Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 9, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 9, 2012 Whether tis nobler in the gun to suffer the slings and arrows of... Outrageous prices! What I'm on about here is the cost of some high end BBs. Are they really worth it, or will any decent BBs do? So, the way I work out whether BBs are worth checking out right now is to compare their price with the cost of getting 3000 Blaster 0.2g BBs at Skirmish Airsoft Mansfield, which is £8 or £0.002666666/BB Once you add P&P, which I obviously don't have to pay when I buy from Skirmish, there are surprisingly few comparable deals out there. So then I started wondering about quality too... For e.g. 10 x 3700 Excel 0.2g BBs from ZeroOne - £74.95 + £7.95 P&P = £0.0022405405/BB or £6.72/3000 BBs - a saving of £15.77 not such a good deal considering it takes a spend of more than 10 x the per 3000 price at Skirmish to get it... versus 16000 BB King 0.2g BBs from contactleft - £19.99 + £7 P&P = £0.001686875/BB or £5.06/3000 BBs - a saving of £15.68 a much better deal! The Rub Has anyone used Blaster and Excel and/or Blaster and BB King so they can say what difference, if any, there is in performance/quality between them? May as well open this thread to advice concerning any specific makes of BB from particular sellers (if this is the right place for it; if not please move it mods(oh yeah, and I did search but didn't find another thread addressing this issue)). I think we all know that simple moulded BBs rather than polished ones should be avoided, so I don't think we need any generic advice... but I could be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tariq Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I only use Blaster / Blaster Devils and never had a problem with them. Unlike the Z1 BB's which i've had a few jams with before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 BB king is ok it very popular in Ireland as most of the major sites sell it as well as most of the major retailers and its the only ammo i use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibernator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I only use Blaster / Blaster Devils and never had a problem with them. Unlike the Z1 BB's which i've had a few jams with before. Exactly the same here! I also use Excel if the prices are good. But Blaster and especially Blaster Devils are always my number 1 choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaggyPants Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Exactly the same here! I also use Excel if the prices are good. But Blaster and especially Blaster Devils are always my number 1 choice Same here. Blasters all the way. I have used Excel before, when I was running low and bought a bag on site, and they worked fine too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters M_P Posted May 9, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 9, 2012 Just stick to well known brands with good reputations, better to buy better ammo than a new gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tariq Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Better safe than sorry. Do this with everything. Airsoft, Motorbike parts, PC parts etc. End up poorer but at least everything works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters TPI Posted May 9, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 9, 2012 I prefer Extreme's lol .23 all the time lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 15, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 15, 2012 Thanks all. I tend to agree with "better safe than sorry", but at the same time I find myself wondering how much hype there is involved here. Let's face it, everything else that we are offered for sale has whole reams of hype attached, so why should BBs be any different? As an example, if you use a car for driving to and from work, the shopping, a few miscellaneous short journeys, you will never actually notice the differences between a 2nd hand £10K @new car and a brand new £20K car... The "difference" is all in our heads - the supposed status we gain from driving a more expensive motor. Has anyone actually had a jam which damaged the gun? I mean yeah, if I had to break a gun down to clear the barrel or something I'd not be happy, but I want this thread to get to the nitty gritty... Already we've heard that BB King are fine and they're significantly cheaper than Blaster or Proball, both of which I've found to be indistinguishable in performance. If we think about it logically, can the choice of BB actually eff up a gun? The damage would have to be in the magazine, the hop unit or the barrel, all of which can be replaced easily enough, but is it actually possible for a polished BB to be so un-spherical that it jams into one of these 3 places so tightly that some careful poking couldn't get it out without causing any damage? BB king is ok it very popular in Ireland as most of the major sites sell it as well as most of the major retailers and its the only ammo i use Have you ever had any problems you put down to the BBs, craig? Tariq and CraigW-H, where do you get Z1 and Extreme .23 BBs from and how much do they cost inc. P&P? NB I've since found that I can't see any difference in performance between