If you’re considering getting into airsoft, then you’re probably wondering how much you will need to spend on the consumables associated with this sport. Aside from buying your gun and the necessary protective gear, your most common expense will be the ammo. Depending on your playstyle and your replica, you will go through different amounts of BBs everytime you go out to the field. If you like to play fast and furious on full auto, then you’ll probably end up using a lot more BBs than if you were to play a sniper role. Even so, the quality and the weight of the BBs you use will impact how much you end up spending on them.
A bag of 4000 airsoft BBs costs around $15. Depending on the weight of the BBs you like to play with, you can expect to pay up to $20 for premium quality BBs. Biodegradable BBs are more expensive coming in at around $25 for a pack of 4000.
Depending on the brand, you can expect to spend $9-12 for a bag of 4000 BBS weighing .25 or .28 gram. These are the most commonly used weights for most players and should provide adequate performance in most airsoft replicas.
Lighter BBs like .20 gram are cheaper at around $9 per pack of 5000 and they should be used in low power replicas and support guns that are designed to provide a consistently high rate of fire.
BBs heavier than .28 are more expensive at around $15 for a pack of 2500. These can provide better accuracy for high-end guns and high power builds like DMR replicas.
Airsoft snipers generally use .4 gram or heavier BBs and these tend to be more expensive at around $20 per 500 BBs. These are recommended for high power replicas because they perform better over distance and thus provide accuracy and consistency.
Specialist ammo such as tracers and biodegradable BBs have an increased price. Biodegradable BBs are almost twice as expensive, so a pack of 5000 BBs will cost roughly $20. Tracer BBs are what you need if you decide to run a tracer unit on your replica. Their price is anywhere from $30 to $50, again depending on the weight.
Understanding BB Costs
As you can tell, the price of BBs varies a lot, as there are many factors that impact it. As with most other products, the price varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and I can tell you from experience that not all brands of BBs perform the same. Another factor that influences the cost of BBs is the weight. Heavier BBs are more expensive than lighter BBs because the materials used in the manufacturing process are different. The common rule is that .12 gram BBs are the cheapest you can find and should be used in low power guns. After that, you can find .2, .23, .25, .28, .3, .32, .36, .4 up to .6 gram BBS. Each of these weights perform differently in terms of accuracy and range, but in choosing which weight to use, you need to take into account the capabilities of your airsoft replica. Most beginner guns work best with .2 to .28 gram BBs, depending on the quality of the hop up unit. More expensive guns usually have higher quality parts which allow them to lift heavier BBs. The heaviest BBs are best used in sniper or DMR replicas as they should offer the best results in terms of range of engagement and accuracy.
Why Pay For Quality BBs?
Buying BBs is one of the main expenses you will need to cover if you want to play airsoft. As the sport has developed, you can now find quality BBs at affordable prices. Every seasoned airsofter will tell you to use the best BBs that you can afford as low quality options don’t offer sufficient performance and accuracy. In addition, cheap BBs have been known to break inside the gun, which can cause jams and other malfunctions. As you can imagine, breaking your replica because you use cheap, low quality BBs can be really frustrating, especially if the repair costs are high. You will soon find that spending a little more on quality BBs can save you more money as you won’t have to constantly repair your gun.
Pro tip: Don’t use the sample BBs you get when buying your first airsoft replica.
Brands that I use and recommend: BLS, Elite Force, G&G, Krytac. The list is not definitive and I am sure that there are others that offer great performance. Just use what you feel is the best value for money.
Some other issues that are associated with low quality BBs are: inconsistent shape and weight, poor flight trajectory and poor polishing.
If you want to get the most out of your airsoft gun and by this I mean having it perform consistently in terms of range and accuracy, then BB quality is something you need to consider. High end BBs tend to go through better quality control processes and that ensures that most of them have exactly the same weight and that they are perfectly spherical in shape. If the BBs you use aren’t correctly manufactured, they will fly all over the place and leave you at a disadvantage when facing other players. In addition, even a minute difference in weight can affect the performance of your hop unit, making your shots even more inconsistent.
The polishing of the BBs is also important as it affects their aerodynamic properties, which in turn determines how true they fly. A rough finish will cause a poor trajectory and it can also cause feeding issues. That means that the BBs won’t work well inside your magazines or in your hop up and barrel, causing your gun to jam or even damage your hop up rubber. Furthermore, rough BBs could also damage your inner barrel, further lowering the performance of the replica.
