Home Forums Reloading Reloading Software Sierra Infinity v6 Suite ?

Has anybody here used either incarnation of Sierra's current Infinity software?

So far, from their descriptions on Sierra's ballistics web site, I can't tell the difference, other than price, between plain ol' v6 ($39.95) and the v6 "suite" ($59.95).

Either one seems to be vastly advanced over the old Sierra ballistics software that I lost in a computer crash (and can't find now).

So I aim to order one or the other package of the latest version, as soon as I can decide which one I want.

Dr. Howell, as soon as you could, would you give us a brief rundown on the differences between the Sierra software and Quickload? I am curious myself, and like manuals, I suppose the more references you have, the better.

I may be interested in a copy of the Sierra software if it would be a worthwhile addition.

Thank you
Vic

From the website given, seems the suite includes the reloading manual.

"... additional Reloading Data programs to calculate all the cartridge and reloading data included in the 5th Edition printed manuals, and the Reference materials from the 5th Edition printed manuals. Infinity is the fifth version of the Sierra Bullets exterior ballistics program. "

That may take a while, Vic, but I'll keep it in mind and will let everybody here know what I come-up with.

Can't afford both the plain and the "suite" on a fixed income of only $750 a month, so I'll buy just one and wonder about the other. Right now, I'm leaning toward the "suite" in blind confidence that as they usually do, the guys at Sierra will deliver all that the money's worth. But with my propane bill taking-up all but a very little of my income, I'm not going to be in a buying mode as soon as I'm going to be in a buying mood.

I've used well over a dozen ballistics programs since 1982, and I haven't yet found one that totally eclipses all the others. Some have better features, some are easier to use, and some (I suspect) are more accurate. So I use one for this, another for that, etc. So far, it'll take a right skookum program to wean me away from either of my two current favorites � Br�mel's QuickLOAD and Oehler's Ballistic Explorer.

Sierra's web-site write-up leads me to suspect that I may soon have a third "best favorite." I don't expect the new Sierra Infinity to be more accurate than, say, Pejsa's Ballistics, but the user interface may make more good features easier and sweeter to deal with than anything that I've been using so far.

I'm looking forward to finding-out. Since my shooting days are long gone and I've been so rudely dumped from Varmint Hunter Magazine, my uses for ballistics software are purely recreational, educational, and nostalgic. For a long time, I planned and prepared a long article or series to be titled "Burning the Midnight Powder" � on the relative merits of what I considered the best ballistics programs � but with no longer any affiliation with any magazine, I'm not as enthusiastic about that notion as I was.

I'm too dang old and worn to start all over, from scratch, as an unknown free-lancer.

I've used the 2 prior editions of Infinity. My biggest gripe is that you can not cut/paste any of the data. All I could seem to do is make a pic file or print a hard copy.

If I hear that the newest version has a cut/paste capability, I'll buy it but not otherwise.

That'd be a valuable asset for me, too. I'll be sure to check it out and let you know.

If nothing else, I can capture a screen (or part of one) with FullShot, which I have (www.inbit.com) � and have used to save and to e-mail images that I couldn't just C&P.

My old lost version of the Sierra ballistics, IIRC, antedates the "Infinity" label, so there'll surely be a lot in this new version that'll be new to me � more than would be new to you.

The "suite" has all the reloading manual, and Ballistics program on CD, the plain jane is only the ballistics software. Hope this helps. By the way the new version is still print only, no copy and paste functions.

Swifty

Thanks!

I didn't find the user interface to be very intuitive in the V5 suite. Most of the common functions were obvious but some of the less used functions required, to me, odd incantations of mouse clicks. It's all explained in the help function though and is learned quickly enough. The Suite version contained the handgun and rifle manuals, including all the technical articles from which I learned a lot.

I haven't used other external ballistics programs since the NRA published one in Basic long, long ago so I can't give comparisons. The Infinity program gives me everything I want and more including the ability to set environmental variables. And of course you can set BC for three velocity ranges though it has that data for only Sierra bullets, Sierra provides a single BC for other manufacturers' bullets. You can add custom bullets, say round ball in odd calibers for muzzle loading.

The only other (minor) annoyance is that you can set up the program for only five loads at a time. If you want to run a sixth load you have to overwrite the data in one of the five slots. I suspect it's because the graphing function allows you to overlay data for some or all of the five loads. (velocity, drop, energy, bullet path, wind drift)

Oh, another minor annoyance. For V5 at least, the distribution disk must be in the drive from which the program was installed for the program to run. An acceptable anti-piracy measure I think.

It's been a while, but I reviewed the V6 information on the Sierra site when V6 was released. I don't recall anything so compelling as to justify getting the new version, as I use it anyway.

