This is my first year with 777, I had the same problems with pyrodex and I really think most of my problems came from inconsitant bullet seating. The gun shoots better than I can at 100 yards using this load and seating the bullets consistantly. I have experienced the crud ring even after one shot you can feel it.. I have been swabbing the bore between shots at the range and this really helps with both consistancy and ease of loading. Prior to this I used 120 grns of pyrodex and the same bullets with good results, except for the POI problems. I have shot 5 deer with the 240 grn XTP's and all have done a great job. decent expansion even on broadside shots and both entrance and exit wounds. I really like the 777 as it cleans up easier, seems to be less corrosive, and no rotten egg odor! I did make one mistake, I didn't realalize that when using 777 you need to reduce the powder charge by 15% or so. I noticed a good deal more recoil and figured I better check into the situation. By reducing the load to 100 grns everything settled back down to normal. I did forget to mention, what was happening was I would sight the gun in with good results. Then clean it well. Then, each time I would shoot after storeing the gun, it would shoot as much as 7" high at 100 yards. I would then re-zero the gun and most often it would be fine for the remainder of the season.