Heavier BBs, 0.36 to 0.40, Most Cost Effective To Buy In 2022?

[Fatboy40]

I've been running my recently built DMR on 0.30g BB's, I've only had tiny goes with anything heavier, and I know I need to really start using heavier BBs to get the best from it and the parts I've used. My primary site, where I get a members discount, only stocks BBs up to 0.32g so I'll need to buy online, however I've yet to find a retailer / brand that is cost effective and tickles my fancy (I can't afford to spend high end money, I'm very "mid-range" in my tastes, but know that heavier weight = increased cost).

 

I'm posting to see if anyone here can recommend a good UK site to buy some from? (the usual places don't seem to have what I'm after).

 

I'm used to buying around 3,000 BBs at a time, which is what I'd still like to do, and pay a fair amount on postage, however I'm undecided between 0.36 and 0.40 weights. At the moment on 0.30 my DMR shoots with a speed so that I can be both reactive to peeking players and try and get those at longer ranges, but it's the longer ranged targets (I'm a realist and not expecting to hit accurately beyond 60 meters or so) and more consistent hoping that I'm after but without totally compromising hitting people quickly at say 20 to 40 meters (not asking for much am I).

 

Thanks.

[Nick G]

I use Geoffs Bio ones that I get via Ebay . Use .40's in my sniper and have .36's for the DMR I'm building. Very happy with the quality and consistancy of them.

[colinjallen]

35 minutes ago, Nick G said:

I use Geoffs Bio ones that I get via Ebay . Use .40's in my sniper and have .36's for the DMR I'm building. Very happy with the quality and consistancy of them.

Yes; I don't think you can go wrong with Geoff's.

[Adolf Hamster]

Cost-performance is a personal thing, i'd say grab a bag of the heavies (0.4g+ geoffs) to try, and see if the benefit is worth it to you.

[Fatboy40]

A bag of Geoff's Precision 0.40 of eBay it is, let's see how things are on Sunday...

 

(a tiny part of me hopes that there's not much difference, to save my wallet, but I've a feeling they'll travel a lot further and I'll love them)

[Rogerborg]

5 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

a tiny part of me hopes that there's not much difference, to save my wallet, but I've a feeling they'll travel a lot further and I'll love them

 

Truth to tell, I've not put anything heavier than 0.32g through my 1.8J DMR because I fear that I won't be able to go back.  

[leadly]

I've started running 0.36's through my MTW but as an AEG's. A 3 shot burst really does take people by surprise!

 

A fair bit of range gained and not that much slower than 0.32 either.

 

I don't play that often so don't mind the added expense. I hate seeing people get sad or angry because their 0.25's won't chop through a bush or hit the baddies past 30m's.

[concretesnail]

I sure geoffs did a sample bag set at one point. So you could get smaller samples of heavier weights to try then go from there

[Spartan09]

Valkyrie have recently started selling heavyweight BBs,  .40 bio and .45 non bios, with more options on the way but delayed due to the pandemic.

personally i havent used their heavy BBs yet as i my snipers arent set up to a point i can use them in a game,  but i always use their .25 and .32 BBs in my other guns, and wouldnt go back to another brand.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Spartan09

[strykerles]

I agree with valkyrie bbs. I use their .28s and .32s in my ages and they are good.

 

For heavyweights I use .43s in my VSS dmr and .36s in my SVD dmr. Its never cheap buying hevier. I found 1000 round bags of guarder .43s for £11 and they seem fine. 

 

I have also considered just taking a bag of coins to throw at people too 😋

[Adolf Hamster]

28 minutes ago, strykerles said:

I have also considered just taking a bag of coins to throw at people too 😋

 

ahh yes, the budget option.....

[Just Joe]

On this topic, is there a point of diminishing returns for upping the weight used? In terms of range.

Always used .28s and thought this was considered the "sweet spot" but is it a case of your sacrificing a few M for a much higher effective range?

[Rogerborg]

Not to bag on your balls, but I feel compelled to mention that Luke at Negative has some... strong opinions about Valkyrie ammo.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/negativeairsoft/posts/1354545008383971

[Cr0-Magnon]

17 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

 

Truth to tell, I've not put anything heavier than 0.32g through my 1.8J DMR because I fear that I won't be able to go back.  

 

Don't, I tested it yesterday and my DMR was hopping 0.43's with ease (several clicks left on the hop wheel) at a very consistent 300fps. Can I justify it? 🤔

[strykerles]

Even when the hop on my vss is completely off it still has a little bit applied and it still hops .40s a little too much.

 

.43s is the sweet spot for that gun. Although not as sweet for my wallet

 

Anything lighter just goes skyward 😂

[Cr0-Magnon]

3 hours ago, Just Joe said:

On this topic, is there a point of diminishing returns for upping the weight used? In terms of range.

Always used .28s and thought this was considered the "sweet spot" but is it a case of your sacrificing a few M for a much higher effective range?

 

For a DMR? IMO, 0.28's are just right for a sub 350fps general rifle They'd be coming out around 280 - 290fps. For DMR's which shoot circa 440fps on a 0.20g, I'd use a minimum of 0.32g's. I've probably got it wrong but something about lower speed projectiles being subjected to less drag, plus the increased weight should be that little bit less affected by wind (light breeze) etc.

