Is Loadscope a phone app? Is there an iPhone app?
No — Loadscope is a desktop program, so you need a Mac or Windows computer. That’s where your chronograph and target data come in, every rung gets scored, and your best load is named. Loadscope Ballistics, the iPhone and iPad app included with your license, is a field companion that carries the load you settle on to the range — a DOPE dial that re-solves live as conditions change, your recipe at the bench, and round counts that sync back to the desktop. Desktop owners unlock it with their license key; on its own, phone-side load entry is a one-time $9.99 unlock. See it on the App Store → There’s no Android app, and you don’t need one — all of the load-development work happens on the computer.
Will Loadscope tell me what charge to load?
No. Loadscope never suggests a charge you haven’t shot. It scores the loads you actually shot and names the one that shot best. Always work up from your published load manual.
How does Loadscope decide your best powder charge and seating depth?
No single number tells you a load is good — a tight group that wanders in velocity will cost you at distance, and a flat velocity string over a wide group won’t hold either. So Loadscope doesn’t pick your best powder charge or seating depth on one stat. It scores every charge and every seating depth you tested across four things that actually show up on target.
Those four: mean radius (the average distance of each shot from the group’s center, so one flier doesn’t wreck it — falls back to group size when only that’s available), velocity SD (shot-to-shot consistency), vertical (vertical dispersion — what costs you elevation at distance), and a light flat-spot signal (how little your average velocity moves across nearby charges).
Each metric is put on the same 0-to-1 scale (lower is better) so they’re comparable, then blended into one composite score. Lowest composite wins — Loadscope tags it 🥇 and writes the winning charge or CBTO to the top of the tab. Every candidate also earns a "Best in:" tag for any single metric it topped, even if it didn’t win overall.
The four aren’t weighted equally, and the mix isn’t a fixed table — Loadscope sets it from the distance you tested at. Up close, mean radius leads and velocity counts for less; at 1000 yards velocity SD takes over, because that’s where a few fps of spread opens real vertical. Seating-depth tests lean on mean radius, since seating tunes group shape, not speed. Every weight is still yours — the app’s Scoring tab lets you type a percentage against each metric, and Use recommended weights hands the dial back to Loadscope. Read the full method →
A barrel tuner test is scored on vertical spread and mean radius instead — how a tuner test is scored →
How do I get my license key, and how does buying work?
Click Get Loadscope, check out for $79, and your license key is emailed to you right away — it unlocks both the download and the app itself. One license covers up to two computers — say your bench PC and a range laptop. Moving to a new computer? Email us and we’ll free up a slot. Questions? support@loadscope.app.
Is Loadscope a subscription?
No. It’s a one-time purchase with free updates. It runs fully offline — no account, and no load data ever leaves your computer. The only things it sends are a small license check when it opens and, if you choose to, a crash report.
Does it work in metric? Can I buy from outside the US?
Yes to both. Settings → Units switches the whole app to metric — velocity in m/s, distance in meters, group size, sight height and cartridge lengths in millimeters, temperature in °C, pressure in hPa, wind in m/s or km/h — or set each measurement on its own. Powder and bullet weights stay in grains, the way load data and powder scales print them.
Garmin Xero files saved with European settings — decimal commas, semicolons, 24-hour times, day-first dates — import as they are, and the target scale can be set in millimeters.
Loadscope sells worldwide for US$79. Checkout shows your total before you pay and adds VAT or GST where your country charges it — about US$95 in the UK. The app is in English. The 30-day money-back guarantee applies wherever you buy, which is longer than the 14-day cancellation window in the EU and UK.
How accurate is the predicted DOPE?
Loadscope uses a G7/G1 point-mass ballistic solver — the same model class as Strelok and GeoBallistics — checked against JBM Ballistics (while it was online) and Applied Ballistics’ published range card. Measured-drag solvers like Applied Ballistics and Hornady 4DOF pull ahead deep in the transonic. Predicted values are an estimate, not a measurement — always confirm by live fire at known distances before relying on them for a shot that matters.
