How do you store your favorite load data?

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Olympus said:
I'd like to consolidate everything in one easy to find place for all of the different loads I've used for all of the various calibers I've used over the years.
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I’ll respectfully suggest that no matter what method you come up with, you also have a backup strategy defined and implemented. It doesn’t matter if it’s paper copy or soft copy, either can and will get lost or destroyed and you don’t want to start over.
I keep all my data in one place, not just the favorites. The progression of test load results has been invaluable when I try out a new bullet or powder. I use a spreadsheet with some macros to help organize or print load sheets for the reloading bench or results. Good luck.
 
Olympus said:
I've been trying to come up with a way to keep all of my favorite or pet load data all in one organized place. Right now, I've all kinds of loads handwritten in the margins of several reloading manuals that I use. I'd like to consolidate everything in one easy to find place for all of the different loads I've used for all of the various calibers I've used over the years.

What does everyone else do or use for this?
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For each cartridge/rifle I have, I set up a word processing and/or spreadsheet document where I can document all my notes and observations for each powder/bullet combination I test. When I think I've done as good as I can do with that particular powder/bullet combination, I print out the data on paper and keep it in a 3-ring binder. This keeps all the data at hand at in my reloading room which is legibly written (I don't have to worry about later trying to decipher my hand writing), plus it gives me a computer backup in case the sheet in my 3-ring binder becomes tattered, and a record I can later go back and easily modify if I decide to do some new tests.
 
barnfrog said:
Spreadsheet. Lets me look at all the powders, charge weights and seating depths I tried in working up a new load and how they performed.
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That...^^^ I actually have several spreadsheets... I have one for load data, that is also sized to be cut up for the ammo boxes, killing 2 birds with one stone as it were. I also have a separate sheet with 'shooter's notes;' this is actually the physical data I come up with for my firearms... velocities, temperatures, notes and observations. Because I'm OCD, I also have other sheets with component inventory, brass disposition, and goofy things like that.
 
Walkalong said:
Excel file saved in multiple places, and I do mean multiple. Multiple buildings even.
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Following the logic of 'one is none, and two is one...' I have my data backed up across 5 different drives in 3 different locations. I don't like to lose data.
 
I keep ALL of my load data on Excel spreadsheet, spaced by caliber, and in a data book, I also keep my favorite/pet loads in a small handbook, that is separated by Pistol/rifle. Works great for me.
 
I keep mine in a spiral notebook with pieces of tape at the edges of the pages marking the different calibers.
 
Years ago I modified the spreadsheet that MTM marketed as their ammo log and I make copies that I punch holes in and save in a large 3 ring notebook. I use tabs to separate the calibers and even have an "obsolete" tab for calibers that I no longer own.

I also print targets on 8-1/2 X 11 copy paper and I sometimes save them if they have data written on them. Or if they are good enough to save! :)

Yeah, I'm a Dinosaur!
 
I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem with data hoarding.

I have a thumb drive, that is backed up every 3 months, that contains all of my data...and I pretty much document everything. I have excel/Word docs for every single caliber that I load, I have Word docs for every firearm I have. I document range trips, loading sessions, you name it.

I even photograph and document my targets from range sessions.
 
Olympus said:
I've been trying to come up with a way to keep all of my favorite or pet load data all in one organized place. Right now, I've all kinds of loads handwritten in the margins of several reloading manuals that I use. I'd like to consolidate everything in one easy to find place for all of the different loads I've used for all of the various calibers I've used over the years.

What does everyone else do or use for this?
Click to expand...
I'm going to start with the usual - and best - piece of advice/caveat there is: Don't do what I do.

I use 5x8" index cards in a three-ring binder for hand-written recipes. I also keep numerous .TXT documents for each caliber/cartridge on my cloud storage. I also keep some .TXT documents on my home hard disk and removable media. On top of that, I have some .XLSX sheets for multi-load recipes for specific firearms, specific powders, bullets, etc. These are "translation" sheets that let me enter a powder, firearm and/or bullet for a specific caliber and it will give me a tested and documented recipe by looking up the linked .TXT files from a variety of remote and attached stores which have data gathered over the years. Some has older chronograph data and some just has guesses at what the velocity ought to have been based on time-to-target, penetration, wound/damage, and just plain guess-work.

In other words, I have documentation and "stuff" scattered across the known Universe in a variety of formats - written, scribbled, typed, digital, scanned, calculated and guesstimated - and a variety of styles from a variety of sources. but it's all been tested and works in my guns. It works for me because I'm kind of a mess. I don't document my results, I document my processes and let the process document the end result.

Don't do what I do. Find a better way that works for you. Nothing will ever work better for you than what you do that works.
 
I used to keep a book with each gun, and any time I did anything with the gun, I would write it down. Not just load data, but round count, group sizes, cleaning methods, etc. It would be sort of a "diary" for each gun.

With a few exceptions I've given that up, as I've been thinning the heard and sticking with just a few "tried and true" guns in standard calibers, the load data for which is stored in my head.
 
Charlie98 said:
Because I'm OCD, I also have other sheets with component inventory, brass disposition, and goofy things like that.
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Likewise here. My spreadsheets calculate how much of each powder and bullet I have left, how many of each brand of brass have been reloaded X number of times, etc. I also note the date when the gun was cleaned and how many rounds have been shot through it since then.

But as GDF appropriately says, do what works for you. Electronic format works for me because if I decide to add a new variable I can just insert a column. If I kept this data on paper it would be so messed up with scribbles and erasures it would be nearly illegible.
 
On note cards in a note card box. My wife swears I stole her recipe box when we moved last but I think she just lost the little box that she was using. I did copy it exactly right down to the color of the box though before we moved because that’s all Walmart had.

If it’s a load I’m working up, I write the load info on the box top or on a piece of blue painters tape on the box. Once I settle on a recipe I put it on a card in the card box. My 16ga black powder load is one that needs to move from box top to the card box right now before I lose that box.
 
Nature Boy said:
3x5 index cards that I keep in a recipe box
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Along with helpful hints from Heloise on brass cleaning!:)

I have a gazillion plastic ammo boxes. I write all the data on wide blue painter tape (only 3M of course) on the box. I use a lot of different powders and bullets, so I just grab the box that last had that combo.

If they work it's OK by me, so in depth testing, What the manuals say:) I am OCD but not anal about it.
 
I use a 3 ring binder and keep a section for each gun/ caliber. In each section, generally I have a page with the bullet, say 31141 in the 30-30 section. On that page I have what I've tried and what did and didn't work. I may include targets or not.

I also have a page for each batch of brass in that caliber, in calibers I keep track of firings. Rifle calibers I generally keep track and pistol I rarely do.

A page for the gun or guns of caliber, and what each guns history is. Parts that's been replaced, what loads it likes.

I generally keep a page with a list of good loads I use for the caliber so I don't have to read through my notes.

I also keep notes on factory loads I've fired, in case I ever use them.

If I'm having problems, I keep detailed notes on what I've tried and changed. If I don't have problems, I just keep load notes. I keep some notes on changes in loading technique. Everything I have sees cast, sometimes loading technique makes a huge difference.

I keep an index card in each bag of ammo or a sticky label on each box, with caliber in large letters and load details in small.
 
write it down in the back of the reloading manual. then use your note pad on your phone, back it up in the cloud. Free and easy and automatic
 
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