I started with pyrodex ffg, then switched to clean shot ffg and now I am using 777fffg. Here is what I noticed. Keep in mind I don't have a chrono, but I was shooting the same bullet and same charge with each powder at one point. So I can get a pretty decent idea of velocity and consistancy by looking at the amount of drop and grouping I get. Also felt recoil.

Clean Shot was very easy to clean up and use. It was a bit slower burning and did not get as much velocity at 100 yards. It smokes alot and smells horrid! Do not breathe this stuff, it will almost make you puke. Not so fun in the eyes either. I shot both pellets and loose, didn't have any problems with either and I use musket caps, not 209's. It was pretty accurate as well.

Pryodex was a bit faster and accurate than the clean shot was, but it was nasty to clean up. And I could not shoot very many times at all without scrubbing my barrel. Every rifle is a bit different I think. It also depends on how tight your sabots are. I shot mostly loose with this, but tried some pellets before and they worked ok.

I use 777 now, and use the fffg, but have tried the ffg before as well. For me it is cleaner than either of the other two. It also burns faster and has higher velocities. It is the most accurate in my gun as well. It has a bit more recoil though. The smoke is pretty nasty from this stuff too, but not as bad as the clean shot was for me. I have only used this loose, no pellets.

Also keep in mind the pellets don't have the same velocity as the loose does with 777. With the loose you need to use less powder to get the same charge as pyrodex. 100 grns of loose 777 is faster than pyrodex and even faster yet than clean shot I think. But with the pellets this is not the case. The pellets will equal to the pyrodex, two 50grn pellets of 777 is the same as two 50 grn pellets of pyro, or 100 grns loose. Keep that in mind when looking. The Loose powder is cheaper and more effecient than the pellets. The pellets sure are easy to use though.

And the 777 fffg is even faster yet. I thought I might have problems with it, but it works great behind a 350 grn Precision Rifle bullet. And I only need 90 grns instead of 100. You can tell the difference in recoil for sure. I had some of the pioner pellets left over when I switched. I shot one round of 100 grns of pioneer and the next shot was 90 grns of the 777. Even my buddies next to me could see the difference in recoil. It's much sharper, more like a shotgun than black powder. My point of impact at 100 yards was also higher. So 90 grns of 777 fffg was faster than 100 grns of clean shot. At least from what I could tell. I am simply going by drop at 100 yards.

All three of them shoot pretty accurate out my rifle with the right load. I can get one inch or better groups if I do my part with any of them at 100 yards. Most of my shooting was done with 300 grn XTPs. I switched to the PR bullets last season when I switched to 777. I get about the same results at 100 yards, but the PR bullets and 777 are more accurate at longer ranges like 130 and 150 (my rifle is sighted in at 130 yards).

The best thing to do is get some buddies together and by a few different brands of powder. Then try all of them and see who likes what best. I have a buddy that swears by pyrodex, and the other tried my 777 and liked clean shot better. They own different rifles than I do though.

Good luck,
Paul