Anyone use Accurate Arms 2520?

[hometheaterman]

I hear a local gun shop owner talk about this saying how it's one of his more popular powders, but then I've noticed other gun shops don't even carry it, and I don't read much at all about it on here. Is this powder any good, or is it generally not a great powder?

 

[ReloaderEd]

Accurate Arms makes some good smokless powder. It depends upon what your reloading for or what caliber. http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.reloading-data.html this site had all of the powders for the most part. The IMR powders and pistol powders like bullseye, or hercules powders have been popular but they have burning rates that can be compared. Anything you can get at cabella's is standard probably. Don't buy powders at gun shows and small amounts they might be to old and have differnt burning rates than new powders. be safe

 

[ArchAngelCD]

AA2520 is the Ball Powder equivalent of AA2495 which is almost a ballistic twin to IMR4895. I've haven't use it personally but everyone who has tells me it's a great powder and acts just like IMR4895. A few guys at the range use it for their 30-06 M1 Garand ammo because they prefer to use a Ball powder.

 

[Maj Dad]

+1

It is a very versatile powder, and works especially well for 168 gr 30-06 & 308 loads in my M1s & M14. I've had excellent results with 170 gr bullets in 8mm Mauser, and also 55gr 5.56 (though I haven't it used it enough to cite loads - H335 is still my rifle's favorite). I have about 10 lbs on hand & have gone through a pile of it in the past 15+ years. It's under-rated & under-appreciated by a lot of shooters who just haven't tried it or the other AA ball powders, IMO.

 

[Slamfire]

AA2520 was very popular with the M1a service rifle group when it first came out in the 80’s. I have shot kegs of the stuff. It shoots well in 308 and 30-06 service rifles, the port pressures are appropriate for M1a’s and M1’s. Accurate Arms told me that they blended AA2520 to give the same pressure curve as AA2495/IMR 4895 for the same charge weight.

I have used the stuff in .223, I got excellent groups with 69 SMK’s in the .223.

Some people confuse metering accuracy with on target accuracy, so those who believe that tend to like ball powders. AA2520 is a ball and throws extremely well. It does shoot well when you hit the sweet spot.

Still, I prefer stick powders over ball. Stick powders shoot well over a very wide charge spread and do not leave a lot of residue. AA2520 does leave a lot of residue which is not a real problem as I seldom shoot more than 88 rounds between cleanings.

I think if AA2520 dropped in popularity it might be due to that loads with Accurate Arms powders must be redeveloped with each new lot of Accurate Arms powder. Darn near each keg came from a different powder manufacturer. Loads that were OK with one lot of Accurate Arms powder will blow primers with the next. I have lots of AA2520 that are extremely dusty and will clog up my .223 Dillon powder funnel. The best lots came from China of all places.

I shot this group with AA2520 rapid fire with a M1a in a 100 yard reduced Highpower match



This was shot prone slow fire with 69 Noslers, AA2520 in .223. The most remarkable thing to me was that the mirage was so heavy I never saw my group until I was at the target butts. If I could have seen what I was doing the group might have been tighter.

 

[tango2echo]

I use it in the '06 and the .308, but have had better results with Varget as far as accuracy goes.

t2e

 

[Ky Larry]

I've had very good results with AA2520 in my .308 CZ-550 Varmint. Also, it shoots very well with light bullets in .243 Win. Haven't tried it with 90-100gr bullets in .243.The AA loading booklet I have lists it for use in most rounds from .223 to .30-06. The only way to see if your gun likes it is to shoot it.

 

[MMCSRET]

I've used a lot of it in 308 and it is the most accurate I've ever used in 25-35 with the Hornady 117 gr. RNSP. Good powder!!!!!

 

[JoelSteinbach]

2520 is an amazing underrated powder, it is faantastic in 308 as well as 22-250, at 100 yards it allows me to shhot one jagged hole with 5 rounds of eith caliber. I am sorry to say that I only have 24 lbs left, I puchased 8 8lb jugs in 2002 for $55 each

 

[tomon]

Has anyone used it in reduced loads?

 

[Slamfire]

Has anyone used it in reduced loads?

No, and as a general rule, ball powders are not used in reduced loads.

If you want an excellent cast bullet powder, try AA5744. It is a bulky stick powder, you can duplicate blackpowder velocities in big cases.

 

[john wall]

+1000!

 

[steve4102]

2520 is one the THE powders for the 6.5 Grendel. Top velocities and excellent accuracy.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Wow, another year old thread brought back from the dead. I would think the new forum member would do better starting a new thread, especially since this is an important question about a powder and it's uses.

I have not used AA2520 in reduced loads but I have used H4895 in several applications. Hodgdon has doen extensive testing with H4895 and reduced/youth loads. HERE is the link to the Hodgdon load data for youth loads. At the top of the page is the formula used for making the ammo if it's not listed on the page. Be careful to read ALL of the information on the page because there are important warning on when not to use the formula. Here is the link to Hodgdon's Load Data Site so you can be sure the use of H4895 is appropriate in the caliber you are interested in.

 

[tomon]

The reason....

is that I inherited 25+pounds of SRB118, which the Western Powder Tech told me to use the AA2520 load data.
In Modern Reloading, Second Edition, Richard Lee published a formula that says powders could be loaded down to 50% of"not to Exceed" point. He included Ball Powders in that list, contrary to what I'd read and been told for years.
I got here via a Google Search!

 

[Walkalong]

I have some SRB-118. (A good bit actually). It works pretty well, and burns decently clean at full loads, but is pretty dirty with starting loads. I can only imagine how filthy it is with reduced loads. 2520 may do much better. I bought the SRB-118 as surplus intending to use it in cheap plinking ammo in .223 and .308, for which it works admirably. I have never tried it in an semi auto .308 or .30-06, but now that I have a Garand, I just might.

 

[GooseGestapo]

#2520 has become one of my "in stock" powders. I started using it two years ago in my .338Marlin Express before Hodgdon's LVR became available. It is still the more accurate of the two powders in the .338ME, but runs a bit higher pressures.

Because I have it "on hand", I'm now using it in lieu of BLC2 of which it is slightly faster burning, but equally capable of accuracy.

I've used slightly reduced loads with cast bullets and it still burns clean at ~85% loadings.

Really a good accuracy powder, if not the fastest one. Deserves to be more popular. But, then again, Reloader15 has a 10yr head start.