Varmint Hunter Magazine, October - December 2011, pgs. 148- 149, in his article "The Powley Computer," writer John Tartell discusses the old Powley Computer for Handloaders Slide Rule and how it was used. He mentioned the modern day computer program "Load From a Disk," which incorporates modified versions of the Powley Formulas, but greatly simplifies the calculation of load data.
Stan Trzoniec uses the Load From a Disk program to help develop loads for a few wildcat cartridges in his article, "Easy Wildcats Plus One." The article appeared in the June/July (2009) issue of Handloader Magazine, p52-59. Cartridges covered were the 22 K-Hornet, .218 Mashburn Bee, .219 Donaldson Wasp and the .220 Weatherby Rocket.
Shooting Times Magazine, March 2008, pp26-28, Shooting Editor, Greg Rodriguez in his article "Doping The Slope," discusses the ballistics of shooting uphill and downhill. He describes a simple method/calculation to compensate for your bullet's trajectory for angled shooting. For those that hate trigonometry, he mentions making charts using software such as Load from a Disk or Sierra's Infinity programs. In the field, he mentions using the mechanical Slope Doper or Leopold's RX series rangefinders.
Handloader Magazine, December 2007, p38, Stan Trzoniec used Load From a Disk to help develop loads for his article "The .20 VarTarg." The .20 VarTarg is a wildcat cartridge based on the .221 Fireball necked down to .204 caliber. This is a great little cartridge for varmints, developing muzzle velocities near 3,800 fps, with the lighter bullets. Accuracy was good, producing .5 to .75-inch groups for select powders. Recoil is mild.
Version 5.0 of Load From A Disk has been released for shipment.
Very High Power magazine, April 2006, p49, Howard Huggins provides a review of Load From A Disk covering the databases, external ballistics, and user friendliness.
Shooting Times magazine, February 2006, p56, Field Editor Scott Mayer uses our Load From a Disk ballistic program for developing load data for wildcat cartridges when published data is not available. In his article "Why Wildcat?" Scott was able to develop loads for the .400 Marlin that duplicated the .405 Winchester cartridge used, successfully, by Teddy Roosevelt in Africa on all kinds of dangerous game.
Handguns magazine , January 2006, pg. 54, Patrick Sweeney reviews Load From a Disk as a modern ballistics calculator. Both rifle reloading and external ballistics capabilities are considered.
Surplusrifle.com's review of Load From A Disk by Mark Trope: Handloading In The Digital Age.
American Rifle Magazine, February 2005, pg. 54, Field Editor Bryce M.Towsley used Load From a Disk ballistics program to compare recoil energy/velocity results for reduced-recoil ammunition and full power ammunition in his article, "Taking a Bite out of Recoil." Results were tabulated for the .30-06, .308 Win. and the 7 mm Rem. Mag. cartridges.
Handloader Magazine, December 2004, pgs. 28 - 35, "Loading the .204 Ruger," gun writer Stan Trzoniec used Load From a Disk ballistics program to develop bullet drop tables for the .204 Ruger using Hornady and Berger Bullets. Cartridge drawing was developed using measured data from .204 cartridges supplied by Stan.
Handloader Magazine, October 2003, pgs 34 - 40, gun writer Stan Trzoniec used Load From a Disk ballistics program to develop load data for the .220 Weatherby Rocket wildcat cartridge. Weatherby developed this cartridge in the 1940's, but little load data exists today. Stan was able to produce muzzle velocities in excess of 4,000 fps using data from Load From a Disk.
Version 4.0 of Load From A Disk has been released for shipment (Jan 13, 2003).
American Rifleman, April 2002, pgs. 20 - 21, Shooting Editor, Scott E. Mayer, uses Load From A Disk ballistics program to develop the .400 Marlin Wildcat cartridge. Predicted velocity was 2,500 f.p.s. for the 180 gr. bullet. Actual chronographed velocity, from the completed rifle, was 2,525. Scott states that, "The current tools and technology make wildcatting easier than it ever has been before. If you have been kicking around the idea, you should go for it and make a cartridge all your own."
Shooting Times, February 2002, pgs. 42 - 46, Reloading Editor, Rick Jamison, uses Load From A Disk to evaluate Hornady's new .17 HMR "hummer of a rimfire" cartridge. Charts developed for the article included trajectory, velocity vs range, energy vs range and wind drift vs range. Recoil for the 7.5-pound rifle was also calculated. A picture of the small 17 grain V-Max bullet smashing into a water-filled plastic jug is spectacular.
