DO NOT neglect ammo. Use as heavy a BBs as you can handle.

It's a bit of a redundent message, but I think it's worth repeating, because it's been so neglected. Study the data out there. Heavier BBs always do better. People often upgrade with soley fps and barrels in their minds, ammo being the last thing they think about. Faster speed alone will get you more air resistance. That's all. Faster muzzle speed alone does not necessarily get you accuracy nor range. But what faster muzzle speed allows you to do is use heavier BBs. No matter how tight and how long your barrel is, your airsoft rifle is only as good as the BB it shoots. If you want accuracy and range, don't forget to buy some excellent BBs.

If you do, you will find that heavy BBs work as well as having upgraded to longer, tighter inner barrel. If you get a bag of 500 Tokyo Marui 0.3g BBs, it says on the box, "Sniper Rifle Ammo Use for VSR-10 and PSG-1." Sounds nice, but if you think about it, in Japan, going over 1 joule is illegal. Their legal limit is 0.989 Joule. That means Marui is recommending 0.3g BBs to 0.989 Joule rifles. If 1 Joule rifles can handle 0.3g BBs, most of the rifles out there with moderate upgrades can easily handle 0.3g.


Here is what I think. It's my personal standard which emphasises accuracy, yours may be different from mine.


1 Joule rifles (stock rifles) can handle 0.25g.

1.5 Joule rifles, (400fps w/0.2g) can handle 0.3g BBs.

2 Joule rifles (460fps w/0.2g) can handle 0.33g BBs.

2.5 Joule rifles (500fps w/0.2g) can handle 0.36g BBs.

3 Joule rifles (550fps w/0.2g) can handle 0.43g BBs.

3.3 Joule rifles, (600fps w/0.2g) should definately use 0.43g.

Notice that I didn't put 0.2g. If you have a rifle, and if your target is beyond 30-40 feet range, you have no business using 0.2g. You may have a different opinion, but I think 0.2g is only for close quarter combat weapons which engages within 30-40 feet.

3.3 Joule rifles can use 0.2g. But it's going to be no more accurate than a stock 1 Joule rifle with 0.2g. What's the point of shooting fast if you are going to miss? And it's a big misunderstanding to think that faster fps will get you more range and accuracy. Stronger guns are good, but only coupled with heavier BBs.

If your rifle has 1.5 joule rating, it's a decent performer. That's good enough for the most part. 0.3g with a bolt action can hit a CD from 100 feet 15 shots out of 15 shots, if you use TM's 0.3g. You cannot expect to do the same with 0.2g. 0.3g will arch down. That's no reason to use lighter BBs. Adjusting for that is in another thread. Check this library.

It's a misconception to think that heavy BBs have less range. Heavier ones have more range, unless you are using 0.43g on stock spring (then it's too heavy). Zero your weapon at around 70-80% of maximum range. That will make the rifle shoot up, and arch down to your target, just like the real steel.

If you have no ammo, a sniper rifle is useless. By the same token, if you are using light weight, poor quality BBs, your sniper rifle cannot function properly, no matter how much you spent to upgrade it. For me, I don't consider anything lighter than 0.29g to be a sniper rifles ammo.

TM 0.3g is top notch, so are Maruzen Super Grandmaster 0.29g. SiiS 0.3g is fine, and so are their 0.33gs.
Maxi 0.3g is fine too. Some said that KSC perfect 0.3g is good too, but I have not tried it. Straight 0.36g and 0.43g BBs do not have excellent surface finish, and there are some deformed ones, so you will have to weed out odd balls. If you weed them out, they should be alright.


0.43g is heaviest in the current market. 600fps rifles can use it. Occasionally, novices say that they want to shoot at 700fps. If somebody is willing to spend enough money, they can make their rifle to shoot at 800fps (6 joule). But no matter how fast you shoot, there is always the problem of BBs. Plastic BBs that weigh near 0.43g have a limit to how accurate they can be. Just like no matter how fast a NATO 5.56mm is fired at, it will be less accurate at long distances than 7.62mm, especially if there is a cross wind. It's just mass and momentum.

What if you can shoot 0.43g at 1200 fps? (don't even try shooting a BB with a real steel rifle - the BB will melt instantly and jam the barrel, and the rifle will expode). With that speed, would you be able to tag a man standing 300 yards away? There is no way you can tag a man 300 yards away, no matter how fast your 0.43g BB is going. To fight that much wind resistance, the BB has to be considerably heavier. Even 0.22 cal rifle bullet may not be heavy enough to go that far with reliable accuracy.

Ask not what your rifle can do for you. Ask what you can do for your rifle. Do not ask for ridiculous power from your rifle. Practice hard, and make yourself a better sniper within the limits of airsoft.

This post has been edited by Sir Biscuit: Apr 26 2007, 12:46 PM

I would like to add to the recommendations here for Elite bbs. They have tested very well in all tolerance categories and I have never had any jamming issues in my 6.01mm tightbore barrels. And as for weights I would be inclined to use .28s in AEGs shooting as low as 340fps (measured with .20s). The barrels tests I ran showed .28 bbs had improved accuracy over .25 bbs.

It was interesting, two weekends ago I was shooting .28s at a skirmish and instead of my bbs bouncing off vegetation they were cutting the twigs down and making a path for bbs that came after.

Great article Von Luck.