Blaster and Gun Tuff BBs (£4.49 + £3.39 P&P from JS Ramsbottom) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tariq Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Z1 is the airsoft site http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/ Thier own BB's are £7 for 5000. No idea on postage as i never just order BB's. I usually order in bulk, or with other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 22, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 Z1 is the airsoft site http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/ Thier own BB's are £7 for 5000. No idea on postage as i never just order BB's. I usually order in bulk, or with other things. Doh! I can be a dick @times... OK, so to keep this thread fair I looked up Z1's ammo - 5000 cost £6.99 + £7 P&P = £0.002798/BB or £8.394 per 3000 More expensive than Blaster from Skirmish or Op-Tactical (I've been expanding my horizons ) who also do 3000 for £8 As you say though it makes no sense to order so few online. Bundle of 10 x 5000 Z1 0.2g BBs cost £65 + £8.95 P&P = £0.001479/BB or £4.437 per 3000 A saving of £59.38 compared to buying Blaster in 3000s as and when you need them. A great deal that backs up their claim to be the cheapest pro BB in the UK... but who cares what they cost if they're actually pants? Has anyone else got anything to add about Z1's own BBs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Airsoft-Ed Posted May 22, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks all. I tend to agree with "better safe than sorry", but at the same time I find myself wondering how much hype there is involved here. Let's face it, everything else that we are offered for sale has whole reams of hype attached, so why should BBs be any different? As an example, if you use a car for driving to and from work, the shopping, a few miscellaneous short journeys, you will never actually notice the differences between a 2nd hand £10K @new car and a brand new £20K car... The "difference" is all in our heads - the supposed status we gain from driving a more expensive motor. Has anyone actually had a jam which damaged the gun? I mean yeah, if I had to break a gun down to clear the barrel or something I'd not be happy, but I want this thread to get to the nitty gritty... Already we've heard that BB King are fine and they're significantly cheaper than Blaster or Proball, both of which I've found to be indistinguishable in performance. If we think about it logically, can the choice of BB actually eff up a gun? The damage would have to be in the magazine, the hop unit or the barrel, all of which can be replaced easily enough, but is it actually possible for a polished BB to be so un-spherical that it jams into one of these 3 places so tightly that some careful poking couldn't get it out without causing any damage? Have you ever had any problems you put down to the BBs, craig? Tariq and CraigW-H, where do you get Z1 and Extreme .23 BBs from and how much do they cost inc. P&P? NB I've since found that I can't see any difference in performance between Blaster and Gun Tuff BBs (£4.49 + £3.39 P&P from JS Ramsbottom) Sorry for copying the entire quote, but I could not agree with this more Ian, it's almost all psychological in my experience. I've heard reviewers on youtube say that BBs can explode in the barrel and destroy your gearbox and it's a pipe dream, it has to be. How can a tiny sand sized fragment of plastic, do any damage at all to a gearbox made out of metal gears, walls, shims and shafts? It's truly ridicluous. I can understand the gun jamming if there's dirt in the barrel but I imagine jams are more likely to occur due to feeding issues with regard to the way the mag is sat, not inserted correctly, or an issue with the tappet plate. Gearbox damage is something I have never ever heard a single traceable story about and I won't believe it until I see it happen. That said, I've never really bothered buying ammo from anywhere other than on site when I go to a skirmish, but I have always made use of the "test batch" ammo that you get with new guns, which people almost always say to throw away, and guess what? It's always been fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshcowin Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I had it where the nozzle hit the bb and a bit if the bb went into the cylinder.had to get a new piston head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 22, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 Well you've hit the nail on the head imo, Ed. Personally, I believe that a fragment of BB would, as you suggest, have to be tiny to get into the gearbox because the only point of ingress would be under the air nozzle where the tappet plate moves back and forward... but to even get there, it would have had to get backwards through the hop unit, over the feed from the mag, past other BBs being fed from the mag, and fit between the air nozzle and the rear opening to the hop unit... something that small would get squished into the space between the gears and end up in 1 of the little collections of grease that accumulate next to them. No mate, frankly it strains credulity to imagine that it could happen at all, let alone do any damage once it got there. Nevermind that though: what, in the name of