Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

[crasstoe]

This is by no means new, however i feel this is well worth peoples attention.

http://mackila.com/airsoft/ATP/

This is a detailed and systematic study into the effects bb's have at different weights, and truly warrants a read.

THANKS TO CYBERSLOTH FOR CARRYING OUT THIS STUDY

[Coz]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

I am going to pretend I understand any of that and like your post

[crasstoe]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

Basically if you click on the final section for his final summary, you can see the effective range and accuracy of each weight of bb, and the fps of the rifle firing it.

From the two you can work out the optimum weight bb for your rifle. For example it would seem that .3g would be the best for a 500 fps sniper IMO. Anything above drastically reduces the range of the shot, alters the trajectory of the bb when Hop Up is applied (that's right, he has mapped the typical flight path with hop for each bb weight at each fps) and increases the time for the shot to reach its target, however it does make the shot less effected by cross wind.

It is down to each person to decide how accurate they would like their shots, but for me hitting a man sized target at 150 feet is good enough, and I would like to be able to do that with the quickest bb flight time possible, which is why I would go for a .3g bb.

Thanks for the like though Coz, hopefully I've explained it a little better so it makes some sense rather than no sense

[Darkmikey22]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

it seems after looking at most the charts, that for descent distance from around 1joule to 350fps would be .25's as they seem to fly straighter and lose less momentum over distance than .2's. i think i'll be switching to .25's from now on

[crasstoe]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

Glad you've found the link useful

I found the graph with the flight paths the most interesting, as it shows how the weight delays the "jump up" effect from the hop up until later in the shot, although heavier bbs have the effect of dropping, climbing and then dropping again.

[Darkmikey22]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

but its that what gives the better range is from the slighty hevier bb. but they have gone to such lenghts that it is a bit much to take it all in with all the millions of graphs but u still kinda get a idea by most of what they say. im suprised with all this knowledge and tech stuff thats now out there and with all the differences between batteries, blow back systems, cleaning and maintanance etc etc that no one has actually made a airsoft encylcopedia. i know theres books but they only scratch the surface.

[crasstoe]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

There is the Airsoft Wiki, but it's a little out of date now...

The .25s beat the .2s hands down IMO, I was referring to when you go above .3g. The flight path on the .43g and higher look horrible!

[blobface]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

Thanks so much for this, I remember seeing this and for the life of me I couldn't find it again the other day, and bam, here it is again.

[Darkmikey22]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

yea saw the graphs. i have a rifle at 500fps and i wouldnt think of going more than .3's anyway. i know sum people want supreme accurancy with the heavier round but as the graphs show, that then your range is only slighty more different to that of a rifle at firing at 350 using .25s, so why would u bother sacrificing the range if you've got it.

[blobface]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

yea saw the graphs. i have a rifle at 500fps and i wouldnt think of going more than .3's anyway. i know sum people want supreme accurancy with the heavier round but as the graphs show, that then your range is only slighty more different to that of a rifle at firing at 350 using .25s, so why would u bother sacrificing the range if you've got it.

I think the weight also affects how much wind could affect the trajectory.. the heavier the projectile, the less effect it would have on it by the same amount of wind.

[Darkmikey22]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

true, this is what i mean tho. with all that info you could be here for days lol

[$inister M.]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

Really intersting to read, what happened about the online calculator he mentioned? has anything been produced yet?

[palmer234]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

I'm just going to shoot people and not get into this scientific nonsense.
If I'm out of range, I'll run at them. Problem solved.

[Reamer]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

Also bear in mind that with any grade of BB, if they are those cheap ones that are made out of two halves and have a visible 'seam', that will greatly affect ballistics as well.

And I'm not exactly an airsoft expert, but I assumed that it was common sense that a slightly heavier BB (0.20 vs 0.25) would have better ballistic results as the effect of wind, to say the least, would have less effect on a heavier BB. OK so the muzzle velocity may be slightly lower with a heavier BB, but what's the good of having a high muzzle velocity if at 20 feet beyond the muzzle the BB goes haywire? You can pretty much apply the law of ballistics of real bullets here, just scaled down.

[crasstoe]

Re: Study showing the effects of BB weight and hop

Reamer, you are correct, however it is interesting to see the effects on the flight path when mass is increased.

Only some of the real steel laws can be applied, seeing as a rotating bullet is far more stable than a spinning bb due to both its shape, and the fact it is moving at a much higher velocity. If you could fire a bb at the same velocity you would have better results rotating the bb than spinning it backwards.