Quote Originally Posted by Holland View Post
What kinds of things are you limited by?
I’ve contemplated getting quickload to help me with my 358 Yeti just to keep it safe. I’d rather run a program to see if some combination of components will be safe rather than wing it and risk injury. We have a little bit of load data but bullet selection is slim in the data. What specific info would be needed to successfully use this program and develop safe rounds?
The first thing is if QuickLOAD has the cartridge in its database. The data base is pretty large so usually there is a pretty good chance it’s in there.

The second is if you can find the bullet your using. With cast bullets or oddball bullets this can sometimes be tricky. However usually I can get something pretty close. You typically want to get a bullet with the same weight, and shank length. Both of those factors have the greatest influence on pressure.

I have found that QuickLOAD’s powder data base is pretty good but some popular powders such as Superformance is missing.


The beyond that the basic info I need is

COAL
Barrel Length

It also helpful to know what pressures you are loading to. QuickLOAD has it in cartridge data base but as a rule of thumb I like to load five to ten percent below the listed pressure. If it’s not a SAAMI cartridge typically you can go off the parent case or if the developer of the cartridge lists the pressure, use that as a max.

QuickLOAD is a modeling software that doesn’t account for every variable. In the modeling world there is a saying “Garbage in Garbage Out”. Meaning if the inputs aren’t accurate you really can’t trust the outputs. There are several different inputs you can dick with, but unless you know how to make those measurements for your given rifle you are best to leave them at the defaults.

Primers aren’t modeled, nor is throat erosion, tight bores, or the variances between Lots of powder. For this reason I follow the ten percent rule when using QuickLOAD.

With that said it’s a fun software to play “What if” and I do it all the time.






Reloading...it’s like knitting for men.