all that rocks, could possibly cause a BB to explode inside the barrel? I've seen Blaster BBs shatter when I've shot them full auto into a sticky target from about 6m. I expect that the BBs hitting each other is the cause. If we imagine that 1 BB gets jammed in the barrel, then we might imagine that the next BB could shatter, or shatter the sticker, as it gets fired... but no, that isn't possible. If there is a BB stuck in the barrel then the air between it and the next BB to be fired has to be compressed and pass around both BBs to escape, which would cause a significant cushioning effect, like pneumatic suspension, so the BBs couldn't hit each other with much force. Doncha just love physics? I'm with you: until I see it happen, I'm not having any of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 22, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 I had it where the nozzle hit the bb and a bit if the bb went into the cylinder.had to get a new piston head Aha! Now that I do believe. What make of BB, Josh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters M_P Posted May 22, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 Depends on the sort of gun in my opinion. In a normal assault rfile use what you like, on full auto it won't make a huge difference and most players won't notice or care enough anyway. In a rifle for sniping or a dmr, you'll probably see a difference. The way i see it is the same as most others: better be safe than sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 22, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 In a rifle for sniping or a dmr, you'll probably see a difference. I expect that the degree and evenness of polishing and internal weight balance of BBs does make a difference for sniping, because they will affect any spin on the BBs. BTW, what is a dmr? Which BBs do you know are better for sniping and which show up as worse, in your experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Airsoft-Ed Posted May 22, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 DMR is a Designated Marksman Rifle - Basically a semi-auto sniper as opposed to a bolt action. The idea is that the DMR user follows the general players with AEGs around, but takes out those harder to hit, longer range threats with their improved range and accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters TPI Posted May 22, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 I just get my Xtreme`s From the HTA Site £7.50 for 3043 on game day .23`s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshcowin Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Aha! Now that I do believe. What make of BB, Josh? they were zero one 0.20s and it went into the cylinder via the nozzle and made a bit of a mess of the piston head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 22, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks for the info Ed. they were zero one 0.20s and it went into the cylinder via the nozzle and made a bit of a mess of the piston head So that's 2 votes against Z1's own BBs then. Do you know how it happened, Josh? I'm thinking a BB must have got stuck, right? Are they un-spherical or is it just that they have weird shaped bits of badly moulded plastic mixed in with them like cheap 0.12s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Airsoft-Ed Posted May 22, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 Since we're talking about ammo, I wonder if anyone's ever thought of using cylindrical ammo instead of spherical... 'Cos I have. If we launched tubes at each other, like blunted bullets instead of balls, then I'd have thought the weapons would be inherently more accurate, rifling in the barrel would work, giving yet greater accuracy, the only downside I can think of is that it would be an arse to load into your gun, hi-caps wouldn't work and neither would speed loaders. Everything would have to be done with a push of the thumb like in real life and since it'd be such a chore, mags would probably be all low caps. Still, I'd like that because I love realism... Anyone have any other thoughts? I wonder if anyone's ever tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Ian_Gere Posted May 22, 2012 Author Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 I think it could well be a lot more complicated than that, Ed. I mean, yeah rifling would work, but hop ups wouldn't. How much power would you need to get the ammo to fly straight without any back spin over the ranges we're used to? At close range it could be too hot, say 400+FPS in order to overcome wind resistance at 40-50m I got hit in the thumb on Saturday from about 2m away by a BB from a CO2 Desert Eagle - it must have been under 350FPS but it hurt like fμ<Ж and that was through Pyrohide & Kevlar armoured gloves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporters Liam Porter Posted May 22, 2012 Supporters Share Posted May 22, 2012 I've thought about it before, not really got anything to try it with though. Someone has done the idea and developed bullet-shaped paintballs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 There used to be the Asahi M40 that had tear-drop shaped ammo; years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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