Nothing wrong with 777. My optima acutally likes it when used with heavier conicals. Using 90 gr. of 777 and a 400 gr. conical, it'll put the first two shots within 1.5" of each other at 100 yards. The third shot opens things to just under 2".
I had a hard time loading the powerbelts as well. They were just about as hard to load as some of the saboted bullets I've tried. I don't use them anymore, that being one of the reasons. I was never impressed with the powerbelts.The 348 gr. ones produced decent groups but nothingspectacular.Don't worry about your ramrod, it's fine.Make sure you get the bullet seated properlywitheach shot.