QuickLoad & QuickTarget Ballistic Software Review by B.Potts

I must confess to not being an anorak when it comes to computers, my IT skills leave a lot to be desired yet I find myself drawn ever more to the LCD screen to indulge in a new fascinating and addictive ballistics program. The use of computers and their associated ballistic hardware has given the shooter and hand loader a veritable encyclopaedia of information to satisfy even the most ardent reloader among you. The ability to plot trajectory graphs and see bullet drop at certain ranges and work out fps and ft/lbs. values at any given range can only enhance any shooters ability to shoot straight.

Julian Savory from JMS Arms sent me a copy of the Quickload program to try out, as he knew I was playing around with subsonic centre fire loads. This program differs from a lot of other good programs in as much as it combines the ability to shoot an actual load on screen; Quickload then translates that data onto the Quicktarget menu so as to compute the information into actual results after shooting. One of the great things about this is that all the complex formulas are condensed to a single icon so that in plain terms even an idiot (me) can operate it. It is a powerful, very powerful system that offers the user a veritable wealth of interesting and factual data. There is so much this program can do it is very difficult to know where to begin.

Say you want to know some thing about a new hand load you were considering. First, you pick a cartridge from the menu with windows drop down boxes format. There are over 800 to choose from including every day cartridges to obsolete, wildcat and some real weird ones .17 Hempalina Next, you select a bullet from nearly 40 bullet manufacturers starting at Alaska right on through to Winchester, ending with all the various 95 bullets from Woodleigh. In the drop down box is displayed the choice of bullets diameter, brand weight, style and catalogue number. This is then set into the program against the cartridge selected and a further sub section of data appears that includes seating depth, overall cartridge length, groove diameter, barrel length, bore travel bullet length etc. Some of this data you can exchange such as barrel length and so forth to trim the load to your requirements.

You need to select a powder next from the 140 strong propellant lists, all the popular ones, and again some I have never heard of. Choose a charge weight and then press add/calc and the program with calculate all the relevant input data and produce a complex and detailed readout of all the relevant information for that particular load. This includes not only velocity and energy figures but also burn rate factors, max chamber pressures and has this load topped it, load density, barrel time bullet travel propellant burnt, ballistic efficiency, the list goes on. This is not only a two tabled readout but with this comes an adjoining graph that you can specify to show various options such as pressure versus time, velocity versus time, even bullet travel vs pressure or pressure and velocity with the bullet travel. It’s totally awesome; there is literally too much information knawing that those little grey cells. If this was not quite what you expected then you can dabble with the options. What happens if you remove four inches off the barrel, just type in the different figures in the relevant box and see the changes made? You can add or deduct grains of powder to see velocity; energy or pressures change to safe levels or optimum. Changing bullets then also can cause the data to change considerably if the wrong weight bullet is loaded and you can even specify certain individual manufacturers cases to see what internal ballistic changes there are to the load you have developed.

This is a powerful tool, now you are getting excited, and you want to see how you can find the right powder and charge weight to achieve the maximum safe velocity in your favourite load. You load a .17 Rem cartridge with a Remington case with a 15gr Berger bullet and you specify 650000-psi maximum pressure. Enter the data push the relevant button and hay presto you have to many loads to list, from the fastest muzzle velocity to the slowest, instantly you now know the best propellant to use with out all that trial and error. That’s not all, you can then find the best bulk case density of powder to determine the best powder to use or loads that produce a certain muzzle velocity or barrel time or certain pressure curve to barrel time.

Once you get adept at the load manipulations you will find yourself delving deeper into the program and really start to think about the loads you are analysing. You can specify barrel time, i.e. if a load you know to be good can be duplicated with the same barrel time that uses less powder then the vibrations in the barrel will be the same and the bullet from that load should shoot to the same point of aim as the know load. This can save a lot of time pratting about.

