Is there some place I can look up which powders are particularly good for certain calibers? I hope it will cover all the major manufacturers.

I understand I need to find what works best with my bullets and firearms, but at least a good solid starting point.

9mm, .40S&W, 10mm, .357 SIG 223/5.56 .308/7.62x51 and .30-'06

I know 9mm and 40 likely will share a powder, and .357 SIG and 10mm likely share a powder. Might be crossover with 40/357 SIG and some 10mm powders.

Of course its all just a mental exercise until I can find primers.

First, a reloading manual with lots of powders listed, like the Lyman.

Second, powder companies have reloading sections on their websites. You can check out loads for any powder and caliber.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

The Hodgdon powder/reloading site.
Hodgdon Reloading | Home

Pick handgun or rifle, pick a cartridge, pick a projectile, pick a powder brand and it'll show results/selections.

Reloading Manuals are your friend !
Buy three or four to get a good over view of what powders work with what calibers .
Be sure to look at cast bullet loading separately from loading with jacketed bullets ... there is a big difference.
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Part of the problem in such an exercise is that the answer varies with the intended use of the reloads and, to a surprising extent, the experience and personality or attitude of the person doing the reloading and shooting.
For example, I read the USPSA magazine to see what caliber and powder the reloaders use each year at the Nationals, and the most used powders are Titegroup and HP38/Win 231(same powder). But if you read this forum, you will find that many loaders of 9mm, .40S&W, and .38 SPL avoid these powders for various reasons and use bulkier powders like Unique, which nobody uses in USPSA or IDPA. Look at SASS matches and everybody uses bulky powders for the large cases and light loads, e.g., Trailboss.
Truth is, powder is a secondary consideration in pistol calibers compared to choice of gun and bullet, and there are bakers dozen medium powders that made satisfactory loads for most purposes.
You would think it would be cut and dried with rifles, but not everybody loads for max power and range. I have two powders for .270: IMR 4064 for deer and similar game, and IMR4831 pushing a Nosler Partition for caribou, elk, etc. where power and range are more needed. There is always a balance to be found with max accuracy and max power, which may be tricky.
Then there are economic considerations, because you may not want to pay the price for VitaVitori for large volumes of 9mm and .40S&W range loads, and finally, availability may make your choice for you.
Open your loading manual or web site, and start reading.

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Science plus Art

Every powder manufacturer is going to tell you their powder is the worlds best and every reloader is will do much the same.
It's just a matter of trying different combinations until you find what's right for your firearm.

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SWHF #595

This, in addition, I do not buy bullets or powder in large quantities until I can settle on a combo that works for me in my gun(s). Then, more often than not, the bullet/powder combo I like will not be avaliable, so I will need to try a different bullet or powder. I load for accuracy above all and then chronograph to see where I am at.

Here is a more direct answer to your question than the "Reloading Manual" answer I gave .
I forgot how many powders are on the market and how they overlap .
For the handgun calibers you list you want something in a mid burning range . One of the best is still Unique ... don't believe all the bad mouthers and their "it burns dirty" complaints ... it works in those calibers when loaded to mid-range to +P velocities .
Accurate Arms #5 is another good one in this slot.

Selecting a powder will get very confusing but basically you have three types (handgun) fast target powders , mid-range normal pressure powders and slow powders for heavy magnum use .
Once you see what range a powder lies in you can better select one to do a certian job.
No one powder does it all and Unique can't be light loaded for target ammo ... the burn rate is all wrong.
I tried to get Unique to be atarget load powder for years ... it just doesn't work but Unique does work in the calibers you list ... the pressure is right .
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

There are a lot of answers to your question. For my buck, one of the reasons I enjoy buying and using Hodgdon powders is to have the benefit of the online reloading data center mentioned above.

For Alliant powders, the online resource isn’t as good or flexible, and I prefer the older printed guides. These can sometimes be found in a .pdf format. Western Powders (Accurate) and Ramshot also have comprehensive printed guides that are easily found in .pdf form.

I definitely find that a good way to choose a powder is by talking with folks who have gained a LOT of hands-on experience with a particular one in a certain role.

Before I settled in on exactly the combo I like is, I would read manuals and start listing the powders that make the combo I want. Then list them in order that I wanted them.

Just for fun
Bullseye
Unique
231
Red Dot

Then go to the store and try to find one of them...

There are loads for each caliber that are USUALLY fairly accurate in most guns. There are no loads that are optimum for all guns.
First, what are you trying to achieve? Accuracy? Highest velocity? Minimal recoil? Hole in target at 30 feet? What?
Most manuals show the load that gave the "best" accuracy in their testing, but I have seldom found that to be an accurate load in MY guns.

