There are many BBs out there and for newbees the variety of BBs can be overwhelming. This is a basic primer on choosing BBs and learning what the differences are in quality, weight, and usage.
QUALITY
In general the BBs you find in the big box stores (Walmart, Dicks Sporting Goods, etc.) are low quality. Somewhere in that jar can be a misshapen BB that will jam up your barrel or worse, block your air nozzle and break it or your tappet plate.
If you experience a jam or blockage immediately STOP firing. Do not attempt to shoot the jammed BB out the barrel or you could seriously risk damaging your AEG. Eject your magazine and gently push any jammed BB out through the magazine feeding nozzle with a clearing rod.
BRANDS
Among the most highly regarded BB brands are Laser Dot, EF, Valken, and BBKing to name just a few. Everybody tends to have their own brand bias and will claim theirs is the best. In most cases these 'name brand's' perform quite well and their differences are minor. Wind, air temperature, movement are the greater deciding factor in whether you hit your target than a .02% variance in the weight or shape of a BB.
I personally use Laser Dot as do a lot of people I know. Upgraded AEG's with tight barrels experience more jams due to their smaller inner diameter (6.04 or smaller). This makes them less tolerant of dirt, hair, lint and inconsistently sized BBs. Therefore, it’s important to buy the best quality BBs for these upgraded guns.
Higher quality BB’s are rolled and tumbled and polished in the manufacturing process, giving them a smooth surface. Lower quality BBs lack or cut short this process. They can retain seams and mold lines which effect accuracy.
WEIGHT
BBs come in different weights (in grams): 0.12, 0.20, 0.23, 0.25 and heavier.
NEVER use 0.12g BB’s in a metal gearbox AEG. Let me repeat that, DO NOT EVER use .012g bb’s in a AEG.
0.12g BB’s are made from softer light -weight plastic created in an injection mold process with little or no polishing. Their sizing is notoriously inconsistent. They are cheap both in cost and quality. 0.12 BBs are made for LPEG's, low end springers and mini-AEG's who’s barrels are made to much looser tolerances. 0.12g BBs often jam in AEG barrels and even some high end springers. The plastic is so soft, 0.12g BB’s have been known to break in the barrel of some AEG simply due to the higher air pressures put out by upgraded gearboxes.
.20g are the standard BBs for AEG's. All FPS stats for AEG’s are based on these weight of BBs. When you read that a gun shoots at 300-350fps, that benchmark test was done using 0.20g BBs (unless otherwise noted).
0.25g BBs are the next most common weight. The increased mass of .025g BBs, makes them less susceptible to wind gusts and thus more accurate at ranges beyond 50ft. But with increased weight comes decreased distance. To compensate, need to be upgraded with M110/PDI150 springs or harder to have the same range as 'stock' AEG's firing 0.20g BBs.
Whenever you change your BB weight you’ll need to adjust your hop-up to compensate. Some guns–especially pistols–have fixed hop-ups, made for only one weight of BB. Using another BB weight will result in poor performance or accuracy.
A compromise weight is 0.23g BB’s. Only a few brands carry this weight.
0.28g, .030g and heavier BBs are only recommended for use with with AEG's shooting 400fps and higher. They are most often used by sniper rifles.
COLOR
White is the most common color for .20g and 0.25g BBs. Some makers also produce black, green or other colored BBs, sometimes marketed as 'stealth' or ‘invisible’ BBs (not to be confused with the Stealth brand). They are nearly impossible to see in flight, even when fired in full auto. The benefit of this is that your target can’t see where the BBs are coming from. The downside is that it’s also harder to tell where your BBs are landing.
And on a side note, I have observed that targets seem to be less likely to call their hits when they don’t see the direction and origin of the shot. This may be due to them mistaking a non-seen hit for a ricochet.
0.12g BBs come in a wide rage or colors, even glow-in-the-dark. The later is made for special AEG accessories that light up the BBs before firing, creating a tracer-like effect (when fired in the dark).
BIO DEGRADABLE AND OTHER BBs
Most fields require you to use bio-degradable BBs, but honestly - I have never seem them check. Standard BB's are made of a mix of baking soda/chalk and the plastic 'styrene' (vinylbenzene). This is the same kind of plastic used in foam drinking cups. They are not made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) the plastic used in plumbing pipes.
Styrene in concentrated gas form is dangerous. But exposed in the environment, it's fairly harmless and is digested by bacteria. Apparently styrene is even used as a flavorig agent in food! The EPA does not classify styrene as a threat to the environment:
http://www.epa.gov/chemfact/styre-fs.txt
Excell BIO BB's, Tokyo Marui, KSC and other biodegradable BB's are made to break up faster when exposed to the elements. That's actually the definition of Bio-Degradable: that biological or natural conditions will cause them to 'degrade/disintegrate.' So by that definition all BB's are bio-degradable, it just that some take longer than others.
BIOTECH BB's are the only truely eco-friendly BB's because they are made entirely of baking soda and starch.
BOTTLES AND STORAGE
BBs come in bottles and bags. Bottles are useful because they can be refilled and come with a pour spout to easily fill hi-cap magazines. But I have found that these pour spout can still clog, so you can use a ghetto BB dispenser –an empty soda bottle. The larger mouth makes pouring into hi-caps easier but takes a little more finesse.
Avoid picking up BBs that have spilled on the floor at home. They easily pick up lint, hair and dust that can clog a barrel. NEVER EVER pick up BBs that have fallen to the ground at the field. I've seen newbs with bits of dirt, leaves, grass etc jam their magazines as well as their AEG's. BBs cost less than a 1/10 of a cent each, so don't be cheap and try to save dropped BBs. Let ‘em go.
CONCLUSION
Ask your friends and teammates what BBs they use but beware of brand bias. Don't be afraid to test brands head to head on your own. Keep in mind, you get what you pay for.
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General CJ
Team Commander