Reloading Software and Apps: What Each One Does

“Reloading software” covers six different jobs, and no one program does all of them. Pick the job first, then the program. Here is what each kind does, with the programs shooters ask about most.

1. Published load data

Safe starting and maximum loads come from the powder and bullet makers. Hodgdon, Hornady, Vihtavuori and Sierra each publish theirs in a manual, on a website or in an app. That is the only place load data should come from. Nothing else on this page, Loadscope included, takes the place of a published manual.

2. Pressure and velocity prediction

QuickLOAD predicts pressure and velocity from a physics model before you load a round. It runs on Windows and costs about $150. Gordon’s Reloading Tool did the same job for free, but its download was removed on 27 July 2026.

These work before you shoot. They do not read what your rifle did at the range. Loadscope vs. QuickLOAD →   Gordon’s Reloading Tool is gone: what now? →

3. Logbooks and recipe keepers

GUNR is a phone app for iOS and Android that keeps your rifles, load recipes and range sessions in one place and imports from six chronograph brands. It has a free tier and a Pro subscription. Reloading Assistant is a phone logbook with a recipe database and a cost-per-round calculator.

A reloading app like these keeps your records. It shows you the numbers and leaves the call to you. Loadscope vs. GUNR →   Loadscope vs. Reloading Assistant →

4. Chronograph charts

ChronoPlotter is free and open-source, and it runs on Mac and Windows. It charts your chronograph data so you can read velocity against charge by eye. Loadscope vs. ChronoPlotter →

5. Target measuring

Ballistic-X measures a group from a phone photo. It is $7.99 one time, plus $9.99 a year for the advanced statistics. OnTarget is a long-running desktop program that measures groups on a computer, and it has a free version.

Both give you the group. Your chronograph data, and the job of deciding which load won, still live somewhere else. Loadscope vs. Ballistic-X →   Loadscope vs. OnTarget →

6. Scoring the loads you shot

This is the job Loadscope does. It reads your chronograph, measures your target groups from a photo, and scores every powder charge and seating depth you tested on four measures: velocity flat-spot, velocity SD, mean radius and vertical spread. Then it names your best load and tells you how firmly to hold that call. How the scoring works →

It also predicts your DOPE for that load and prints a DOPE card. Loadscope runs on Mac and Windows and costs $79 one time.

What it does not do: it is not a source of load data, and it does not predict pressure. It works from the rounds you already shot.

A spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is free and it can do any of this if you build it. The cost is typing every velocity in and working out SD and mean radius by hand. Reloading spreadsheet vs. load development software →

So which one do you need?

• You need a safe place to start. A published manual or the powder maker’s data. Always.
• You want to compare powders before you buy them. A prediction program.
• You want every rifle and every recipe on your phone. A logbook app.
• You shot a ladder and want to know which load won. That is Loadscope.

Plenty of shooters run two of these. A manual for the data and a logbook for the records sit fine next to a program that scores the test.