Question for QuickLoad users

[scudzuki]

I received my QuickLoad software yesterday and was playing around with it last night.
I'm probably only scratching the surface of its usability but the main thing I got it for was determining whether some of the powders I already own would work with cartridges that I already own or may own.
Most of what it calculated affirmed the information that's already out there; for instance, the 4350 powders work very well in .260 Remington, yielding high muzzle velocities with reasonable chamber pressures at near case capacity, a trifecta.

My question comes from one of the simulations I ran with AA2015, a powder I bought a bunch of (27 lbs.) several months ago when I had 4500 .223 cartridges to load (plinking ammo for ARs) and 2015 was the only thing remotely appropriate I could find in stock in sufficient quantities.

According to Lee's 12th edition, max (.223) load with a 55 gr bullet is 100 FPS or more slower than an optimal powder for that combination, but it was still acceptable (faster 'en I can throw 'em).

QuickLoad calculates a muzzle velocity at max (55k PSI) 200 FPS higher than the Lee manual, but the charge weight and pressure are very close.

Now obviously I need to chrono the loads to know for sure, after I've worked up from book minimum, but has anyone compared measured velocities to velocities calculated by QuickLoad?
If so, are the calculations close?
I'd sure like to have another alternative powder for .224 77 gr SMKs since stuff like Varget is unobtanium these days.

Joe

*edit* of course I release anyone who responds from any liability, I know it's my responsibility to start low and work up, blah blah blah...

 

[ShtrRdy]

I've had trouble getting quickload to match my measured velocity until recently. There are a lot of variables that make up a loaded cartridge. Some of the things I've tried to capture, and ultimately made a difference, are case capacity, bullet length, COAL, and powder Ba. As it turns out, different lots of powder can have quite different Ba. (I don't recall what that stands for at the moment but it's something you can adjust).

Recently, I took all of the little things I could measure and input to the program. I then adjusted Ba until I got the velocity of the result to match what I was measuring. I had made a few rounds with 1 grain more and 1 grain less powder and measured the velocity for those as well. The loads that were +/- 1 grain from the center charge weight were within 3 fps of what I measured.