Recoil analysis can also be performed, this gives a unique insight in to the forces and stresses imparted not only to your shoulder but all so to parts of the rifle. Weight of rifle and scope can be specified so as to see the recoil stress caused to the scope mounting parts, again changes to load and weight is recalculated until you are happy with the result.
All ballistic terminology is catered for in both English and metric measurements and can be easily converted as and when you want. So too can the inclusion of load data for black powder shooters, 12 powder and pyrodex types are listed.

If you really want to go silly then you can design, the interior of the actual rifle bore where groove and bore diameter as well as number of grooves can be specified. Would you choose normal rifling or polygonal groove, whichever the program calculates the data for inclusion with your other load requirements. You actually have to keep an eye on things as you can get carried away and forget to alter the, say barrel length back to normal lengths after working out a 14 inch 500 calibre subsonic and find that .257 Weatherby is not shooting well with a fourteen inch barrel instead of a 26 inch one!

You should also never rely on this data as a stand-alone measure in your reloading regime. Sure the results are fantastic but actual shooting in your gun is the only way the data and load developed from it can actually be seen to perform as predicted or not. Most of the loads I have developed on the Quickload programs are pretty close to actual loads I have developed in the past, however, there will be variations due to lot differences in products such as powders in particular as well as bullet diameters and primer performance. Every gun is different, just because it is the same calibre and chambering, as another rifle does not mean it will shoot the same, proceed with extreme caution. If the Quickload flags a dangerous pressure, heed the warnings and back off 15% in real life, this is not a game you can not start again as with a computer game when on the range the rifle has burst after an over pressure reload.

We really have only just scratched the surface of what this program will do, the more you use it the more involved you get in it, after the Quickload data sessions you will want to process on to the next sister program, Quicktarget to see how those reloads shoot down range. While Quickload covers internal ballistics, Quicktarget covers external ballistics. You can specify all the parameters you want such as cartridge, bullet, bullet weight, Ballistic coefficient, both single or multiples, muzzle velocity etc, or load in that data run in Quickload. Next set the parameters such as sight line height, range increments, zero range, longest distance, wind speed and direction angle of shot and more. Once done the program gives you all the information necessary for accurate shooting at range. Velocity drop off, time of flight, trajectory path as well as wind speed deflection and sight adjustment necessary in both inches and MOA if desired. It is a comprehensive readout with every sub section being able to be changed thus manipulating the overall results to suit changing weather or range characteristics.

The fun starts when you choose to shot the load on the target section where you can choose various targets from competition to prairie dog. You can change the size of the bullet hole as they appear and from a selection of reticules, a suitable aiming mark that matches your scope can be simulated. Run the program and you see the shot go, information about point of impact at various ranges can be simulated with compensation readings given at the edge of the screen. Importantly changes can be seen instantly for lateral sight displacement to accommodate your actual sight mounting. I love the canting angle feature that visually shows the bullets path when the rifle is canted off centre and how much your shot will go AWOL, its made me invest in several bubble level canting devices to kept me on the level. Finally wind speed can be clocked in to show varying settings and how much a, say a 15mph wind steers a 240gr Match King off course, absolutely fabulous. By this time, you have been on the computer for hours and the missus is screaming for you to come down for dinner but you have only started. This is to date the best ballistic program that incorporates internal (novel) and external ballistics to achieve an accurate and very user-friendly computer program that is only really limited by you’re your imagination.

The system was designed by a German called Hartmut. G.Broemel and is designed around the actual thermodynamic interior ballistics code that manufacturers use to test their own powders. It is in use by civilian shooters all over the world and also various government agencies and powder producing plants in Finland. I cannot recommend it enough; it has opened by eyes to various reloading possibilities and produces accurate trajectory data for me to indulge in my favourite pass time, long-range varminting.

The Quickload and Quicktarget programs come as a single item along with a good instruction manual, you will need it to get the best from the system

£125.00 inclusive of P&P (UK Mainland)