This is a bit off the wall, but I am so happy with the quality of my Laboratory Notebooks, I thought I would share it here. I use the laptop to record information when I finalize the load, but I like to be able to write down ideas as well as observations at the range in a notebook. By far the Laboratory Notebook has been my go to. It is a hard bound book with graph type paper for easy use. Close to 200 pages and lasts for years. Saw them on Amazon for around $20.
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Keeping a written record is non volatile memory. I record my data on a blank printout of an Excel Spreadsheet, get home, fill in the spreadsheet on the computer, print it out, three hole punch it, and put it in the notebook. If I type it then I don't have to try to interpret my chicken scratching at a later date.
DATA:
New sheet for each date. Notebooks are cheap.
-Date of shooting session (Top of the sheet)
-Temperature, conditions, wind (Top of the sheet)
-Rifle used, scope, any customization/changes
-Brass Manufacturer
-Weight data on the brass
-Case OAL
-Cartridge OAL
-Annealed YES/NO
-Neck Turned YES/NO, thickness
-SetBack
-# of reloads on this case
-Primer type and Manufacturer, Date of purchase
-Powder weight, Manufacturer, Date of purchase
-Bullet manufacturer, weight, type
-Range to target
-Result - extreme spread etc Even a photo of the target since cellphones have made this so much easier today. You can embed the photo on the spreadsheet if you want to. I always write a lot of data on my target anyway so I end up with the data in two places.
-NOTES - like has this load produced successful hunt results or match results.
I try to fill all the boxes.
I am careful about keeping my brass sorted and segrated by number of reloads on the case. Certain case/rifle/load combinations give me more reloads per case than do others. Without written records I would not know for sure. When I only had one rifle that I loaded for, I just scribbled a few things in the reloading manual. Now with many rifles, calibers and wide assortment of components the need for more data became evident.