American Pioneer / Shockey's Gold is the worst propellant I've ever evaluated. Pinnacle as well was made by American Pioneer. Hodgdon bought Goex, so the discontinuation of Pinnacle was a certainty.
Blackpowder has always been a consistent propellant, but availability can be a problem. Alliant has extremely good distribution and, while APP had no apparent quality control, Alliant claims to test every lot, and shot to shot velocity variations within 30 - 35 fps are now commonplace.
Black-MZ has the appeal of easy ignition, a lower auto-ignition temperature than Pyrodex, less corrosivity than black, Pyrodex, T7, and it is more moisture-resistant as well. It works best as 90 grain (volume) charges in many .50 caliber frontloaders.
