Paper Range Log

[CouchRestShooter]

Hello all,

I'm trying to work out a range log to help me keep track of results at the range. Currently it is in letter format, but I might try to condense it into a smaller page size. I'm sure I'm going a bit overboard on this but looking back over my notebook, I can see that I am forgetting to mark down key points. If anyone has a better idea or can offer ideas for improvements, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Trigger Monkey]

Pretty much all of that information can be contained within a good data book page. Have you considered just getting a data book?

 

[mark5pt56]

You can get carried away with certain things in which causes distractions to where you are not mentally focused on the task at hand. While I'm a master multi taskmaster, the bench top only has what I need to shoot, fill out any pertinent info before or right afterwards. Half the time I pull a scrap piece of paper from the trash can and scribble, half a joke.
I like taking a picture with notes and place them into that guns album, easy to access, even screenshot the Garmin if needed and move that to the album. Sometimes simple notes work the best. In the end, whatever works for you. With that in mind, it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish, some examples below all different goals. It also helps as a quick reference if I can't keep key points "in my head"
Again, all in what you want and the lengths to get there, I try not to make that part a pain in the ass and enjoy the trigger time more so.
Made this up when I installed the Cortina V2 tuner on the Vudoo with Center X

Red dot

 

[DownhillFromHere]

I make my range session notes in a "Rite in the Rain" folder with roughly 4x6" pages. I record rifle info (which one), environment info, session goal(s), ammo data, scope elevation settings for various ranges, and whatever other notes that come to mind. This usually takes no more than a couple of inches a the page.

Then I transpose that info to 8.5x11" pages in a loose-leaf binder specific to a given rifle. I also keep some targets, annotated CoF pages from matches, last-cleaned date, and, above all, session and total-life round count on the current barrel.

For a new rifle or barrel, the first loose-leaf page will contain unchanging info like length and twist rate and sorta-transient info like cartridge length to lands and load-to CBTO info for fully-developed loads.

For me, the most valuable info is barrel round count, final "developed load" data for a given bullet/powder/primer/brass/CBTO combination, and tables of "bullet speaks" elevation data compared to ballistic solver solutions for ranges 100-1000 yards. I also note when I clean the firearm - it's really easy to track round count since the last cleaning.

 

[Rob01]

Here’s the answer you are looking for.

Impact Data Books, Inc. - Modular, Premade, Custom Data/Log Books!

 

[DM1975]

Data books are great. I find I usually don’t use all the pages in a pre made data book, and the pages I do don’t always track all the info I want so I make my own pages. I use an Impact Data Book as the base and keep some of their reference pages in it, but past that my log pages are my own layout that I make on my iPhone and just print when needed.

 

[Rob01]

That’s what’s good about Impact Data Books as you can make a custom book with the pages you want and nothing you don’t need. Also you can get a round count book to keep track of barrel life. I have one for every barrel I have.

 

[DM1975]

That’s what’s good about Impact Data Books as you can make a custom book with the pages you want and nothing you don’t need. Also you can get a round count book to keep track of barrel life. I have one for every barrel I have.

Except their pages don’t always track all the info I want to track, or in a way I want to track it. Been using their book for about 10-12 years now and have gone through multiple different layouts and pages. In the end I found it best just to make my own. I mean if their pages work for you then that’s the way to go, but I needed something slightly different than what they offer.

 

[OnyxSkyDV]

I went down the path of making a 3d printed template that I could use on some cheap moleskin type notebooks, with some titles and a target I could transfer to and then write in my data. lots of good looking books out there though.

 

[Rob01]

Except their pages don’t always track all the info I want to track, or in a way I want to track it. Been using their book for about 10-12 years now and have gone through multiple different layouts and pages. In the end I found it best just to make my own. I mean if their pages work for you then that’s the way to go, but I needed something slightly different than what they offer.

There is enough room to write most anything you need on the pages. Never had an issue with room to write.

 

[DM1975]

There is enough room to write most anything you need on the pages. Never had an issue with room to write.

Good. Glad you like them. I wanted different.

 

[DM1975]

There is enough room to write most anything you need on the pages. Never had an issue with room to write.

I’ll clarify. I think Impact Data Books makes a great product that will probably fill the needs of most shooters. I still use some of their pages, but not all. I want to track data in a certain way and I find that many of the pages they offer have spaces for excess information that I don’t want to track and are missing spaces for information that I do want. I have also found that over the years what I want or need out of a data book has changed. I’m sure that I can undoubtedly make it work with what they provide but to keep things simple for me I have adopted a way to collect the data I want in a way that is best for me to understand when looking back on it later or if I don’t use the book for long enough that I somehow forget how I was going about it.

 

[CouchRestShooter]

I went down the path of making a 3d printed template that I could use on some cheap moleskin type notebooks, with some titles and a target I could transfer to and then write in my data. lots of good looking books out there though.

So did the template acted like an overlay or off to one side of the paper?

 

[Rodney65]

A couple things I do that have helped me stay organized are:

Print out duplicate targets and using those to write notes on. I usually use a page with five diamond targets and before a range session I write what loads I will be shooting at each target then during shooting I can write the windspeed, holds, velocities, etc. for each target on the page. Especially handy if you're mucking with your zero or something and much easier to keep neat than little doodles of the target in a notebook.

After each range session I transfer important data from my range notes, mostly velocities but also zero adjustments, POI shifts, weather, equipment issues, and so on into a spreadsheet. It only takes a few minutes and it makes it really easy to keep track of things.

 

[TrickyPig]

I have gone almost exclusively to the Rite in the Rain 4x6 inch D.O.P.E. Logbooks. I have one for each rifle, and I find them easy to carry both at the range and in the field, and they have plenty of room to make notes. The paper also has a ghosted grid that I can use to make diagrams. I have used countless logbooks over the years, and these seem to be just right.