Average BB Usage Per Game

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I tried searching for 'average BB usage per game' on the forums but the search came up nothing, so I was wondering if you guys could help a newb out. I haven't been to a game yet, but I plan on going to one soon, and I just want to be prepared when I do go. What's the minimum, average, and maximum BB usage per game, and how much ammo would suffice if I go to one? And does the colour of BB's that I use really matter? Also, I’ve been meaning to get some hi-cap magazines, but will a couple of standard magazines with a couple of TM XL BB Loaders be enough? Any input and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :-D

BTW, I plan on playing with my TM SIG 552 SEALs and SIG P226 Rail.

Depends, sometimes you might only fire off a mag, sometimes you might get into a prolonged firefight an fire a ton of BBs off.


For starting out, a couple low caps an extra BBs on you should suffice. Hi caps aren't needed IMO, stock up on low caps, STAR ones are really cheap.

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So let's say 3 standard magazines and a TM XL BB Loader which holds approx. 470 rounds will suffice?

[Renegade)]

Should just fine, but IMO its better to have plenty of lo caps and a few mids. I have that same XL bb loader comming, so I always carry double or so bb;s on the field then what my mags carry, so for long games, i can reload all the mags atleast twice.

And I will never own a Hi cap unless its full metal and in perfect condition just to match my FMU gun.

[shadowninja]

my last all day game i used 1500 bb's for the whole day

I have played some games and not used more then 300 rounds.
For milsim games, the usual BB limit is 300 per game...so if you play more then 1 game a day, then you can do the math.
All depends on the game, number of players, playing style and game intensity.
Like I said, I have used as little as 300 per day and as much as 4,000.

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Alright thanks for all the inputs ans suggestions guys. :tup: So I guess I should bring at least one bag of 3,000+ BB's then to a my first game just to be sure. Better safe than sorry, right? :-D

Another thing, what's the common BB weight used, .20g or .25g? Because I have a sh*t load of .20g Airsoft Elite Stealth BB's.

[LUTNIT]

0.20's are terrible, any little wind or a blade of grass will cause them to veer off course. When I first started I said "0.05g is pretty damn small, the difference in ballistics of the BB's should be almost identical" but I couldnt be farther from the truth. Even in a stock gun 0.25's will perform better than 0.20's. I've been using 0.25's for all of this year except my first game and when I tried to use 0.20's for a game it was so incredibly frustrating because the BB's went everywhere. As long as your hopup is set right, both will have the same range, the 0.25's will have a tighter grouping at any range, the only advantage of 0.20's is they will get there faster but such a small difference in travel time is pretty much meaningless at the ranges airsoft is played at.

Some people swear by 0.20's though, never met any but they are around here on ASC. I have about 6000 0.20's kicking around, always bring some out to a game for chronoing purposes but thats about it.

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Yeah that's what i figured also, so I was just making sure. I'll invest in some .25g BB's in a short while. Thanks for your input.

[Metternich]

I find the color of BB's do matter. You can see white BB's fly through the air allowing you to see the flightpath of your shot. This should help you aim, and help you get a feeling for the ballistics of airsoft. So I would recommend you use white BB's. Black and Green BB's are nearly invisible when fired. Unless you are familiar with the accuracy of your airsoft gun on the field I wouldn't recommend them.

[Rumpel Felt]

Just to confuse you....I swear by .2's! I really do. You get more for your money and I do find the performance practically identical. The last time I used .25's they broke apart in my chamber every 25 rounds. They were Maruzen brand so I dunno but that's still not why I despised them. I found that all they did was cause lower FPS. In MY opinion, .05 grams is only going to make a difference inside your gun before it hits the elements. At since that difference is negative (lower FPS) I use .2's. I've never had a prolem plinking things, people at like 25m or more sometimes.

[LUTNIT]

Rumpel Felt, you obviously dont understand the very basics of physics. The energy your mechbox puts on the BB is the same no matter what BB weight you use, why do you think they use 0.20's to chrony at games instead of just allowing anything? If you are shooting 400fps with 0.20's than your mechbox is exerting aprox 1.49J of energy, if you fire a 0.25 and it chronies at 370fps you still have that exact same 1.49J of energy. The equation to calculate this is E=mv^2 where m is the mass of the BB in Kg, v is the velocity in m/s, and E is the kinetic energy that that BB has in Joules. If you throw a baseball or a bowling ball with the same amount of force, the baseball goes a hell of a lot faster, doesnt it? Exactly the same thing, all basic elementary physics.

The heavier BB's empart that energy onto objects in their path differently than lighter BB's, I'm not 100% sure how this one works but a 0.25 will shoot a hole through a trees leaf in the same situation where a 0.20 will bounce off of the leaf. No, I'm not saying if you go out right now and shoot a leaf with a 0.20 it will bounce off, I'm saying in a situation where the 0.20 will bounce off, the 0.25 has a much higher chance of punching through.

I remember when I switched to 0.20's I did so because I was using a stock gun so figured I was supposed to. I fired through a VERY sparse bush and all the BB's went everywhere and more than a few came back at me. Just yesterday I was using a stock gun with 0.25's and was able to rip through moderatly dense bush to make kills. I was watching leaves and twigs snap and fly away in the path of my BB's where as when I was using 0.20's the leaves and twigs where just rustling and shaking and it was the BB's that flew everywhere. The differences are VERY noticable in woodland environments. Indoors 0.20's also bounce and ricochet far more than 0.25's, thats why the heavier the BB, the more you can feel the hit even though the energy is the same, its all about kinetic energy transfer.

[quiggers]

Originally Posted by LUTNIT

The heavier BB's empart that energy onto objects in their path differently than lighter BB's, I'm not 100% sure how this one works but a 0.25 will shoot a hole through a trees leaf in the same situation where a 0.20 will bounce off of the leaf. No, I'm not saying if you go out right now and shoot a leaf with a 0.20 it will bounce off, I'm saying in a situation where the 0.20 will bounce off, the 0.25 has a much higher chance of punching through.

This is due to the monentum and the force the bb has. The mass is directly proportional to the momentum and force. The more mass it has the more ability it wil have to break through leaves and twigs.

[Freedom Fighter]

There is no average. Everyone plays differently and no game is the exact same.

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Originally Posted by LUTNIT

As long as your hopup is set right, both will have the same range, the 0.25's will have a tighter grouping at any range, the only advantage of 0.20's is they will get there faster but such a small difference in travel time is pretty much meaningless at the ranges airsoft is played at.

When I purchased my TM SIG 552 SEALs gun it came with a bag of 200 .25g BB's. I just tried them out for the first time today and you were right about the tighter grouping. I had to adjust my hop-up a little differently though cause like 75% of the settings I tried were totally inaccurate. But once I found that right setting, it was so accurate. When I was using .20g BB's, even with the right hop-up setting at least 2 out of 4 shots were inaccurate. Mind you, that I'm shooting my gun indoors and about 20 feet away from the target box. So the results would probably be different if I were outdoors and further away from my target.