BalCal 6.2 - Features

BalCal 6.2 was designed and written to be a user-friendly combination exterior ballistics package and hunter/sniper training software.  It was written in Visual Basic 5 on a 166 Mhtz Pentium II and a 450 Mhtz Pentium III running the Windows 98 OS.  It has also been run on G3 & G4 Macs using 'Virtual PC' from Connectix as well as a variety of other Pentium type machines.  All computational variables are either integers or 64 bit double precision type to minimize round off error.

There are over a dozen ballistic packages on the market and none of them have this collection of features (many of which are unique):

  1. The external ballistics portion of BalCal 6.2 allows the user to define and save the following types of data in separate files:
    a. Each rifle and sight combination that he owns, uses, or is investigating.  This includes elevation and windage click moa click values, height of the sights over the bore, and the expected grouping ability of the firearm.
    b. Special bullets not found in the bullet data file that already contains over 1700 factory and government bullets of almost every type from pellets to slugs.
    c. Range output schemes of 4 to 24 distances that do not have to be equally spaced.  This way the user could specify 50-yard intervals at short range and 25 yard intervals at longer ranges or maybe use a mixture of metric and english ranges.  They just have to be in ascending order.
    d. Target size specifications that effect the 'point blank range' calculations.
    e. Complete sets of firing data that includes the above 4 types of data and the local range conditions.

  2. With a few mouse clicks the user can select a firearm, bullet, range scheme, and target from the files, then specify his range conditions, and if necessary change a few values and create a new ballistics table.  If the output looks good it can be saved as a new set of firing data in a separate file, or plot it, or print it, or some combination of these.  The user can then recall the firing data months later and maybe change a value or two such as temperature and altitude and run it again with just a few mouse clicks.   The trajectory data can also be saved for use with a handheld device (computer) out in the field.  See the info for the CompCalc program which allows the user to enter his load, distance, wind, up/down angle, and target speed into a handheld computer which will interpolate the hold over, wind compensation, and lead for his shot in a few seconds.   CompCalc can also do mil dot (and MOA) ranging calculations.

  3. Output from the exterior ballistics program for each set of firing data includes:
   a. input title, load info, gun data, bullet data, and range conditions
   b. short range zero distance
   c. multiple point blank zero zones if trajectory, sight height, and vital radius permit
   d. hold over (under) in inches and elevation clicks from zero
   e. 10 mph wind drift in inches and clicks for (3,9), (2,4,8,10), and (1,5,7,11) o'clock winds
   f. hold over, 10 mph wind drift and 1 mph lead in moa or mil dots
   g. bullet energy, momentum, remaining velocity, and flight time at the various ranges specified

  4. The user can select 1 to 12 sets of firing data of dissimilar types and ranges and make multi-color comparison plots of hold over, wind drift, remaining velocity, remaining energy, remaining momentum, and bullet drop.  These output plots are of high enough quality that they would look good in publications.  See the sample comparison plot.

  5. The plots can be output in color on a black background for viewing on the monitor, color on a white background for use with a color plotter, and black on a white background for printing on a black and white printer.

  6. The user can modify the background and all of the colors output to the plotter to make them look really good on his specific plotter or customize them for publishing purposes.  These plots can be saved as .bmp type files.

  7. The wind drift values for the user's specific rifle and load can be used to create wind diagram plots such as those found in the front of most high power rifle score books.

  8. Both comparison plots and wind diagram plots can be scaled down before printing or saving as .bmp files.

  9. All plots can be saved for viewing at a later date with just a few mouse clicks.

10. As the mouse cursor is moved around on the plot being viewed, its x,y location in plot units will be constantly updated and shown in text boxes on the right side of the screen.  This is valuable in determining exactly where two ballistic curves cross or finding specific trajectory values at selected ranges.

11. BalCal 6.2 uses the standard Visual Basic common dialog printing software which means the user can select from multiple printers, change from portrait to landscape orientation, change from color to black and white, and pretty much do anything his printer(s) and their software drivers support.