Some manuals are a parent of a company that makes powders.......

but the old Lyman would give the type of powder that would duplicate the factory loads in it's old data, from pistol to rifle loads.

However, back then, there was not a lot of the newer powders of today listed, that have all the "Additives" and new fancy numbers and names.

Usually each powder company has three powders that are at the top of their selling list and the will match the burn speed from the "Other" companies powders, that work for a lot of loaders.

You just need to know if you want to use "Flake", "Ball" or any other style of powder..........
then the correct burn speed for the type of loads you will be making,
that can sometimes turn into a can of worms.

Good luck.

Unique - I never found Unique particularly dirty, but I've never liked the way it meters. However, it is truly "unique" in the range of calibers, velocities and bullet weights it does well with.

AA#5 - I've loaded a bunch of .38 and .45 with AA#5, and it meters better than anything else I've used for those calibers.
As to "dirty" powder - cleaning up powder soot is nothing compared to cleaning out lead and copper residues. For me, that's one of the least reloading considerations.

Early in my reloading I would look in my manuals' description of powders. Most powders were listed by "speed" and designed use (caliber, bullet weights, etc.). The Lyman Reloading Handbook manuals (I have 48th, 49th, and 50th) have a very good description and intended use of most powders available. There is way more to a good reloading manual than load data...

Look at all the powders mentioned above then compare! Pick one!
Powder Burn Rate Chart NEW | Load Data Article

That's what I did during the 'Great Shortage' of 2013-2015. The interesting thing is that though I used only three or four powders and got what I wanted, I was compelled to try different powders, and I have quite a variety now. Enough to last a looooooong time.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

The Lyman book has an indication which load is most accurate. That's a pretty good starting point.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

It is hard not to have some ;
Bullseye
w231 or
Unique on your shelf for a basic powder for small arms
or a powder that will match them.

I do a lot of 38, 357 and 9mm target and standard loads and if I
had to pick just one powder it would be...........
Green Dot for light target to factory loads but there sometimes
is not a lot of load data out there to be found, for this powder.

Another reason that w231 is liked, do to lots of data and it can match
Green Dot very close in most loadings.

There was some point, and it was somewhere between 10 and 15 years in to this hobby where I changed my philosophy and basically my entire thought process about smokeless powders. I suspect that nearly every new handloader has the same approach that I had. If you are reading this, see if this sounds like you.

"I'm going to own the fewest possible powders and use the same fewest powders across as many different calibers as I can possibly imagine. YUCK, I don't want to add <gasp> yet another powder."

When I evolved, I would look for a fantastic powder for a job. And if I found a good buy on a powder that I knew would work for me somewhere/anywhere, I bought that too.

These days I have quite an array and tons of options.

Here's another way to make the point. Let's say a handloader -ONLY- loads two different. Let's say it's 9mm and .40cal. He's naturally gonna want to use one powder for both. That's fine enough.

If he picks two different powders, then he now not only has two different supplies of powders, he has options also if he runs low on one of them and can't find more immediately. He certainly has a little more money "tied up" in powders, but I'm the kind of guy that has 100,000 bullets in my cache, so having a little money "tied up" in powders isn't keeping me awake at night.

It's fantastic when a new round comes to play or maybe some really oddball bullet weight... there is an excellent chance that I not only have an appropriate powder already on hand, I likely have 4-5 of them from which to choose.

Once again, you all prove why I love this place.

I have shot rimfire Bullseye for the last decade, and have shot 9mm casually for several decades. My partner's brother just got a place with a 50 yard range behind his barn. And less than a quarter mile away are both BLM land and a National Forest.

I want to start reloading to both keep the cost down, and I am planning on getting 2 10mm pistols, and that ammo isn't particularly cheap on a good day.

I have an AR in 223 Wylde, and a 7.62x39 upper for hogs. My dad's Winchester 70 in .30-'06 hasn't been fired in my lifetime, and I'd like to start shooting that long range. Those rounds aren't cheap either. LOts of 9mm pistols.

I have a very good friend who is going to do some good shoot and scoot training that he learned in SWCC, so lots of cheap lighter 9mm rounds.

Thanks so much everyone.

For gathering a list of powders , look at as many reloading manuals as possible . Make a list for each caliber of the 3 powders from each manual that show top velocity at the lowest pressures . You'll see the same powders mentioned pretty much for each . Take 30/06 for example just about any bullet weight from 150 on up you'll see either IMR or H 4350 listed in every manual . You want powders listed in as many different sources as being top performers in that particular caliber with the weight bullet you intend to use .

I have never tried Green Dot, but the other three:
Bullseye, w231, and Unique are all that I use for 32 S&W Long, 38 Special, and 44 Special. After the Sandy Hook stampede I got some EXTR7 but never got around to using it. If I was going to load 44 Magnum, I do have 2400.