RE: pellets vs. loose powder?
Mike consistency is very important but equally important is find the right charge for the projectile, gun and hunting situation. With pellet form you are somewhat limited in the charges you can produce being they come in 30 and 50 grain pellets. However with loose you can tweak it further, most tweak in 5 grs. So when developing a load you want to make sure all the areas are addressed to find the best solution for your hunt. Just like chossing you CF load, you will look at accuracy, bullet construction (game performance) and how it fairs at your intended ranges (which includes accuracy and ballistic characteristics).Essentially how this relates to what powder form you may choose is really based on how your gun performs to reach the criteria set forth. Some will find 95 or 105 grains of powder shoots vastly different than 90, 100 or 110 in their particular rifle. Meanwhile other may find it makes little to no difference. Also some guys are happy hitting a X size group while other are trying to eak everysmall improvementout of their rifles.
Many loose shooters feel more in control with measuring their own. As well many also like the cheaper investment with loose. On the flip side just as many others are all to happy to pay for the convienance factor afforded by pelletized powder.
Boils down to what ever works for you personally..no right or wrong as each have benefits.
I have used both and it hasn't made a difference to the animals I have harvested. BTW I am using loose 777 only b/c it performs best at this point.
Best of luck.