My favorite among the many that I have is
NECO's QuickLOAD.
"1 Are they user friendly as I'm no genius when it comes to computers." It's complex and technical but manageable. GIGO applies.
"2 Half the fun for me in reloading is to be able to look at all the different loads for my application.Will I still be able to do this." In spades.
"3 Look for loads by brand and powder type." Yes
"4 Look for loads by the zillion bullets out there." The bullet data base includes many, and you can add your own.
"5 Build my own load that may not be listed." That's how this program works � you enter all the required specs, and the software gives you more options than you can practically use. Or you can enter your own proven load, and the software estimates the velocity and pressure.
"6 Lastly.will any of these programs replace my manuals entirely." You may want to keep collecting and consulting manuals (I do), but you can get along quite well without 'em.
QuickLOAD has a neat fitting factor, called "weighting factor," that you can vary to fit the program's predicted velocities to your chronographed velocities and thus "fit" the software to your gun.
Problem is, it's better adapted to high-pressure bottle-neck cartridges than to low-pressure cylindrical cartridges. Also, it's not cheap � about $150, IIRC.
