There are many sizes of airsoft BBs and they have their purpose, however, We believe that if your gun allows you to use the heavier BBs then you should use the heavier BBs. So why should you believe us that the heavier ones indeed are better?
Heavier BBs come with some great advantages like better wind resistance and should be considered as a better option over the lighters BBs in most cases.
Heavier Airsoft BBs go further and increase the accuracy
Heavier BBs are known for helping you get that effective range, meaning that they will help your BBs go further in terms of hitting the target at an effective range.
The effective range is not the same as the regular term “range”, because if you are willing to achieve that your BB travels further for sake of landing somewhere further you will probably have an easier time achieving it with lighter ones.
Now you may be confused because you want your BB to go further but naturally heavier ones have more mass and will create more resistance, not allowing it to go any further, however, we still recommend them.
The reason for this is that the effective range is all that matters, and it is calculated as how far the target is and how often are you going to hit the target at the desired spot.
Lighter BBs are not going to be precise enough and will often fly left, right, or above your target, increasing with the distance they are traveling at.
So yes, heavy airsoft BBs are going to be more accurate at effective range than light BBs and that also means that they are going to go further accurately, hitting the target and securing the job is properly done.
You do not have any benefits if your BB travels further without hitting the target, and often a light BB is going to get affected by the wind, which is a very often environmental condition.
The wind will certainly intervene and carry the lighter BBs on their own, while the heavier ones are going to give more resistance, not allowing them to be so easily manipulated by the wind.
Whenever you shoot you also want to hit the target, instead of praying that it somehow lands on the right spot.
The light BBs at further distances often behave weirdly, they land so randomly that it just negates the skills of the marksman.
If your aim is good on its own, the heavy BBs will support your skills and let them shine.
For more tips on how to increase accuracy, check my guide on it where I have explained important factors that let airsoft guns achieve high performance.
Are heavier BBs better than light ones? -The evaluation
We do consider heavier BBs to be better than light BBs and believe that they should be a common practice for everyone.
We also believe that you should use heavy BBs not only in your AEGs or Snipers but also in pistols.
If you have a low-velocity gun, you will have a better time with the light BBs indeed, but considering that you have a decent gun that has decent FPS, you should completely forget about lighter ones.
In other words, forget about using anything below 0.20 grams. I prefer using the 0.30+ ones because they provide me with everything I want from a BB.
The lighter ones are obviously cheaper but the difference is not huge and should not be criteria when speaking about functionality.
Bear in mind that heavier is not always better, meaning that just because the BB is heavier it can not get infinitely better than lighter ones, there is a cap. The perfect range is between 0.30 to 0.40 grams for most decent guns.
Do heavier BBs lower FPS?
They do lower the FPS, therefore are often a good choice when playing on fields that have FPS limitations if your gun is too powerful.
They will not affect the FPS much, only for 60 or so, if you make a dramatic change from 0.20 to 0.30.
You should not see this as something negative in any scenario, it can only be beneficial to you.
The airsoft gun needs to use the same amount of energy to push the BB out of the muzzle, the BB will start slow but will eventually gain acceleration.
However, some airsoft guns like snipers that can exceed 550 FPS with standard 0.20 gram BBs will still be too dangerous to shoot at any closer distances because changing to 0.40 grams will still make it go at 400 FPS.
Do heavier BBs hurt more?
Heavier BBs may reduce the FPS, however, it does not mean that the energy will somehow disappear, as is explained in the conservation of energy, it can not be created or destroyed only transformed.
Some energy may be used to push a BB initially and therefore reduce the FPS, but the difference will not be huge. A heavier BB is bigger than a lighter one and when you get hit by it, it feels even worse sometimes.
This may vary because the players interviewed have a subjective perspective on what hurts more and this has not been tested under the experimental conditions. The conclusion is that it will certainly not hurt less and may only hurt the same or more.
If you are properly equipped with protective gear that should be the number one thing on your list, you should not worry about being hurt in airsoft. Yet, if you have questions regarding how painful airsoft can be, feel free to check my post where I write about common injuries.
What sizes of BBs are recommended?
Do not use 0.12– even minor wind will easily change the direction by far, making them almost unusable.
0.20-0.25 – They are great for CQB, come cheap, and are easy to find on the market. When you play CQB (close-quarters battle) there is not much wind because you play it often indoors and the targets that you are hitting are close.
0.25-0,30 – These are great for field games, are reliable, and will make your aiming skills shine. The wind will have a hard time dealing with these heavy boys. When it comes to the field games, often you will be engaging targets up to 40-50 yards. Assuming that your gun does not hit over 400 fps with a standard 0.20 gram BB, with 0.30s it will hit at around 330 FPS, this is good enough to reach the target and be accurate by not allowing the wind to change its direction.
Way heavier BBs will dramatically reduce the FPS, which will negate the positive side of wind resistance. What is the purpose of it, if it can not reach the target at the time?
0.30-0.40– Great for long-distance shooting, consider them over the 0.30s if you have a decent gun with good fps over 400.
A gun that hits between 400 and 450 fps with standard 0.20 gram BBs, can handle heavier BBs in order to furthermore increase the accuracy. Beware that you can not use too heavy BBs like the ones that go over 0.40 grams, they will reduce the FPS on your gun too much.
Everything over 0.40 grams is ideal for snipers that will shoot with the power of around 400 FPS with these BBs, snipers are known to be able to produce around 550 FPS with standard 0.20-gram BBs. They offer great immunity against the wind and will allow you to take the full potential of your powerful sniper. The farthest effective range can be achieved with them.
Bonus advice for purchasing BBs
You can save some money if you do not immediately buy the first thing that you see in the shop. The same goes for buying BBs. I will share a few tips with you.
Buy in bulk
This is the best practice for saving money when buying BBs. The more that comes in order, the more of a discount you will receive at the checkout. We are talking about tens or hundreds of thousands of BBs at once! This may seem like overkill and it is if you are a single person shooting bottles in your backyard once in a decade, but if you play often and have friends this is a great idea. Connect with other players or ask your friends to join you and save money.
You may hear people saying that storing may be a problem with biodegradable BBs, because you will have to really take care of them and they are far more sensitive than regular BBs, however, this is not a problem for anyone who has any common knowledge about storing stuff. I recommend buying both regular and bio BBs.
Calculate how often you shoot and see if it makes sense to you.
Check the right size that fits your airsoft gun
Do not buy heavy BBs just because they may be better, your gun needs to have high FPS for some weights and if it does not, you will not be able to use them. We have analyzed the weight per FPS of your gun above, so use it as a reference.
Go for the proven brands
Always buy from proven brands, you do not want to put some cheap and suspicious BBs in your worthy gun. Some proven brands that have been operating on the market for a long are Elite force, Crossman, Madbull, and G&G.
For proven airsoft BBs that do not jam guns, there are Elite force BBs that can be found both as bio and regular.
If you are unsure whether should you go for bio or regular airsoft BBs, I have explained their difference with pros and cons.
You can check out the price for bio Elite Force BBs on Amazon here.
You can check out the price for regular Elite Force BBs on Amazon here.
People sometimes find unproven brands that sell at decent discounts in local stores and decide to try them, however, I would not risk my gun for a dollar or two.