Science of Airsoft Act 2 (bbs)

Hello all you airsofters out there. After talking with many of you I decided to write this series of articles to help players.

BBs.

After popping out a million plus bbs over the years you get a better perspective on how important they are in the global picture of airsoft play. When I started to play I bought the local cheapest brand I could find. "All little plastic balls are the same right?" I was so wrong. Even at the end of my shooting practice I would pickup the bbs and clean them for re-use, an other big no no...

My first recommendation is to be responsible and buy biodegradable bbs. Bio bbs as they are commonly called have come a long way since the gritty, chalky balls they were. Biodegradable bbs now are as accurate if not better then their PVC cousins.

These are the four typical grouping patterns we find from shooting bbs in a standard bench setup. Other patterns exist but they are most likely to be cause by problem from your airsoft gun.

A) Is you typical crappy bb. The bbs seem to go all over the place and makes it hard to hit your target unless you are looking for suppressive fire :) . Generally the cause of the pattern are bbs with different center of mass, irregular shape, gritty or uneven surface.

B) Is a pattern that can be cause by the bbs or a mechanical problem with your airsoft gun. The bbs seem to hit the target but they seem to lack accuracy vertically. When the bbs are the reason for this grouping, the surface of the bbs is inconsistent causing this vertical line from different spinning effects from the hop-up and the bb.

C) Is the more rare pattern but none the less mostly cause by bbs. The target shows that the bbs hit on this horizontal line. The center on mass and irregular shape are most often the cause of this.

D) Is what we are all looking for, a perfect grouping. Mind you these are tests done from a shooting bench. I would love to have this accuracy in real life. Good quality bbs offer this pattern of grouping. In general a diameter on 5cm or less at 15m.

An other fact to consider in the equation is the weight of the bb it's self. The more weight a bb has the more accuracy it is. I generally play with 0.25g bbs. They give the best range VS accuracy in my opinion. 0.2g bbs are great for support fire, where range and quantity are important. Pistol are debatable still. I prefer to use 0.2g bbs because my engagement range is less then 12m and my target of human size. Some players use 0.25g and up for more accuracy but I do not see the need unless you are shooting in a IPSC style game. 0.28g and up are the realm of the high accuracy shoot. Snipers use most often this type of heavy bb. Some players that love playing single shot (semi) find a good friend in the heavier bb, giving them more accuracy but with a cost to range. Last but not least... 0.12g bbs. These should not be used in ANY airsoft gun. They should be used in grenades, claymores and other devices that need 0 accuracy.

I hope this post has help many of you understand the importance of good quality bbs.