A Test Lab test answers one question about your rifle or your ammunition with a set course of fire. The four tests stand alone. Run one when you have its question; none is a required step.
Marksman: 1 testSharpshooter: 3 testsHandloader: all 4
Before any test
Two things to know first
1
Open the Test Lab
Press Test Lab in the bar at the bottom of any screen.
Every test shows this notice by its start button. In the app's words:
Starting a study shares its numbers. "This study’s shooting data goes into Qual8’s aggregate data even if you have sharing switched off in your profile. Your email and your screen name never go with them — only your account holds your collected record. If you would rather not share this study’s numbers, don’t start it."
MarksmanSharpshooterHandloader
Precision Baseline
The group size your rifle and ammunition repeat, not just your best group.
Pick the rifle, the ammunition, and 10 shots or 20 shots.
Tick "I've got Sigma8 2x and/or 4x Calibrated targets to perform this test", then press START THE TEST.
Shoot five-shot groups at 100 yards: two groups on the Sigma8 2x Calibrated target for 10 rounds, four on the Sigma8 4x Calibrated target for 20.
Let the barrel come back to the air temperature before each group. Qual8 asks you; it never runs a clock.
Photograph and mark each target, the same as in a Range Session.
Read the result: one number, your ESTIMATED 5-SHOT GROUP, with the picture of your target.
Press FINALIZE PRECISION BASELINE to keep it.
Why shoot 20
The screen's words: "Does your rifle really shoot?! Prove it! 4 x 5-shot groups. Shoot a Sigma8 4x Calibrated target and this is the data to post that nobody can argue with."
MarksmanSharpshooterHandloader
Muzzle Device Shift
How far your point of impact moves when you change between a bare muzzle, a brake and a suppressor.
1
Add your muzzle devices first
Press Rifles. Under Suppressor and Muzzle Device Inventory, press ADD A DEVICE.
Say what it is, its make and model, and its weight in ounces. For a suppressor, also its maximum caliber. Press SAVE DEVICE.
Put the device on the rifle you shoot it on: open the rifle, open Rifle Specs, then Detailed Specs, and under Muzzle Devices press Pull onto this rifle.
Why this comes first
The test compares two muzzle setups on one rifle. A bare muzzle is always offered; the other has to be a device saved on that rifle.
2
Set up the test
Choose your rifle and press CONTINUE.
Pick the Ammunition * and the Distance (yards) *.
Check the Chronograph block. It opens on "Recording velocity"; change it if you are shooting without one.
Pick Configuration A and Configuration B: the two muzzle setups.
Under Pick your test, choose how much to shoot. The recommended one is 1 group of 5 shots with each device: 10 rounds.
Tick I did not change scope settings during this test. and press SHOOT THIS TEST.
Why the scope stays alone
The test measures how far the group moves between the two setups. Touch the turrets in between and the shift you read is the scope's, not the device's.
Which target: Sigma8 calibrated targets. The 2x sheet for the 10-round test, the 4x sheet for the others.
Setup: the ammunition, the distance and the two muzzle setups.
3
Shoot A, change the device, shoot B
Shoot every group for Configuration A. Before each, answer Was the barrel cooled before this group?
Press the button named for your second device, for example Install Match brake. With a chronograph it stays dim until every shot of Configuration A has a speed or DNR.
Change the device, then shoot every group for Configuration B.
Press Confirm fired shots. The photo screen opens.
Photograph each target and mark it, the same as in a Range Session.
Press FINISH THIS TEST.
Shooting Configuration A.
4
Read the result
How far the point of impact moved going from A to B, and which way.
Velocity, B against A, if you shot over a chronograph.
Each group's precision.
The result, as it looks today.
MarksmanSharpshooterHandloader
The Break-In Study
A record of a new barrel's rounds and cleanings and, with a chronograph, whether it gained speed as it broke in.
Start it when the barrel is new. Pick the rifle and one ammunition, and say whether you want the speed measurement.
At the range, press Start Range Trip, then log each group you fire: one to ten shots, with each shot's speed if you have it.
Press Record Cleaning each time you clean.
When the break-in is done, press Close out the break-in.
Why you start with the first rounds
The study compares the barrel's early rounds with its later ones, so start it with the barrel's first rounds. Use one ammunition throughout: change it and the speeds can no longer be compared.
MarksmanSharpshooterHandloader
Ladder Test
One round at each powder charge, at distance, to see where the charges land together. Qual8 offers it from a Load Development result when a ladder is the right next step.
Open it from the Load Development result that offers it.
Pick the distance (300 yards or more; it opens on 500) and how many charges (6 to 12).
Shoot one round at each charge, lightest to heaviest. Let the barrel cool when Qual8 says. Then shoot the climb a second time.
Photograph the backer once, after the last round, and mark each hole in firing order.
Read the result: the charge to prove next.
Why it comes after Load Development has started
The ladder is built from the minimum and maximum charge you gave Load Development, and it needs a load on that rifle to ladder. Start with Develop a load.
