BB Comparison Review

Introduction

As airsoft players we are deluged with huge numbers of bb manufacturers offering a huge variation of size and weight bb for almost any conceivable purpose.  Nearly every bb manufacturer throws words on the packaging like high precision, high performance, super accurate, high polished and seamless.  In this review, we tested six different bb lines from four different manufacturers to see which ones really are the most consistent and have the best performance. 

The BBs tested were the King Arms Platinum Series .20g and .25g, Pforce high precision .20g, Airsoft Elite .25g Biodegradable, and BB King .20g and .25g Biodegradable BBs.

Test Procedure

There were several different measurements and tests performed on all the BBs.  The primary purpose of the testing was to obtain a trend based on a small sample of each brand and weight of bb.  There was no attempt made to track a single bb’s weight, velocity and accuracy so numbers published in the charts do not reflect a single bb throughout the testing, only one random sample from a group.

The first test measured the weight on a digital scale with an accuracy of 0.001g ±.003g.  10 samples were taken and measured to obtain an average weight of each brand.  The second test measured the diameters of another sample of 10 BBs with a micrometer accurate to ±0.001in, these diameters were then converted to mm and averages were taken. 

The third test measured Accuracy and Velocity together.   In a similar manner to our other testing, a target was set up 40 feet from the test gun and the test gun was fixed in place aimed at the target.  Six shots were fired on semi-auto through an Xcortech x3200 chronograph.  After the first six shots, the target was removed and four more shots were fired on semi-auto through the chronograph.  The velocity results were recorded and averaged.  The accuracy was measured by drawing a circle around the 5 closest spaced of the six shots.  The diameter of this circle is the reported accuracy in the test data.  

Data/Results

At the time of testing: Temp: 48°F  Altitude: 5894ft  Pressure: 29.6 in Hg

Weight/Mass

 Size

Velocity

Accuracy

One note that should be mentioned is that the sample bags sent from BB king burst during shipping and the .25g Biodegradable and Standard BBs were impossible to differentiate.  Because of that, the results are skewed due to the likely intermix of two different type of BBs.  This is most clearly visible in the size chart with BBs 6, 8 and 9 most likely being standard and the rest biodegradable.  If the .25g Biodegradable and standard BBs were tested separately the results would likely show a significant improvement.  

Conclusion

The one factor that airsoft players care the most about in a BB is its accuracy.  From those results alone The Airsoft Elite proved to be the most accurate and consistent BB Followed closely by the King Arms .25g and BB King .20g.  Since the general trend in this testing is for the .25g of the same manufacturer to be more accurate than the .20g it is very likely that a sample of only .25g BB King Bio or standard would be at least as accurate as the .20g BB King.  The King Arms .20g proved relatively accurate but the grouping of the Pforce was much worse than expected. 

One interesting observation is that the Pforce showed significant vertical stringing together of shots.  Even though the grouping was relatively poor the lateral grouping was less than 2.25 inches.  In airsoft combat a vertical distribution is usually preferred because when aiming center mass of a man sized target, missing 6 inches to the right or left will likely miss the target, but 6 inches up or down will still likely be a hit.  Still, a more accurate BB is definitely a better solution than one that shoots with “preferred inaccuracy”.

One other interesting correlation is that BB weight doesn’t seem to have as direct an effect on accuracy as BB size.  This makes sense in a hop-up system because the lift generated by the spinning bb is much more affected by its size than its weight.  Especially when the relatively short 40ft range is considered, Even though the Airsoft Elite BB is the least consistent in weight it still manages to be the most accurate.  This accuracy may drop off at the outer limit of the gun’s effective range, but at least at relatively short range, it looks like the Airsoft Elite BBs are the superior brand, but followed closely by the Chinese newcomer BB King.

We welcome any and all comments, questions and suggestions at service@foxairsoft.com   If you would like to purchase these products for yourself send us an email at sales@foxairsoft.com or visit www.foxairsoft.com. 

• Share
• Tweet
• "&title=""">