Nomercy448

C'mon fellas - it's 2017!!!! Quit killing trees!!! Especially TN Lone Wolf - you're the young'un here, sure ought to be paperless from the start!

I've only digitized about half of my original notebooks, but everything I do for new load development is stored in MS Excel. I can take it everywhere I go, access it on my phone, laptop, iPad, smart TV, it's easy to organize, easy to "add pages" if I want to go back and add loads. I used to use MS Access database for this, but I work daily in Excel, and very little in Access, so I converted to a simple spreadsheet around 10yrs ago.

I use a VERY simple template for my load development - I formatted it so I can print it and take it to the range, then make notes for velocity and group size as I shoot, then come home and enter them into the digital form. I keep a tab for each cartridge I load, organizing each by bullet weight for easier sorting, cataloging powder, die settings, bullet, charge weight, velocity, group size, date tested, powder lot, brass, seating COAL and base to Ogive, Jump to lands at time of testing, and other non-specific notes for each. I also keep a tab of my "pet loads" for quick and easy reference. I use this same sheet to let me track my throat erosion too, so I can chase the lands as my barrel wears and keep track of my accuracy and velocity changes. I catalog in which rifle/pistol the load was tested and for which it was developed, as well as have room to note how it performed in other rifles/pistols. Easy to embed digital photos of test targets if I want, but I usually keep those in cartridge specific file folders instead of embedding into the Excel file.

I also use another MS Excel file to keep track of my reloading components owned, both tools and component inventory.

I'm a HUGE supporter (maybe even a bit of a luddite) of taking hand written, paper-borne notes, but when it comes to data STORAGE, digital is the way to go. Way too annoying to leaf through my dozen old notebooks for that ONE particular load, and too annoying to have a new load which won't fit on the same page I had used for that cartridge.

If you DO insist on paper copies, I recommend a 3-ring binder with hole punched paper. That's what I USED to use after converting from bound notebooks. It lets you take the pages in and out to save room on your loading bench, then also replace pages or add in pages to a given section. You can also use 3 ring tabbed dividers to section out your cartridges. Digital is WAY more convenient, but if you're only loading a few cartridges today, you can probably get away with staying on paper - if you do, this is the best way to do it.

Digital is really the best way to store, organize, update, and manage large volumes of reloading notes. You'll only write so many notes onto a page because it eventually becomes to large to browse and find what you want later, but you can bury as much info as you could ever imagine into a digital spreadsheet or database AND it remains searchable, let alone more easily browsed.