun that would go *bang* safely - heck, factory ammo will do that just fine with a lot less fuss. I wanted to research and create the best ammo for my gun. I'm disappointed to find myself hobbled in that endeavor by this glaring gap in the available data.

Oh well. Caveat Emptor.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Email or talk to them. The problem is that someone needs to pay to run the tests on the powder for them to put it in the database with all of the parameters. Yes I agree, I feel bad every time I pop open quickload and don't find the powder I want but nothing is perfect. I admit that I would like 800x the SR series, trailboss etc. but they are not there.

For what it is and does, it is still a good package.

Have you tried loads from disk? Is it any better?