round recording

[tufrthnails]

My load notebook is getting quite "loaded". It is all over the place due to added calibers and different loads. First question what do you guys record at the range? Second question how do you guys shooting tons of calibers organize the data?

[alphapygmy]

I use a spiral bound notebook for each barrel I have. On the outside I write the identifiers (caliber, barrel brand, twist) for that barrel. On the inside of the cover I'll put the date installed and start listing the bullets I use and their measurements to the lands, as the throat wears I'll remeasure and change the numbers. In the pages I keep track of how many rounds in a certain batch, all the usual reloading data, chrono data, weather, scores or group size, and temp data. On the right margin I keep a tally of total rounds through the pipe and also when and how I cleaned it. I keep a lot of data! It always seems to come in handy later for reference, avoid duplicating load tests, or to verify a "good" load from 6 months ago still shoots well. This system works well for me and the notebooks are less than a buck and easy to find.

[LongRange]

I use a spiral bound notebook for each barrel I have. On the outside I write the identifiers (caliber, barrel brand, twist) for that barrel. On the inside of the cover I'll put the date installed and start listing the bullets I use and their measurements to the lands, as the throat wears I'll remeasure and change the numbers. In the pages I keep track of how many rounds in a certain batch, all the usual reloading data, chrono data, weather, scores or group size, and temp data. On the right margin I keep a tally of total rounds through the pipe and also when and how I cleaned it. I keep a lot of data! It always seems to come in handy later for reference, avoid duplicating load tests, or to verify a "good" load from 6 months ago still shoots well. This system works well for me and the notebooks are less than a buck and easy to find.

Exact same thing i do...when the rifle goes out the book goes to....i record every round...dates times weather conditions EVEYTHING!!
And i keep all the books to look back at when starting load development with a new barrel...ive got data from 10yrs ago.

[gotcha]

Ditto ALPHAPYGMY. Plus each page dated. All my targets are 8.5X11 they are cut and taped onto the range results page. If I'm working on powder charges seating depth etc. I'll make a small drawing of how the cartridges are arranged in my R-100 boxes. I haven't run out of pages in one of these note books yet but, I can always start a new note book. Nice to have a chronological history of results all in one place.

[tufrthnails]

Seems I need some more notebooks and maybe a big 3 ring binder to keep them in! going to have to sit down and separate it all out.

[rbp75503]

I guess I have too much time on my hands. I place all my loading data on excel spreadsheets by rifle, subgroup caliber, and by bullet. I print out 8 1/2 x 11 targets and the range result targets are kept in 3 ring folder and are scanned to Ontarget software and saved to a spare harddrive. Pasted following is a portion of one file for a hog-hunter that I recently completed load development.



Savage MDL10 223 Rem 20" 1-9" Hog Hunter

Neck OD: .254"

Headspace DL: 1.461"














Sierra .223 65 gr.Game King Spitzer BT # 007-1395



SAAMI Max

SAAMI Max

SAAMI Max

Reload

Mic

SAAMI Max

SAAMI Min














Trim Lngth

Neck OD

OAL

Ogive

Setting

Headspace

Headspace









Powder

C.O.L.

Start

Max

Most Accurate

1.760"

.253"

2.260"

1.970"

N/A

1.4666"

1.4588"









H322

2.260"

21.9

23.3

















H335

2.260"

22.3

25.5

25.0



Measured Ogive: 1.983"

Round Count

120








IMR4064

2.260"

23.9

24.7

24.5















Sierra .223 65 gr.Game King Spitzer BT




















Date

Lot #

Caliber

Case

Trim Length:

Neck Bushing

Headspace DL

O.A.L.

Ogive

Primer

Cart

MEM ID

Powder Type

Charge

# Rounds

4/29/15Grp

Grp




4/14/2015

H322

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H322

22.0

5

>1.000"





4/14/2015

H322

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H322

22.3

5

.607"


4 rnds measured



4/14/2015

H322

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H322

22.5

5

.668"





4/14/2015

H322

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H322

23.0

5

>1.000"





Sierra .223 65 gr.Game King Spitzer BT




















Date

Lot #

Caliber

Case

Trim Length:

Neck Bushing

Headspace DL

O.A.L.

Ogive

Primer

Cart

MEM ID

Powder Type

Charge

# Rounds

4/20/15Grp

Grp




4/14/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

22.5

5

>1.000"





4/14/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

23.0

5

>1.000"





4/14/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

23.5

5

.701"





4/14/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

24.0

5

.776"





Sierra .223 65 gr.Game King Spitzer BT




















Date

Lot #

Caliber

Case

Trim Length:

Neck Bushing

Headspace DL

O.A.L.