 

I will also add that providing your gun can lift them, you can of course use a chrono to check joule/FPS and ascertain which weight is most suitable. For example the previous rubber and nub combo I used, caused a big drop in FPS as soon as I adjusted for a heavier BB. In those cases I would say there's no point shooting a 0.43g at 1.5J compared to 0.32 or .36 at 1.8.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Cr0-Magnon

[Spartan09]

13 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Not to bag on your balls, but I feel compelled to mention that Luke at Negative has some... strong opinions about Valkyrie ammo.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/negativeairsoft/posts/1354545008383971

sorry, but im calling bullshit on that...

RIFT use them in all their rentals, and majority of players i know use them in their guns and i havent heard anyone mention issues with valkyries. 

add to that that everything i have seen of negative airsoft is basically him slagging everything and everyone off...   im going to take his opinion with a pinch an entire lorry load of salt.

i concede that they MAY have had a bad batch slip through the net,  but the same can be said of almost all bb brands...

[Rogerborg]

I also enjoy not learning from other people's mistakes and hoping for the best - heck, I'm using an Orion gearbox for a 1.8J DMR.

[Hudson]

I used to get some blaster 0.36s from s nearby retailer. They did bottles of 3000 for a very reasonable £23, but stopped not too long ago unfortunately.

 

Finding a sweet spot is a bit of a ballache.

 

I've got a Cyma SVD and from trial & error I've found the following:

 

If I use anything more than 0.36s I find the hop needed to lift them drops my power down significantly.

Anything less than 0.36 and the power is too high for my regular site (425fps on a 0.20 9r 1.68fps).

 

Struggled to find a bucking that works decently too, the only one that's really worked okay so far is the old style maple leaf autobot in 60º.

 

*Edit: the large bags of BLS ammo from skirmshop seems to be a decent price.

Used the 0.45s in my bolt actions without any problems, and had good results.

 

Visually they've been pretty much identical to Geoff's 0.45s

 

https://www.skirmshop.co.uk/bls-036-bbs-1kg.html

Edited March 9, 2022 by Hudson

[mirinjawbro]

how could he prove they used them BBs anyway and not offer the "warranty"?

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, mirinjawbro said:

how could he prove they used them BBs anyway and not offer the "warranty"?

 

It's really just a strongly worded warning, for those who want to listen to it.

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

11 hours ago, mirinjawbro said:

how could he prove they used them BBs anyway and not offer the "warranty"?

Everyone who works producing BBs has to submit a sample of genetic material.   That way any faulty BBs can be traced to whoever placed each one in the bag or bottle.  

 

Since us buying Valkyries enables that poor young lass to pursue her dream of being an actress,  she kisses each BB out of gratitude.   If you look closely each bears a small smear of lipstick, enabling Luke to identify the brand with no expensive lab work required.   

 

Hudson has actually written about 95% of my comment regarding actual weights already.  

Edited March 9, 2022 by Tactical Pith Helmet

[Fatboy40]

On 09/03/2022 at 07:54, Hudson said:

I've got a Cyma SVD and from trial & error I've found the following:

 

If I use anything more than 0.36s I find the hop needed to lift them drops my power down significantly.

Anything less than 0.36 and the power is too high for my regular site (425fps on a 0.20 9r 1.68fps).

 

I played the morning today with 0.40g BBs, and had to up the hop somewhat for them, and I'm wishing now that I didn't use them all up as I'm wondering if like you my power dropped. I'm going to have to burn through some more money and buy some more to test this properly at home before I touch the hop on my DMR and never know.

 

They did perform much better than 0.30g BBs though, they flew a lot truer and noticeably further allowing me to reach out to trade shots with a few other DMR users.

[Badgerlicious]

On 08/03/2022 at 11:00, Cr0-Magnon said:

 

For a DMR? IMO, 0.28's are just right for a sub 350fps general rifle They'd be coming out around 280 - 290fps. For DMR's which shoot circa 440fps on a 0.20g, I'd use a minimum of 0.32g's. I've probably got it wrong but something about lower speed projectiles being subjected to less drag, plus the increased weight should be that little bit less affected by wind (light breeze) etc.

 

I will also add that providing your gun can lift them, you can of course use a chrono to check joule/FPS and ascertain which weight is most suitable. For example the previous rubber and nub combo I used, caused a big drop in FPS as soon as I adjusted for a heavier BB. In those cases I would say there's no point shooting a 0.43g at 1.5J compared to 0.32 or .36 at 1.8.

When I was just messing about with my new <1.14j gun with a flat hop I tried some 0.36s for a laugh. The power dropped with so much hop but compared to 0.28s they got the same range and were much more stable. Now the gun is tuned to account for that power drop it gave me +10m and nice stable shots. This is with both vorsk bbs. I generally use geoffs now and find they are more consistent. 

 

Also I think what you are thinking of is inertia. Heavier bbs hold their energy for longer, and end up reaching targets at 30m+ faster than lighter bbs. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Badgerlicious

[Hudson]

Took out my SVD yesterday for a test, and unfortunately it just wasn't running very well, even on 0.36s.

 

It was windy, which didn't help, but even without that it just didn't seem to have much range or accuracy; I was struggling to make shots at even 50m.

 

Going to have to go back to the drawing board and find a new bucking to use (and maybe barrel).

Unfortunately, I only get chance to test it once I get to a site, so it's a long & slow process. 😩