Wrist Dope vs Loadscope Ballistics
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Wrist Dope
A dedicated ballistic calculator for Apple Watch, offering real-time trajectory solutions for shooting. It provides essential data like wind holds, velocity, and energy, with advanced features available through a one-time purchase.
- Real-time ballistic solutions
- Wind hold and drift compensation
- Velocity, energy, and time of flight data
- Match Mode for stage-based shooting
- Airgun and pellet support
- Scope level and anti-cant features
- Siri integration for hands-free operation
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A real ballistic calculator built for Apple Watch first — not a phone app's afterthought. It runs standalone on your wrist; the iPhone companion is a full app, synced. FREE TO DOWNLOAD The full calculator is free on iPhone and Apple Watch. Wrist Dope Pro — a one-time $39.99, no subscription — unlocks wind meters, Field Trueing, Match Mode, scanning, Siri, auto environmentals, live complications, printable range cards, and unlimited profiles — buy or restore on the watch. Accuracy is never gated. WHEN THE SHOT WON'T WAIT No time to thumb through a calculator. Raise your wrist, dial the range, read your hold. Send it. Glanceable and dial-driven, with real math underneath. A SERIOUS ENGINE, NOT A TOY - True point-mass solver with G1/G7 drag models - Coriolis, spin drift, aero jump, and incline compensation - Holds in MIL or MOA — plus velocity, energy, time of flight - Validated against published reference trajectories - Advanced Settings (Pro): switch each correction on or off LIVE FIRE Dial the range; the solution updates instantly. A color-coded arrow shows wind at a glance; multi-wind previews holds across wind speeds. The display stays awake on the gun. On the rifle, target angle and cant update your holds live. WIND METERS Connect a Kestrel or a WeatherFlow Tempest or WEATHERmeter from the iPhone or straight from the watch. Its wind, temperature, pressure and humidity flow into your holds. FIELD TRUEING Correct the solver to what your rifle actually did: true muzzle velocity from a chronograph or a group at distance, then BC on a transonic target. It checks your zero first and refuses ranges that can't tell you anything. MATCH MODE — STAGE CARD AND STAGE TIMER Build a match as stages and targets, then glance-read the active stage: every target's range and live-solved holds. Arm the par timer on the watch or iPhone and both count down together — the screen edge drains, and haptics, range beeps, or a spoken countdown call the time. Hunter stages: log each target as you find it, then engage in order. On iPhone, RO mode puts one big button in the RO's hand. Share a match as a file — the whole squad imports it. AIRGUN READY Eleven airgun calibers, .177 to .72, with pellet-real weights and BCs. SCOPE LEVEL — FREE ANTI-CANT A canted rifle misses wide at distance. Zero the level to your rifle and hold by ear — audio and haptic cues, eyes on target; a glow, ring, bars or footer shows level. Pro puts a live level behind Live Fire, the Range Card, and the Stage Card. HIT PROBABILITY AND THE ETHICAL SHOT Lock a target for a real first-round-hit percentage from your velocity SD, group size, and wind call, plus a terminal check for your game. HANDS-FREE WITH SIRI "Hey Siri, Dope for 250" speaks your hold — watch and iPhone. Wind and target by voice, too. POINT-AND-LOCK THE FIELD Aim downrange, tap to lock target; aim downwind, tap to lock wind — read on the shooter's clock face. RANGE CARD ON YOUR WRIST A full dope table — dial to scroll — plus seven watch-face complications: a mini range card, holds, target, density altitude, and active load. YOUR RIFLES, YOUR LOADS Build rifle and load profiles on the watch — no phone required. On iPhone, scan a factory ammo barcode and the load builds itself, or pick from a bullet catalog with factory BCs. Export a printable dope card; back up your library to a file you control. YOUR CONDITIONS, YOUR UNITS Pressure, temperature, altitude, humidity, and wind each toggle AUTO or MANUAL. Metric or imperial, synced across devices. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no tracking, no third-party SDKs. Your profiles and readings stay on your device. Weather comes from Apple Weather on request. Built for hunters, PRS shooters, and airgunners who want a first-round-hit hold without unpacking a bag of gear. Runs on Apple Watch Series 4 and later. Wrist Dope is a calculation aid. Always verify your data and shoot safely, responsibly, and within the law.
Loadscope Ballistics
This companion app automatically selects your optimal powder charge and seating depth for shooting. It then uses your confirmed load to provide live ballistics adjustments based on changing environmental conditions, and allows you to measure shot groups from photos.
- Live DOPE re-solve with automatic local condition pull
- Measure shot groups from photos
- Real wind math with gust range calculation
- DOPE card library for confirmed loads
- Recipe cards for component details
- Round count tracking
- Offline-first operation
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Loadscope scores every powder charge and seating depth you tested -- across four metrics that show up on target -- and picks your winning load automatically. No squinting at a ladder graph to call it by eye. This companion carries that exact load to the range and keeps it honest in the field. It is not another ballistic calculator fed with guesses. It runs the confirmed load you built in Loadscope on Mac or Windows -- your bullet, your velocity, your trued dial -- and re-solves it live as conditions change. At the line, in seconds: - Live DOPE re-solve. Pull current local conditions automatically, powered by Apple Weather -- density altitude, temperature, and pressure re-solve your dial on the spot. The number you dial is for your load, not a library average. - Measure shot groups from a photo. Photograph your target, set the scale, and mark each shot -- Loadscope reads group size and mean radius in inches, MOA, and mil, plus your dial-to-center. Powder or seating-depth ladders, several targets a session, custom calibers. Pull them into your working load on the desktop over Wi-Fi, each target matched to its charge or seating depth. - Real wind math. Enter speed and direction on a glove-friendly wind rose; the app computes the actual crosswind component for you -- full-value trig, no eyeballing "half value." Enter a gust range (say 8-12 mph) and see your windage spread. - DOPE card library. Every confirmed load, sorted by rifle and recent, searchable. - Recipe cards. Your components -- bullet, powder and charge, primer, brass, CBTO -- as a clean read-only reference at the bench. - Round count. Tap "+N" for the rounds you just ran; it syncs back to that barrel's count on the desktop. - Works with zero signal. Offline-first. Loads sync from the desktop by file or QR -- no account, no cloud, no backend. - iPhone and iPad, one app. iPad opens to a wider layout -- load list, DOPE, and recipe side by side. Free to download. A one-time $9.99 unlock adds phone-side load entry -- and it's free if you own Loadscope on Mac or Windows (just enter your license key). No subscription. No ads. No data collected.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Wrist Dope at 5 against Loadscope Ballistics's 1. On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Wrist Dope sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Loadscope Ballistics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Wrist Dope against 5.0 for Loadscope Ballistics. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wrist Dope has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Wrist Dope ships an update every 3 days, Loadscope Ballistics every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Wrist Dope | Loadscope Ballistics |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 5 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Musket Holdings, LLC | Loadscope LLC |
Customer experience
Wrist Dope
Loadscope Ballistics
In-app purchases
Wrist Dope
- Wrist Dope Pro$39.99
Loadscope Ballistics
- Create Your Own Loads$9.99
Questions
Is Wrist Dope free?
Is Loadscope Ballistics free?
Which has better reviews, Wrist Dope or Loadscope Ballistics?
Do Wrist Dope or Loadscope Ballistics have ads?
Which is updated more often, Wrist Dope or Loadscope Ballistics?
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