The Saint
Black Powder Nerd
I honestly don't get it.
I shoot in lever action silhouette matches. My main centerfire rifle and caliber is an 1873 Uberti in 44WCF. For the rifle caliber game out to 200 meters I use a 220gr 30-1 alloy bullet, DGL black powder lube ,CCI#300 primers and 37gr of Swiss 2F. For the pistol caliber match out to 100 meters I use the same bullet and primer but 27gr of Swiss 1.5F and a card wad. I have fired over 150 rounds in a day without cleaning or loss of accuracy. At the end of the day the bore looks like a fouling shot was fired.
Cleanup ? I put the rifle in a cradle upside down. A wet brush for a few strokes, a couple of dry patches and done. I Usually clean the rifle that day after a match. After 20 years of doing this the bore is pristine.
The brass is a little more work, a little. The brass goes in a mayonnaise jar and gets filled with "moose milk"*. The nest day I rinse with hot water and lay out to dry. Then it is treated like any other brass case.
Easy, fun, accurate and powerful.
*moose milk is about one finger of Ballistol and then water filling a gallon jug.
That's all good and fine...but I use no special lubes, no special alloys, and no need for a card...and can also shoot all day with 1-2 patches as cleanup. So, simply put, APP is simpler to load and has more margin for error. Shoot what works and what you like, what is there not to get?