How to Keep Reloading Log on PC?

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Swifty Morgan

New member
I'm about to fire up the Lock-n-Load after a very long layoff. When I got ready to start reloading again, I found I didn't know what my recipes were. Luckily, I had scribbled a couple of things on plastic bags!

I'm thinking I should keep a log/diary on the PC. Any suggestions for the best way to do it? Maybe it's time for me to learn to use a spreadsheet.
 
You are not alone in this question:

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603148&highlight=spreadsheet

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=606060&highlight=database

Do you have a spreadsheet program (pardon me ... "app") on your computer? If so, you can certainly get started with whatever you have (Excel, Calc, or whatever the spreadsheet app is in Apple's iWork).

If you don't have a spreadsheet, or have one and don't know how to use it, I would very much suggest that you at least take a look at the PointBlank program. It has a nice module for tracking reloading data, plus it does a lot more besides. Did I mention that it's free? It's FREE!

http://huntingnut.com/index.php?name=PointBlank

Screen shot:

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I have been trying to get Open Office to work. I know virtually nothing about spreadsheets. I see two options. One is "spreadsheet," and the other is "database." "Database" seems to work better. Now that I've seen Pointblank, I think I should just trash the Open Office stuff. Thanks for the help.
 
I take a pic and write the date, the load info weather etc on the target. Then I take a pic or score the target and load it into Ontarget. I back them up on a flash drive occasionally and keep a jpg backup
 

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Swifty Morgan said:
I have been trying to get Open Office to work. I know virtually nothing about spreadsheets. I see two options. One is "spreadsheet," and the other is "database." "Database" seems to work better. Now that I've seen Pointblank, I think I should just trash the Open Office stuff. Thanks for the help.
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I think a database is overkill for what you want. The spreadsheet is probably the better tool, but if you don't know anything about either spreadsheets or databases, getting started can be a bit of a learning curve.

First up, allow me to comment that Open Office seems to have been largely abandoned by its developers. I don't think it has been updated for several years. Libre Office is a "fork" (an offshoot) of Open Office, and Libre Office is being maintained. They pretty much look and feel the same, so going forward you should probably consider switching to Libre Office.

If PointBlank's reloading record does what you need, I think it's a great way to go.

If you want to pursue the spreadsheet approach, you can find Excel spreadsheet templates for reloading on the Internet, and Open Office / Libre Office will open them. Here are links to a few I found in a quick search. (I have not evaluated these.)

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/spreadsheet-for-reloading.51002/

https://forum.snipershide.com/threa...ata-logging-targets-range-cards-free.6878040/

https://ballisticxlr.com/2019/01/06/freebie-reloadingxlr-an-excel-based-reloading-spreadsheet/
 
Howdy all... strange first post I know but I own ballisticxlr.com and I have gotten quite a number of email requests that more or less trace back to this thread. So first, Aguila Blanca, thanks for the hat tip. ;) Second: The spike in requests for access various files has been eating into my time a bit during a very busy time of year for me (yeah, I know first world problems) so I thought I'd shortcut answering the same access request email individually and let you all know that all of my shooting related spreadsheets are available to the masses totally free at https://ballisticxlr.com/ballisticxlr-support/ click, scroll down, find the one you want, click on the name and enjoy.

COMPATIBILITY NOTE: The reloading spreadsheet works with pretty much any modern version of a spreadsheet app. If you can't get it to work in yours, PM me and I'll try to help. The ballistics spreadsheets, on the other hand, don't work at all or will have major functionality breakage on Google Sheets or Libre Office, only genuine Excel for the ballistics spreadsheet.

IMPORTANT HOW-TO INFO: All of the graphs in the reloading spreadsheet feed from the data in the "Shot by Shot" tab except for the Basis MV on the "Shot Graphs" which you should derive from actual testing.

FLAWS: Only BallisticXLR and the bag fill calculator had any substantial work done to verify that it works correctly and speaks truth. ReloadingXLR has been only superficially tested but should be relatively bug free. If you find a bug, do let me know.

MODS: Please don't take this as a commercial post. It's quite the opposite. I'm just trying to be helpful and not be ghosting people while still getting my day job done. Apologies if I've violated any rules.
 
