A note on biodegradable BBs

AirsoftEire.com

Hi all.
Just a quick note on biodegradable BBs.
We recieved a sample bag of biodegradable BBs, i'm not going to name what brand they are, but i'm fairly certain this applies across the boards to all bio BBs.

I loaded up my own personal KSC USP .45 with these BBs, which has an upgraded flow valve, upgraded recoil spring and metal slide and barrel, so this shoots at around 320fps.

I chambered the first round and pulled the trigger and the first BB fired perfectly however I was met by a shower of white plastic exiting the ejection port. The slide did not return fully to its start point (and this has a STRONG recoil spring) as there was a BB slightly jammed by the lip of the magazine. I manually pushed it foward, only for the gas nozzle that pushes the BBs into the chamber to scrape the BB and leave a huge gash in it.

I fired off another few shots and each time small splinters of BB would fly out of the ejection port. Upon emptying the magazine, there was white plastic bits all over the inside of the chamber and hop-up dial.

I guess the moral of the story is do not use biodegradable in an upgraded pistol. They should work fine in all AEGs as the BBs are chambered in a different way, but because in pistols the BBs are forced off the top of the magazine, the bio BBs get scraped and start to splinter.

I'm sure they're fine in other GBBs too as long as the the blowback of the pistol is below a certain level.

Just something to consider in case someone losses an eye or damages their gun!

Steve

bullets

I got some Black .25g Excel biodegradable BBs the other day.
Fired em from the bolt action that strips the bb from the mag just fine,
and tried on my GBB pistols. They fire fine for me.

They look more grey than black and the colour is not consistant
with bits of white in them sometimes. They also are "dusty" looking or
feel very matt like and rough unlike the polished white ones you normally see.
Dunno if I would trust em on something going on full auto.

A scrape test where I scrape them with a screwdriver tells me they are
must softer and you get white scrapings way easier than the non-biodegradable
ones.

~B

Arcto

Perhaps you should tell us the brand to be safe?

Ive got a GBB fireing rougly 300 and ive used marui bio's in it and no problem. Maybe just the brand?

AirsoftEire.com

I'd rather not as they're branded by one of our suppliers and I wouldn't like to smear their name.
I reckon its the same for all bio BBs in a high powered pistol.

Rest assured they aren't very widespread, chances are you've never seen or heard of them.

Steve

Beast ASI

Some Bio BB's work fine in an upgraded Pistol. All depends on the brand really - I'm almost sure I know which brand you are talking about though, I've also recieved a sample of theirs and it worked fine on my pistols.

AirsoftEire.com

Well they probably work better in GBBs that have plastic gas nozzles, but seeing as the USPs is metal, it must slam into the BBs causing them to splinter.
We're getting Excel bio BBs in next week, it will be interesting to see if the same thing happens with them.

Steve

Lemming

I use Bio-degradable BBs, and have done exclusively since I started playing airsoft and I have yet to encounter a problem with them in any of my kit, including my Steyr AUG, Inokatsu M60, or my KSC USP Compact (I have other kit that just hasn't been fired yet so can't speak for any of it)

I've used Excel .25g Bio-x (now discontinued with a new line coming out), Super King .25g, and I have Biotech BB (BBB) .25g to try out next saturday.

My M60 went through 7000+ rounds in one day without a hitch - and that was using a super king/bio-x mix (black:white BB mix with a ration of 3:1 for tracer effect) and I've yet to have a problem with my USP.

AirsoftEire.com

Yup, well thats to be expected, BBs arent chambered in an AEG in the same way as GBB pistols, they should work flawlessly. Like i said, it would only seem to be a problem in high powered pistols.

I notice that the BBs even shread a little bit when pushing them into the KSC mags, they have metal lips and are quite sharp.

Alvin T. Grey

I use the Bio Excel .2 BB almost exclusivly. They feed fine through several GBBs including the WE1911, the TM HiCapa5.1 and the the WE Ktype. I have yet to experience a misfeed in any of these GBBs.

That being said, I notice a tendency for them to shatter more easy when striking a solid object (like the steel rails of a net target).
A skin shot isn't going to shatter them though. Humans are just to squishy I suppose.

I would be more concerned with the misfeed problem. That suggests that the BBs are poorly milled or compressed. So either you have a bad batch, or they are crap quality.
I would suggest that you try the Bio Excel and stock them for players who request Biodegradable BBs.

Fallschirmjager

there was an old wives tale that they shatter when hitting wire mesh goggles...it could be total BS but i am not going to risk it...

Alvin T. Grey

Fallschirmjager wrote: »

there was an old wives tale that they shatter when hitting wire mesh goggles...it could be total BS but i am not going to risk it...

Only at point blank I suppose. At normal engagement range there isn't enough energy left in the BB to shatter it. Hence the fact that I've fired thousands of these and have yet to see one shatter during a game.