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MikeG · May 5th, 2009, 14:33

I'm the author of the blog article posted earlier. My calculations in that report were very rough, I'll admit. However, the properties of these bbs so closely match that of glass, it's very hard for me to believe that they are not.

Glass or not, they still have the dangerous properties of it. When shattered, the shards are absolutely razor sharp. They will easily cut you if not handled with care. This is especially of concern where games occur in completely 'hard' environments like at my local CQB arena. If BBs were to shatter there, it is quite likely that players could be injured as many like to 'slide' along the linoleum floors. I have not yet conducted scientific impact tests to determine how hard an impact is required to shatter the BBBMAX.

I know these BBs are very well liked for accuracy and consistency among the players that use them, which is why threads like these tend to become controversial. However my feeling is that in airsoft, player safety needs to always be put above competitiveness.

I tried the materials search at MatWeb mentioned earlier with the parameters of:
Melting Point: 500C to 1800C
Density: 2.35g/cc to 2.45g/cc
and the only result I came up with was this glass:
http://www.matweb.com/search/DataShe...eddd3bf252322b

It is still possible that the BBs could be made up of a composite of other materials that do not fit into the parameters I searched for, but the simplest explanation is still that they are made of some type of glass.

May 5th, 2009, 14:33	#19
MikeG Trader rating Join Date: May 2009 Location: Boulder, CO, US	I'm the author of the blog article posted earlier. My calculations in that report were very rough, I'll admit. However, the properties of these bbs so closely match that of glass, it's very hard for me to believe that they are not. Glass or not, they still have the dangerous properties of it. When shattered, the shards are absolutely razor sharp. They will easily cut you if not handled with care. This is especially of concern where games occur in completely 'hard' environments like at my local CQB arena. If BBs were to shatter there, it is quite likely that players could be injured as many like to 'slide' along the linoleum floors. I have not yet conducted scientific impact tests to determine how hard an impact is required to shatter the BBBMAX. I know these BBs are very well liked for accuracy and consistency among the players that use them, which is why threads like these tend to become controversial. However my feeling is that in airsoft, player safety needs to always be put above competitiveness. I tried the materials search at MatWeb mentioned earlier with the parameters of: Melting Point: 500C to 1800C Density: 2.35g/cc to 2.45g/cc and the only result I came up with was this glass: http://www.matweb.com/search/DataShe...eddd3bf252322b It is still possible that the BBs could be made up of a composite of other materials that do not fit into the parameters I searched for, but the simplest explanation is still that they are made of some type of glass. Last edited by MikeG; May 5th, 2009 at 14:40..