ballistic software

[janderson]

I have been looking at a couple programs one is Quickload, the other is RSI shooting lab. I am mainly focusing on LR hunting with a couple BR matches here and there. Any recommendations?

btw, First post but I have been reading for a long time. I love this board

 

[sscoyote]

I think you're gonna find that most guys here like Gerald Perry's Exbal ballistics program for predicting long-range ballistics/zero reference info. for hunting use. I have it and i've never seen anything like it elsewhere. See www.perry-systems.com. Do a search here-- it'll be very enlightening.

[ 10-26-2003: Message edited by: sscoyote ]

 

[Brent]

300 shooter,

Welcome aboard. I like Exbal on the Palm device, for a desktop program the RSI SL is the best one by far. I use RSI SL more than Exbal at home now, even though Exbal has some features in it's ballistic reticle analysis segment I really like to play around with sometimes. I would recommend Exbal on the PDA and RSI on the desktop FWIW. Bypass Quickload and get PressureTrace and KNOW what pressures your getting in your rifle. There's a good article in Varmint Hunter Magazine OCT issue on PressureTrace by Denton Bramwell and another one to follow I believe. One phone call to Jim Ristow at RSI and you'll get the scoop on all this, make the call, you'll be glad you did.

 

[Boyd Heaton]

http://www.eskimo.com/~jbm/ballistics/calculations.html

 

[Darryl Cassel]

I like the "Oehler" ballistic program the best.

You can run three different bullets against each other out to 2500 yds or meters on a graph. That feature is real nice when trying for the BEST longrange combination to use for the application you want.
It shows what all three bullets are doing at the same time.
A great feature.

It seems to be the closest of any program I have ever used.
Of course, what else would anyone expect from a company who does the Government work on ballistics and chronagraphing of military cannon and rifles?

Later
DC

 

[Len Backus]

On this issue I am a Darryl Dittohead.

 

[Brent]

300 shooter,

I have the Oehler Ballistic Explorer program as well, and it's pretty nice too. The RSI SL beats it hands down though... The Shooting Lab will compare 6 combinations at a time if that's what you're after with it.

Oehler uses the same 100+yr old formula to calculate their trajectory, just like all the other ballistic software programs do.

I recently found a problem with the Oehler BEX program and never did locate the cause, the only reason I spotted it was because I was running an identical load with all the same perameters in it at the same time, but trajectories were different by about 5" at 1000 yards for some reason. I've never trusted the software since, although I've tested it several times and have never had it do it to me again. Maybe the new version corrected this problem. Had I known how to print screens back then, I would have sent Dexadine the screen dumps from the test that did this so they could have looked into it.

You'll not find better ballistic modeling software out there than RSI SL, not to mention everything else it does in addition to that, I'm sure you've seen it tho.

Dexadine wrote the BEX program for Oehler many years ago, as well as the one for the Oehler Model 43 PBL, and both leave a lot to be desired by todays standards and advancements. There's been one upgrade in those years that I know of, and I don't see anything new in it either, compare that to RSI SL's continuous advancements and upgrades, all with a guy to back it up that knows his **** too.

Good luck which ever way you go.

 

[Darryl Cassel]

300

Maybe, I should have added?

For "ease" of operation and for a new guy getting into this Longrange shooting game who wants to get "VERY" accurate information from a program, the Oehler seems hard to beat, at least for me.

I guess I can add Len to these thoughts also.

I've tried most all programs and end up going back to Oehler.

It seems to work good enough for this shooter/hunter

Later
DC

 

[janderson]

You guys are great! I like hearing input from those more experienced than myself. I completely agree with Darryl,
"the really true way to make a drop chart is to use a program in conjunction with "actual" fire of the rifle at various ranges or yardages."

I will look at both RSI and Oelher, but I do like RSI's ability to work with the pressure measuring thingy. Thanks again.

Jamie

 

[Jeff In TX]

I'm with Brent, the RSI Shooting lab is the most accurate program on the market.

Something to consider when looking at ballistic programs. Most of the programs on the market where written by the same person and formatted for the company selling them.

The RSI ballistic lab uses the same formulas and calcualtions as the US Army ballistic engineers use at the US Army Aberdeen Proving Grounds. No other progam I've found comes close to RSI and I have 7 of them.

Hope it helps

 

[Brent]

Like Darryl, and any wise LR shooter modifying his BC to match his known MV and "actual" drop at various ranges always does, we can also account for temperature and pressure changing trajectory as well. Doing this before hand with computer generated drop charts printed on paper or by using a handheld PDA in the field is the normal way it's done.

Maybe you are new to LR shooting and Darryl knew this, I did not, reguardless of that any new guy would have no more difficulty in entering the same values in any external ballistics program, and reading the results in any program you choose, they're all the same in that respect.

Considering the complexity of Quickloads software, which happens to one of, if not the most complex on the market, I think anyone will do fine with the others.

What do you want to get for your money, now and in the future seems to me is the question to ask yourself...

 

[Darryl Cassel]

Brent

The only way I knew/thought he was new to LR hunting was from his first post which I'm sure you read as well as I did.

I always try to respond to people that are on here as if they were new to the sport.
That's another reason I try to suggest things that don't cost quite as much as other items to get them started in the best way, without putting out an arm and leg up, front.

If they are young, they will have the rest of their life to add to the LR shooting arms and equipment collection and what it takes to improve along the way.

To start with, they many times don't have the funds to buy what you or I may have and frankly, they don't need it to start with.

Like the discussion we had in the past on optics. The new shooter can get by with a leupold LR for $600.00 or $700.00 instead of buying an NXS Nightforce at $1500.00. Does the NF NXS have more bells and whistles, yes, do we all need them, NO.
The Leupold will do everything for that new shooter that any other scope will do until he wants to get something else.

So, I didn't know for sure he was new to LR shooting other then the first post.

Later
DC

 

[Brent]

Darryl, even "you" would love the RSI program, but I believe it's about the only one you'd ever like over the BEX program. The external ballistics section is fairly simple and may be all one might ever even want to use it for. Jim Ristow may offer a demo of it, and I think he does.

The drop charts are dragable, 1 yd increments if you want, to what ever end range you specify, solutions can be in mils, moa, inches, CM, feet, yards, meters, 1/4 moa, 1/8 moa...

It also has an unlimited length note pad you can use to make notes if you want to save the data and/or print the drops with notes on it.

 

[Darryl Cassel]

Brent

That does have some nice features to it.

As stated though, for ease of operation and for a new guy getting into this game, the Oehler is about all "anyone" would really need.
That goes for most all of us to.

Most of us don't want to know what the bullet is doing every single yard to the target. That small amount of drop just takes up paper space.

Even with a program that some put a lot of faith in, the really true way to make a drop chart is to use a program in conjunction with "actual" fire of the rifle at various ranges or yardages.

There is a difference from day to day and you and I both know it. NO program is fool proof and I have found that out many times. They may be close but, NEVER perfect no matter who made them up.

That's another reason I take a spotter shot first when Longrange hunting.

Later
DC

[ 10-26-2003: Message edited by: Darryl Cassel ]