Did you do a charcole basket? That for me was the single most important mod I made...
Your temp variation or 225-275 was a norm for me on most cooks. I learned to not stress over having a percise temp and worry more about the end products texture and flavor. For me it was more of an A and Z thing and what happened in the middle was delt with as it came for each cook. I kept a log with notes of what I did and the weather. I dont go back to it much now, due to a diffrent style smoker, but I did alot when using the outlaw.
If I can help in any way let me know.
Side note. My FIL has an outlaw we bought for him almost 4yrs ago. It has only been used 3 times, and 2 of them was by me......... It kills me everytime I see it...