BB Brands...?
 

Okay so most rifle/gun manufacturers out there worth looking at state use quality BBs. Aftermarket parts, upgrades, tighter tolerances, all require "high quality BBs"

But what exactly is a high quality BB. All the manufactures I'm finding on websites are "highest quality", "best", "seamless", "polished". But like most things they can't all be the best and they can't all be equal.

Now I presume I won't get everyone to agree on the absolute TOP single one and only brand to buy - as with most anything else - however if we could all agree on say the top three highest quality brands; or perhaps the brands to absolutely avoid; those are steps in the right direction.

Now I'm assuming that if 'company X' has the best manufacturing plant, best QA/QC, high standards and values yada yada yada... then they would make the best BB regardless of weight. However perhaps that is untrue so here are my proposed guidelines:

-BBs have to be readily available in bulk (I'm not a millionaire spending $500k on a single BB bullet because it's PERFECT). And I'm not looking for an exclusive club membership that only makes 35,000 BBs for the entire world market once a year and you have to line up in Tibet by March 9th to see if you're a lucky winner of BBs for October 3rd.

-BBs are for general use semi/auto assault rifle & pistol use. As above I'm not sniping with these so I don't just need 10 perfect BBs that cost 3 times as much but are 15% better. I need GREAT, not ASTONISHING - must write home about ect.

-BB weights between say 0.25g-0.32g. From my research I'm guessing I'll be in this range as with most people.

-Biodegradable........ although not my focus I do have a friend that has access to property we might be using and the only stipulation is that the BBs be biodegradable. So if you have feedback on Biodegradable BBs I'll also take that info but that isn't the full scope of this post.

FYI: my research shows that Elite Force and G&G are the top two (mostly USA) however most Canadian websites list BB Bastard.



- Okay so far I'd say it breaks down as follows for popularity:

BB Bastard & Elite Force leading

Griffin, Krytac, G&G, & Madbull runner ups

BB bastard are no longer in production but may be again soon from what I've heard.

Griffon bbs are now my go to for top notch bbs at an amazing price (only available from b2 airsoft)

Hpa BBS are pretty great but really expensive.

Both are bio

I can recommend the Gryphon's as well, James is also quick to respond if there are any issues with them. As an added bonus, he has free shipping on BB orders over $60

Krytac, Elite force, madbulls.

Biovals worked great for me for bios.

Mostly Madbull if shopping new but I have a few bags of Bastards left. The joy of running mostly gas rifles.

Good to hear they may be back.

I have about 4000 .30 bastards left. I use also G&G .25’s and .28’s and .36 bastards.

I count anyone I shoot lucky to receive such a magnificent BB.

Still have enough bastards to last me till the new owners fire back up production in the next year or two.

I've also had good experience with Gryphons. Currently use Krytac and Elite Force, depending on what is in stock. I haven't had any issues with feeding or shooting that I would point at the BBs as the cause of the problem.

I guess my question as a relatively new Airsofter is, what are signs that a particular brand of BBs is worse than others?

I mean, one can get out the calipers and measure a random sampling of each batch of BBs and see how much they vary from 5.95mm. But what else does one look for?

My assumptions would be:

Jamming/Misfeeding
Breakage
Swelling/misshapen BBs
Inconsistent flight paths (due to imperfect sphere shape)

What else?

Get a magnifying glass and inspect for seams.

Non-seamless are only visible with Wally world bb's and Dollarama ones but they're partly visible on valken bb's. You can generally tell if the bb is good quality with the crush test. It should hold together and deform rather than crumble and snap in half.

Otherwise the flight path/feeding says everything you need to know.

As a general rule, never use BB's bought from C-Tire, Walmart or Princess Auto, etc in a proper airsoft gun.

BB's are one of those fussy things that may or may not like your brand/type of gun or magazine or power source (AEG vs GG vs Spring) and it's always possible to be the lucky winner of a bad batch.

Best way to do it is go to an indoor field and have a look at what the other players are using and ask around.

For me I had good experience with Krytac, Elite force, and bb bastard. Not so keen on valken brand.

In terms of manufacturing, I have heard from one of airsoftology videos that in USA, there are 2 or 3 manufactures of bbs that sell in bulk and other brands just put their stickers on them.

:lol:

I don’t understand is why you’ve been a member since 2006 and you’re asking about BB’s

Well it's not a requirement to airsoft in order to belong to this forum. I have been interested in airsoft for many years but have yet to partake, mostly due to costs as well as other factors.

However even if I were a veteran it is still a logical posting. Although if that were the case I would most likely not have posted in the "Newbie Tank", as well as posted my views from the experience I gathered. But you ask a valid question and so I hope I answered it.

Membership on this forum: ~12yrs
Experience airsofting: None
For everything else there's Mastercard