Ogive

Primer

Cart

MEM ID

Powder Type

Charge

# Rounds

5/4/15Grp

Grp




4/22/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

24.0

5

>1.000"





4/22/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

24.2

5

>1.000"





4/22/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

24.5

5

0.302"


4 rnds measured



4/22/2015

H335

.223 Rem

Rem Match

<1.760"

.245"

1.459"

2.326"

1.970"

BR4



H335

25.0

5

0.290"


4 rnds measured

[gotcha]

[Seems I need some more notebooks and maybe a big 3 ring binder to keep them in! going to have to sit down and separate it all out.]
LOL ! Yep, its either that or go Bat s--t crazy. I'm speaking for myself of course :)

[tufrthnails]

rbp not sure I am that dedicated to it, but spreadsheets are an idea and I have a scanner. Gotcha- I got the Bat S--t crazy part covered already!

[Mozella]

My load notebook is getting quite "loaded". It is all over the place due to added calibers and different loads. First question what do you guys record at the range? Second question how do you guys shooting tons of calibers organize the data?

Sounds like you have plenty of data but no easy way to use it. For instance, is your 69gr Sierra Match King and Varget recipe from 6 months ago better or worse than your 70gr Berger VLD over VV N-140 that you tested last week? Are you considering the best group or the average group size. What about the mean radius? Are those figures more revealing than the groups size? You get the idea. No matter how much stuff you log in a notebook, it doesn't do a lot of of good if you can't make sense of it when trying to make a decision about what you should do in the future.

I keep two types of data, a recipe log and a performance log. When I load bullets, I record the "recipe" using M.S. Word. I have a table in which I record my personal load number, date, bullet data, case data, seating length, etc. etc. In addition I make notes of how many rounds I loaded and why (powder test, seating depth test, and so-on). Each load gets it's own sheet. But I don't print it until I fire the rounds.

I cut and paste the basic recipe data into Photoshop (you could use any graphics program) so I can print a box label which I tape to the top of my ammo box. It's handy to have the predicted MV, B.C. and other information on the box.

Then, once at the rifle range, I chronograph the rounds, make note of which round(s) was shot at which target, and take the targets home. I scan them and score each 5 round group using On Target Software. The resulting data is transferred to a Excel spread sheet where I fill in additional data such as ammo type and amount, bullet weight, MV, SD, (retrieved from the chronograph data stored on my smart phone) and any other interesting information like seating depth or whatever I might be testing. Then I copy the cells which pertain to that particular load and paste them into my M.S. Word file. I print the data sheet and save a hard copy for future use. Of course, the digital file remains on my computer too.

Depending on what I'm exploring, I might make one or more graphs from the range results. It's a simple cut and paste operation when using Excel. For example, if I'm testing seating depth I might graph seating depth vs MOA, Mean Radius, and Group height (all three on the same graph). Then I can clearly see trends and decide on the best depth for that particular recipe. The same for testing different powders or whatever. I save all the meaningful graphs in one large Excel worksheet. Oftentimes looking at a graph will quickly show what you're looking for but staring at a random list of group sizes scribbled in a note book won't produce anything more than confusion.

I also copy the day's performance data and add it to a huge worksheet containing all the groups shot out of that particular gun. That way I can sort the data several ways and determine things like how my group size varies by date, how the mean radius varies by powder brand, how the group height varies by SD, etc.

All this sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Most of the data is produced by the On Target Software and the additional stuff is normally cut-and-paste. But once you have data organized you have the ability to sort and filter it and that's the key to understanding what the data is trying to tell you.

Next Saturday I'm going to an F-class match and I examined my past data in order to decide on exactly how I should build the ammo for this event. I wondered if I should shoot a lighter but more accurate bullet as opposed to a heavier but slightly less accurate bullet. Searching through my past data to find the answer and compare the real difference in accuracy was a snap using Excel. Shuffling through a stack of old dog-eared spiral notebooks would have been much harder.

Yesterday I tested the recipe I decided on using at short range, recorded and sorted the performance data of a few extra rounds I made just for testing and confirmation, and now I can cut and paste the muzzle velocity of this batch into another Excel worksheet which spits out a cheat sheet adjusted to 600 yards. I will use the resulting data to make a scope adjustment for 600 yards as well as use the windage dope specifically tuned for this individual batch of ammo. Unfortunately, I can't read wind worth a **** and I expect to do poorly because of that. But they do serve good BBQ pork at lunch time.

[tufrthnails]

Unfortunately, I can't read wind worth a **** and I expect to do poorly because of that. But they do serve good BBQ pork at lunch time.

I feel your pain my wind reading needs some work! Thanks for the insite guys. You guys are so much more organized at this then I am.