Predicted vs confirmed: gray italic numbers are the solver’s prediction. At the range you type what you actually dialed and that value turns from gray italic to solid text once confirmed. Predictions never overwrite confirmed data, and your printed DOPE Card carries a “verify at the range” banner until you confirm your first dial; after that, confirmed dials print in bold and the rest are the solver’s prediction.
Ballistic coefficient: the most popular match bullets have their BCs built in. For any other bullet, type its BC off the box or the maker’s site once.
What chronographs and target apps does it read?
Chronographs: Garmin Xero — either plug it into your computer with its USB cable and Loadscope reads the sessions straight off it, or import a ShotView CSV export; both work, and neither one replaces the other — plus LabRadar and Athlon Rangecraft, and MagnetoSpeed (still in testing, so check those numbers against your own). Target apps: BallisticX, OnTarget (PC/TDS), Silver Mountain (SMT) and ShotMarker — or skip the target app entirely and measure your groups from a photo right in Loadscope. New chronographs and target apps are quick to add — send a sample export to support@loadscope.app.
Do I still need ShotView to get my Xero data in?
No. Plug the Xero into your Mac or Windows computer with its USB cable and Loadscope notices it, tells you how many sessions are on it, and offers to read them — every session at once, straight off the chronograph. Since a Xero holds up to 50 sessions, it asks which ones belong to this ladder and lists them by time, shot count, average speed and SD, grouped by range day, with the likely block already picked for you. It never writes to or erases anything on the chronograph. The Xero stores its sessions as Garmin .FIT files, and Loadscope reads those directly — drag one in on its own if you’ve already copied them off.
No cable with you? Export the session as a CSV from the ShotView app on your phone and drop it on Loadscope — it scores the same way.
Working with Garmin Xero data →
Do I need a target app to measure my groups?
No. Loadscope has built-in group measurement — photograph your target, set the scale off a known reference, tap your shots, and it works out group size, mean radius and vertical for you, then scores it. Shoot a whole powder ladder — or a seating-depth ladder — on one target sheet and measure every bull in one pass; you tell it which bull is which. Or measure on the iPhone in the field and pull the target groups into the load over Wi-Fi. Already run a target app? Import its CSV instead — your call. How measuring from a photo works →
Do I need Microsoft Excel?
No. Loadscope does the work itself — your scored results, best load, predicted DOPE, and printable Recipe and DOPE Cards all appear right inside the app, no Excel required. Excel only matters if you want to open the underlying workbook and poke around the formulas yourself. Even then, the file is a standard .xlsx that opens just as well in Numbers (free on every Mac), Google Sheets, or LibreOffice. Excel is recommended for the full spreadsheet experience, but it’s not required to use Loadscope.
Windows blocked or deleted my download — what now?
Three different things can happen, and each needs a different fix. Loadscope is signed by Loadscope LLC, so in every case you can check the publisher name before you allow anything.
1. Your browser paused it. Look at the top-right corner of your browser for a small download icon, click it, and choose Keep.
2. The file downloaded, then disappeared. That is Windows Security deleting it after it lands, which is why “Keep” does not help. It’s a false alarm on our installer — so download it again first, and it should stay put. If it still vanishes, open Windows Security → Protection history, find the Loadscope entry, and choose Allow on device. Check it says Loadscope LLC before you allow it.
3. It runs, but you get a blue “Windows protected your PC” box. Click More info, then Run anyway. The publisher reads “Loadscope LLC”. This is a one-time prompt that appears because our certificate is still new.
Still stuck? Email support@loadscope.app and we will sort it out.
What hardware does Loadscope run on?
Mac: macOS 14 or newer. There are two Mac downloads: one built for Apple Silicon (M1 and later) and one for Intel. Not sure which chip you have? The Intel one runs on every Mac (Apple Silicon Macs run it through Rosetta).
Windows: Windows 10 or newer, 64-bit. No GPU required. Loadscope is a small app — runs fine on modest hardware.