I use a folder called Reloading with Notepad.Txt files for each caliber.
Top portion is Notes on each Die used and any particular action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2nd reload 120ea
12/30/2019
Hodgdon CFE Pistol 124 Gr RdNose Dia .356" COL 1.135
4.4 > 4.5 / 1,008 / 28,800 PSI Min Pro Powder Drop - Spot on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2nd reload 120ea

I cut and past the appropriate load and adjust dates or counts.

I do have a spreadsheet for Product - Powder, bullets, primers so I know what I have. At any time I can tell you how man or how much I have.
 
I was able to make a simple open office sheet to keep track of pet loads and testing. not sure I can attach it here, but was easy to make. lots of support for open office basics, just google what you want it to do. back it up often to a separate storage device (thumb drive). really sucks to start over, ask me how I know that one! :) its not tough, just make columns of data points (rifle, bullet, primer, powder, COAL, notes... then fill in the rows with data. I am not a spread sheet wizard, keep it simple and anyone can build one.
 

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Google is the way of the future. As crazy as a it sounds it is the truth. I work in education and almost everything we do is now on google. Google sheets is like the old excel spreadsheet except in my opinion a little better. The best thing about using google apps is the fact that you do not have to worry about saving info, it automatically saves to the cloud. Pretty easy way to keep track of load info.
 
If you are not computer proficient, then use a spiral notebook to record your data. Then set the notebook on top of your PC until you need it again.
 
ReloadKy said:
The best thing about using google apps is the fact that you do not have to worry about saving info, it automatically saves to the cloud. Pretty easy way to keep track of load info.
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Pretty easy ... until your Internet connection goes down, or your man cave is in the basement where your WiFi doesn't reach.
 
Do we really want Google, and who knows who else has access, to know what calibers we reload and how much ammo we have? From there they could extrapolate which firearms we have and quietly build a database of firearm owners and their safe contents.

I think NOT!
 
Years ago I used 4 X 6 index cards - one for each caliber. I entered date, cartridge, powder & weight, bullet, primer, case information, number of rounds and a column for notes. The notes could be entered after firing if needed. I also had labels for each box with date, powder charge and bullet.

Now I use an Excel spreadsheet -one for each caliber - with similar width adjusted columns as the index cards. Excel is not difficult to used for simple things with a little practice. If you include math formulas to track powder usage and how much is left in the can or bullet usage and how many are left it will require much more practice.
 
Bob Willman said:
Do we really want Google, and who knows who else has access, to know what calibers we reload and how much ammo we have? From there they could extrapolate which firearms we have and quietly build a database of firearm owners and their safe contents.

I think NOT!
Click to expand...
I agree with you 110%. I don't use Google Drive, and I don't use Google Docs. There are so many good office suites available for free -- all of them with a spreadsheet program/app, that I see no reason to turn my privacy over to Google. If you don't want to run Excel, there's Libre Office, Open Office, SoftMaker FreeOffice, Kingsoft Office -- and more. Take your pick.
 
looking at all these spreadsheets and programs people are using and I still think it is much easier to write all the relevant load and weather data on the target with a sharpie then take a pic with my phone and email it to myself. Make a directory and sub directories as needed, save the pic and all done. Plus you can later analyze the targets and look for patterns. Just me, each to their own but I can get feel for a load and my technique a heck of a lot faster by looking at a shot target than just looking at data. The Ontarget program for measuring is just a bonus, just the picture itself with the data written on it works just fine

edit, used my load workup pics for my 6CM last evening. Did a measurement and saw my throat had eroded .025, looked at my seating depth targets and saw a node @ .050 off the lands and seated the new loads to match. Will test tomorrow. I may also adjust the powder load data slightly to get the new loads to "round out" if I get any horizontal or vertical stringing with the new seating depth
 
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Besides a log on my computer using Excel, I also label my 30cal and 50cal ammo cans I store my bulk ammo loads in so there is no doubt what I'm bringing to the range or using to reload my mags with.

For example: What platform? (I load multiples of the same caliber for different platforms.) Bullet Weight and type. Powder weight and type. Primer.

HGhVYBL.jpg


So I know at a glance that this ammo goes with this carbine. Simple:

39j2Tdw.jpg
 
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