How Loadscope Scores a Load: Flat-Spot, SD, Mean Radius, Vertical SD

Most tools graph your data and leave the judgment to you. Loadscope goes one step further: it scores every load you tested and names the best one. Here's exactly how.

Four metrics that show up on target

A load is only as good as what it does on paper at distance. Loadscope scores each charge and seating depth on the four things that actually matter there:

• Velocity flat-spot — how steady the speed stays across nearby charges. A load in a flat-spot forgives small charge and temperature changes. (Read more on reading a powder ladder.)
• SD (standard deviation) — shot-to-shot velocity consistency. Low SD means tight vertical at distance.
• Mean radius — the average distance of each shot from group center. A steadier read on true precision than a single group-size number, because one flier doesn't dominate it.
• Vertical SD — how much the shots stack up and down. At range, vertical is what costs you, so it's measured on its own.

Why scoring, not just graphing

A graph shows you the data; it still leaves you squinting at it trying to call the winner — and three-shot strings are noisy enough that two people can read the same graph differently. Loadscope applies the same scoring to every load, every time, so the comparison is consistent and the best-load call is repeatable, not a gut feel.

You stay in control of the weights

The four metrics are weighted, and the weights are yours to adjust. A benchrest shooter chasing the smallest group can lean on mean radius; a long-range shooter who lives and dies by vertical can weight SD and vertical higher. Change the weights and Loadscope re-scores instantly.

The output

Loadscope reads your chronograph data and measures your target groups, scores every powder charge and seating depth, names your best load, then predicts your full DOPE from the muzzle velocity your chronograph measured — and prints a Pocket Range Card and a one-page recipe. The whole load workup, scored, in one app on Mac and Windows.