BB Weight in Terms of Cost
As I explained above, the higher the weight of the BB, the higher its cost. Lightweight BBs like .12 or .2 gram are the cheapest you can buy and they can work well. However, most replicas these days tend to perform better with heavier BBs like .25 or .28 as these perform better in terms of accuracy and range. You need to understand that there are a lot of factors that can influence the flight of a BB, especially wind, air humidity and temperature (air density is different). As you can imagine, a .2 gram BB is more easily blown off course by a light breeze than a heavier .3 gram one. That is why, it is recommended to use the heaviest BBs that your gun can fire reliably as you will get better performance.
Heavier BBs cost more because there is a difference in either the density of the materials or in the materials themselves. Keep in mind that in spite of the different weights, the BBs still need to have the same size – 6 mm. To achieve this difference in weight, the manufacturing process is slightly more complex and therefore more expensive. This is reflected in the price of the BB.
For example, as I’m writing this article, the price of a pack of 5000 G&G .2 gram BBs costs $9.40 on Evike.com, which means the price per 1 BB is 0.0018 dollars. A pack of 3500 G&G .3 gram BBs which I generally use costs $10, so the price per 1 BB is 0.0028 dollars. In my mind, I am happy to spend a little extra on the heavier BBs because they work better in my AEGs.
Specialist BBs
By specialist BBs I mean biodegradable BBs and tracer BBs. Each of these offers an advantage to the user. Bio BBs are environmentally friendly and made from a material called polylactic acid or polylactide. This allows them to break down over time under normal conditions. It should take about a year for it to degrade, while normal plastic BBs take something like 3 to 7 years.
Bio BBs are more expensive than regular BBs, sometimes being almost twice the price. If you want to use them, you should allow for a higher ammo budget. It’s also important to note that there are some airsoft fields that only allow bio BBs to be used on premises, so you should check beforehand if it’s your first time visiting.
Tracer BBs are meant to be used with a tracer unit. This gadget is very popular in the speedsoft community as the games are mostly indoors and in low light conditions. Tracer BBs light up when they are fired so it’s much easier to see their trajectory and if they did hit the target. The BBs have a special phosphor coating that is charged by the UV LEDs found in the tracer unit, making the phosphor glow in the dark. Another advantage of using these BBs is that they allow you to aim your shots without using the sights or the scope.
How to Save Money When Buying BBs
The best tip that I can give you is to buy in bulk. Most shops and online stores will generally give you discounts if you purchase more than 1-2 bags of BBs. I tend to buy five bags of 4000 BBs every two or three months, depending on how much I’m playing. This can save me 5-10 dollars per purchase, depending on the available discounts.
Airsoft stores tend to have sales at least once per month, so it’s a good idea to buy your BBs when they are at a discounted price. Just sign up to newsletters from airsoft online stores and you will be notified when they are having a sale and you can just quickly log in and buy a few months supply.
The most obvious tip is to fire less while playing, but that will depend on your play style. If you like to full auto a lot, you will probably go through a few thousand BBs every weekend. However, as you get more experienced at the game, you will get a better understanding of when and how much you should fire. New players sometimes have issues understanding the effective range of their replica and therefore fire a lot of shots that land short of the target. This is a waste of BBs and something to keep an eye out for if you want to save some money.
How Many Airsoft BBs Should You Buy?
While I can’t give you an exact answer, I can give you some tips from my experience. For my regular Sunday game of around 5 – 6 hours I tend to fire around 3000 BBs. For my gun I use a regular rifle that I use both in single shot and full auto depending on the rules of each scenario.
Depending on your gun and the role you have decided to play, you might need more or less than what I use. Just to be safe, I would recommend having around 10000 BBs in your backpack if you are playing the entire day. If you run out you can either ask your teammates to give you some or you can buy them from the local shop (if your field has one).
Keep in mind that if you are planning to use a LMG or other type of support gun, you might need more because it will be your job to suppress enemy positions with continuous fire. If sniping is your thing, then you must understand that while your range is better than regular rifles, your rate of fire (especially for bolt action guns) is significantly lower. This means that you will use less BBs than your average rifleman.
Closing Thoughts
Buying airsoft BBs is one of the costs associated with playing airsoft, however I would argue that it is quite insignificant compared to the other expenses such as buying equipment and event fees. There’s plenty of ways to get your ammo for lower prices and you should try to do so whenever you have the opportunity. In addition, you should keep in mind that the price of airsoft BBs is way less than that of paintballs, so count yourself lucky.