12. Here is where the fun begins.  Once a user has data for his specific firearm, load, and conditions he can try his luck with the Hit or Miss program.  This educational program allows the user to 'fire' shots with his mouse at a variety of targets and see how well he compensated for the conditions.  The various unique features of the Hit or Miss program are:
  a. When a shot is 'fired' (using the left mouse button) the aim point is marked in light purple along with a blue indicator line for the correct target lead and a red and green hit probability circle is drawn on the target.  The red circle indicates firearm dispersion and the green circle indicates the combined firearm and shooter dispersion.  In addition, the effects of wind estimation error and distance estimation error are indicated by light blue quadrant arcs around the red and green impact circle.  See the hit probability example.
  b. If the user clicks his right mouse button the current reticle is drawn on the target.  If the graphics board on the PC is fast enough and has a fairly large amount of ram the user can check the 'reticle cursor' box near the top and the normal crosshair mouse cursor will be replaced with the user's sight reticle scaled for the current distance.  This makes it appear like the user is looking through his sights.
  c. The user can select his reticle or sight picture from a list of more than 30 that include M1 sights, crosshairs, mil dot reticles, target type globe sights, Glock sights, etc.  See the sight sample.
  d. At any time the user can switch to another set of firing data to see what the different cartridge/load trajectories would do on the target with the same conditions.
  e. The program normally redraws the target and then draws the hit or reticle info on it, but this feature can be turned off so multiple hits and reticle clicks can accumulate on the target.
  f. At any time the user can select a different target.
  g. Each mouse click on the orange randomize button will cause the program to randomize all condition variables that are checked.   Distance, wind value, wind direction, up/down hill angle, and target speed can all be randomized with a click of the randomize button (if they are checked).  The target can also be randomized so that each click on the randomize button will bring up a different target for the following 'shot'.  The user can specify maximum limits on the randomizing of range, wind velocity, target speed, and up/down hill angle values.
  h. After each shot the program will display the proper compensation in inches, clicks, and either MOA or mil dots.  The time between shots fired will also be displayed as well as the effect of head and tail winds.
  i. A 'stock sticker' box at the bottom of the screen will contain condensed hold over, wind drift, and lead information for the selected firing data.   This data is used for estimating hold over, Kentucky windage, and lead.  The stock sticker data can be printed out and taped to the side of the rifle stock for use in the field.
  j. This program is designed so an instructor can stand behind a user and teach him the estimating of hold over, Kentucky windage, mil dot usage, sight changing, etc.
  k. To practice range estimation using mil dot scopes (or other types of sights) the stock sticker can be blanked out and the random range can also be blanked out until the shooter 'fires' a shot.  The user can then place his reticle on the target to do mil dot/moa estimation on a known size part of the target.  The user can do the math in his head, use a calculator, or simply click on the mil dot/moa ranging button above to enter his estimated data and do a range calculation.
  l. The user can either hold off for distance and wind or he can click on the elevation and wind click boxes to move his sights simulating what he might do on the firing line at a rifle match or on a sniping assignment.  Once again, when the shot is 'fired' the correct number of clicks for the conditions will be shown in the boxes on the lower left.
  m. The target with any shot(s) and/or reticles on it can be either printed or saved as a .bmp file.
  n. The stock sticker can be either saved as a file or sent to the printer.  Whether hunting, target shooting, or sniping, the stock sticker provides an instantly available source of trajectory data to the user.  It is suggested that beige, light gray, or light green paper be used for stock stickers for use on hunting or sniping rifles.  Transparent tape with a dull finish should be used to prevent reflections.
  o. The last 1-100 'shots' on the target can be recalled and placed on the target.  A long range target shooter could select the 1000 yard NRA target, his favorite load, Camp Perry conditions, and then 'fire' a 20 shot long range match by randomizing only the wind direction and velocity for each shot.  Then he could select another caliber/load and fire another match.  A wide variety of target globe front sights and scope reticles can make this match most lifelike.  Can you say Palma or Wimboldon simulator?
  p. A 1 & 10 inch scale can be placed anywhere on the target to determine if the target is scaled properly.
  q. A 20x20 MOA grid can be drawn over the aim point.
  r. If the user thinks that the target is not scaled correctly, he can click on the rescale button and select two points a known distance apart on the target to rescale the target data.  See the rescale example.
  s. The user can supply his own graphics to be used as targets.   Hit or Miss can use any reasonably sized .jpg, .gif, or .bmp file as a target.  All the user has to do is place that file in the directory where he placed BalCal 6.2 (the default is c:\program files\balcal62) and it will be available for scaling and use the next time he runs BalCal 6.2.  This means the user can surf the internet for interesting targets and capture them for use with this program.  Scanned images can also be converted to .jpg's(or .gif's or .bmp's) for use with this program.  The .jpg's plot the fastest, .gif's almost as fast, and .bmp's are usually large and slow.

13. The miscellaneous calculations section is a collection of handy programs for shooters and reloaders. Currently included functions are:
  a. A program to determine the true MOA values of clicks on iron sights.   If your iron sights move exactly .002 for each click and your sight radius is exactly 28.8" then you do have 1/4 moa clicks.  Any other click movement or sight radius will probably not result in 1/4 moa clicks.  This is usually not a problem at short ranges but this small error extended to 600 or 1000 yards can make the difference between a 9 and a 10.
  b. A program to convert English distances, weights, and speeds to Metric and visa versa.
  c. A program to run an old fashioned Greenhill barrel twist calculation.
  d. A program to calculate expected group sizes.  This answers the old question 'if I fire more shots at a small group, how large will it probably get?'
  e. A program to calculate the power factor of pistol loads for action pistol shooting.
  f. A program to do linear interpolation which is particularly handy when trying to read between the lines in a reloading manual table.
  g. A program to calculate recoil energy and velocity.  This is particularly valuable for target shooters who frequently fire many rounds per day and the fatigue caused by being belted around can cost points at the end of the day.
  h. A program to derive a cubic polynomial function from 4 data points which works nicely for well behaved, smooth data such as trajectory curves.  Use your own imagination as to where this could be utilized.  Many interesting functions in nature are not really linear and can be very accurately approximated by a cubic polynomial over a short span!

14. Downloadable trajectory files and programs for Palm & Sharp type handheld PDA's (personal data assistants/electronic organizers) can be created.  If you look closely at the output form of the external ballistic calculation you will notice a light blue command button at the top that says 'Create a data file for an electronic organizer'.  This allows the user to output this set of ballistic data to a file that is formatted to be downloaded to a small battery operated PDA that is really a small computer. These portable devices weigh only a few ounces and can contain a large number of firing data sets and programs.  Constant Force Products has available the CompCalc program for downloading to a PDA that will read this data and interpolate for hold over, wind drift compensation, lead, and do mil dot calculations - all in a few seconds while in the field!  Compensations are output in inches, clicks, and mil dots.  The software for the Sharp Wizard OZ-7xx series is working, and has been converted to work with many Palm and Handspring models of PDA's.  These devices weigh only about 4-6 ounces and are very small and mildly ruggedized.  Battery life is a month or two at max usage with some of the models and they usually have a back lighting feature for use in low light conditions.  Contact Constant Force Products to see which models of Palm, Sharp, Handspring, Handera, IBM, Sony, etc will work with this software.

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