I haven' t seen the " needs less cleaning" benefit. After 3 shots, I HAVE to clean my Renegade because that crud ring that builds up where my powder meets my bullet gets too high. If I don' t do it then, my cleaning jag will get stuck in the barrel. I didn' t have that problem with Pyrodex or Clear Shot. I could go 6 or 7 shots before I had to clean because my bullet wouldn' t load easily. It does clean extremely easily though. And I do like the increased velocity. I haven' t shot it through a chrono, but my shoulder knows it' s got more punch than anything else out there. It feels more like a centerfire rifle than a smoke pole being shot. It doesn' t " push" harder and smoke up really bad if you load it too hot, it stomps a mudhole in your a$$. It' s fun to shoot.