Well your experiences with AP are far different from mine with Clean Shot (well the quick shot pellets anyway) which is the same powder. I had crud at the breech and plastic (visible) from the skirts of the Powerbelts I was using at the time. I'll never use that crap again.

Yes I get crud, but the velocity improvement is worth it. When you add powder to equal velocity you are adding recoil. When calculating free recoil you factor in the bullet (and sabot) weight, powder weight, and velocity. If you increase one, you'll increase recoil. By adding powder to increase velocity you are increasing recoil by two factors.

What do you pay per pound? I can get it locally for 19.99 per pound. I am shooting powder now that I got on clearance from Wal-Mart. I got 5 pounds of it on clearance last year. Prices ranged from $19 to $12 dollars as time went on. I got a pound everytime they dropped the price untill it was gone.