1. The interface has changed for the better, but I bought the printed manual due to the fact I can take it from room to room. Plus it just gets smudged and bent instead of scratched and ruined.

2. Version 6 contains every manufactured bullet and their manufacturers BC for that bullet, not just Sierras. Also it now tells you the BC for 3 diffrent velocities ranges after inital values are set.

3. I mainly use the graphing function for looking at 5 diffrent velocities with one bullet, or 5 bullets with 1 velocity, or any combination of the 2, so its really not annoying to me at least.

4. Now everything is loaded onto the C drive, no disk needed to run.

5 It works better tan RCBS.Dotload, and is half the cost if not less. I have both and tried a bunch of others, so all in all I like it and use it the most.

Swifty

I'm especially interested in the "five loads at once" comparison.

The feature that I cherish and use the most in Oehler's (www.oehler-research.com) Ballistic Explorer is its ability to compare two or three loads on the same graph or in the same table.

I've long been "fixin' to" suggest that Rich Carlson (www.dexadine.com), the young genius behind Ballistic Explorer, expand that feature to five loads. More than five loads on one graph or in one table would, IMHO, be cluttered.

Just to tease you I put V5 graphs of what happened to be in the five slots into a PDF Here.

Round ball is such a miserable projectile it's a wonder that our forefathers killed anything, considering that a magnum is de rigueur for any animal larger than a jackrabbit.

I like it!

Thanks!

OK, I've taken the plunge � ordered the "Suite" flavor. Can't afford it, not sure that I can responsibly manage it, but what the hey! we ol' widowed phardts deserve a little splurge now 'n' then!

Wish me luck. I'm already somewhat in awe of all that it's supposed to do for me.

I'll let you know.

I've just ordered the Infinity v6 Suite a few minutes ago, so obviously I don't have it yet.

But FWIW while we wait, I was able to copy and paste this easily from the Sierra ballistics web site's sample of materials from the Suite �


I'll be mighty surprised if I won't also be able to copy and paste this and other stuff directly from the CD or my hard drive. I'll check that out, of course.

I've also looked further into the web site's list of materials that come in the Suite. Guys, that reference stuff alone is more than worth the difference in price between the "plain Jane" Infinity ballistics program and the Infinity Suite if you're interested in what all this exterior-ballistics lingo means or why bullets fly the way that they do. Bill McDonald and Ted Almgren know what they're talking about, and I get the impression that they're telling it straight here.

BTW, somebody asked earlier what's the difference between this new Sierra software and QuickLOAD. That's easy enough to answer right now � QuickLOAD covers interior ballistics, and Infinity covers exterior ballistics. QuickLOAD comes bundled with QuickTARGET, a superb exterior-ballistics program that doesn't offer all the features of Infinity but may be easier to use.

Ken, couldn't cut and paste the graphs from version 5, don't remember about the tables which probably means you can. I used PDF Creator to create the PDF file you linked to.

PDF Creator is freeware, you can download it here: sourceforge. Sourceforge is the repository for freeware and freeware/open source development.

PDF Creator appears in your list of printers. You print something like it was going to your printer except you select PDF Creator from the printer list. The file is converted to Postscript format, you can rearrange "printed" file order and collect them into one PDF document from within PDF Creator. A little frustrating at first to get it to do what you intend but not bad.

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Well gee. Poked around the menu a bit and found File->Save Graph As...

Not supposed to be there, against Microsoft guidelines and how about every other program handles it. Guess I hadn't wanted to copy a graph badly enough to look carefully. And I've accused Apple of forcing one into a particular mindset on how something should be done...

Still, PDF Creator is handy for all sorts of things.

I'll bet you a 1/2 pint of homemade pepper jelly you will not be able to copy and paste bullet drop charts. And, I hope I lose.

Gee, that's a tempting inspiration to resort to some sort of devious dodge if all honest means fail!

If I e-mail you a .jpg file of a drop chart, will you post it here?

You can cut/paste tables in version 5.1 but again it's non-standard. Hold down the left mouse button to highlight the text you want to copy. The Ctrl/a shortcut won't work. After it's highlighted, copy to the clipboard using the Ctrl/c shortcut which DOES work. Then paste wherever in your usual way.

Ken, hope they fixed this mess in version 6 or you're taking notes. Probably should've PM'd this, huh?

For graphs you save the graph as an image in .BMP format or whatever format you like. Then use "Insert Image" to get it into your target program, Microsoft Word or whatever.

E-mail TEXT only from the Sierra Ballistics pgm. I may have not stated that but its what I meant.

Nighthawk-

I can not get it to highlight. Guess I'll keep trying.