Ballistics Software

I have been using ballistic software on PC's for years.  I'm not sure which package I started with first but it was shareware/freeware, written for the DOS Basic interpreter.  It didn't provide any graphics, strictly text table output, which is fine by me for most purposes.  It was pretty primitive compared with whats available today.  I now own 4 commercial packages for Windows, Sierra Infinity, Barnes Ballistics for Windows, PC Bullet for Windows and RCBS.Load.  I have also written some software that I use because it meets my needs better than the commercial stuff, a couple of these are available from the links at the bottom of this page.  If you use a scope with target turrets, check out the Ballistics Calculator for "Come Ups" and windage clicks.

Barnes Ballistics for Windows

This is with out a doubt the package I use the most.  Its coded in PowerBuilder and uses the SQL Anywhere database engine.  It is very easy to learn and use.  It allows you to maintain a database of your guns and associated loads for each.  For someone who just wants to dabble with software it would be a very good choice.  One thing I miss from their old DOS program is the chronograph input,  with most new chronographs doing all sorts of calculations it isn't critical, just something I miss.  The only bullet specs are Barnes.

As you can imagine with all the shooting and testing I do, the database interface on this package is great.  The report output is very nicely arranged.

Sierra Infinity  (select software button)

This isn't a bad package and I use the manuals on the CD frequently.  The lack of a database is it's biggest single flaw as far as I'm concerned.  I hate having to reenter data over and over again and keep track of it manually.

• It has a very complete library of bullets from all the major makers.
• It is probably the most acurate, as it uses multiple BCs based velocity breaks.  Unless you shoot at extreme ranges, it doesn't matter.
• Sierras loading manuals are available on the CD.
• The user interface is complete, flexible but a little harder to use.
• Only a limited number of most recent loads are retained, no database.
• You have to have the CD in the drive to run Infinity

RCBS.Load

This is my newest addition to the ballistics software library and I haven't decided how I'm going to use it.  The main reason I bought it was it contains loads from many sources, actually all the loads from several loading manuals, in an easy to use database.  Visit the link and you wil get a much better feel for it than I could give here at this point.

PC Bullet for Windows

If you want to tweak the software and obtain the absolute in theoretical acuracy, this is the package for you.  This is a good package, the first version was a little buggy and subject to crashing til you got the input right.  The new version seems much cleaner from what I've seen in the demo.

• You can select one of several different calculation methods, set integration step, etc. 
• The trajectory table includes several KO/power factors. 
• It has a shooting simulator which uses input velocity data, wind conditions, and statistics to give you a theoretical group size.
• Bullet database for Hornady, Nosler, Sierra, and Speer.
• Table of factory ammo, including BCs
• Cartridge diagram with measurements
• Chronograph page for manual input or download from Chrony
• Doesn't calculate point blank range.
• Probably the most funtionality of all the packages I've seen.

PointBlank

This is the very best freeware ballistics software I have found to date.  It is very comprehensive and well designed.

• Provides chronograph input, with a target for group input.
• Maintains a database of input.
• Bullet database, currently contains Barnes, Berger, Combined Technologies, Nosler, Sierra and Speer
• Great for reloaders, tracks lots on components
• Very small footprint, appears to be a straight C++ executable.

If you're looking for a free software package, this would get my vote.  In actuality, it does everything the commercial packages do and more than some.  The only thing it doesn't do is track firearms.

Based on my comments you have probably already figured out that I use PC bullet to process all my chronograph data, move the processed data to Barnes to play with, and use Sierra primarily for the library content.  I just found PointBlank, haven't yet decided how I'm going to use it.

The links below will run some online ballistic tools.

Ballistics Calculator- very basic functionality, but it's free and it's reasonably accurate.  The results match the commercial packages very closely out to 500 yards.  One feature you may find helpful is the columns for scope click adjustments. If you use a target scope you know what this is about or you should anyway.   I ported James Martin's calculation engine from c to c# for use here. For any of you programmer types that would like to play with ballistics, the c# source code for the library as well as a simplistic WinForms test harness are available for download.  The download contains a Visual Studio .Net solution with 2 projects, one for the library and a second for the test harness. At minimum you will have to have the .Net framework version 1.1 installed to use this.  If you do not know what I'm talking about, the download will not be very usefull.

Recoil Calculator - I was kind of curious about the recoil generated by muzzleloaders so I created this little form.   It allows you to adjust "by volume" powder charges to weight for the calculation and account for the mass of the sabot.