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.

5shot when you mean clean well are you refering to a complete tear down (meaning barrel/action/stock removal)? I know in my case after doing a tear down clean I have a slight POI shift that requires adjustment. However regular cleaning - bore, breech, nipple, bolt assembly, etc I don't have any shift or adjustments required.

I assume it is scoped? If so and your finding after regular cleaning/storage you require adjustment I would look at your scope as potential cause. First I would ensure the bases and rings are snuck and no scope slip is happening. If that is fine the scope itself may not be holding zero. If the load is the same and no global changes their is no way you should have to re-adjust a scope to obtain zero. Even if you left excess oil (a dangerous practice due to increased pressure) it would return to normal without adjustment, same would be true with a bore that liked some fouling. If this is the case I would be sending the scope back in the off season for some warranty work.

About the 777 "crud ring" another thing I am starting to notice is the guys that seem to not have as much problem with the crud ring or loading problems with sabot/bullet combinations appear to live in areas that have more moisture in the air. The BP cartridge guys know that blowing down the barrel to add moisture helps to keep the fouling soft with real black powder. I wonder if the amount of moisture in the air could be part of the problem or lack of problem here. Just food for thought.

Sorry; I noticed that my heading does not mention that I live in Arizona and by the way I have a lot of problems with loading sabots and the 777 crud ring. "It's a dry heat".

Skeeter, I normally don't tear down the gun completly until after the season is over. What I mean is I clean the bore well until my patches come out clean. I also clean as best I can the nipple and anything else I can reach short of tearing down the gun. As for the scope, I had a redfield 3x9 on it for a while but recenly switched to a leupold 2x7 with leupold quick release bases and rings. I don't remover the scope however when cleaning. I should also mention that I had the same problems as above when shooting my CVA staghorn prior to getting the Black diamond. The odd thing is with my old sidehammer gun I always marked the ramrod and seated the bullets identicly. That gun was very accurate, even with open sights, but not always the most reliable.

Are you firing a cap thru before you shoot ? If not , give it a try , it creates some fouling in the barrel. Might help with that
sprawling.

Yes, I would fire at least one cap if not two prior to loading. Like I said it seems that my main problelm was bullet seating, but I never would have guessed only a minor variation would/could cause so much of a difference in impact points.

You'd be suprised how many things change POI in ML's , just figuring them out myself.