By Joe Snuffie
Published: June 08 2004
Introduction
My team usually orders BBs in bulk form Hong Kong. We are just about out of our usual BB, which is KSC, so we needed to order some fast. We were placing a large order of AEGs and gear and noticed that shipping the BBs via Express would cost more than the BBs are worth so I looked for an alternative until we can ship some by boat. Airsoft Atlanta is offering 10 jars of Inertia Black .20g BBs for $99.99. After talking with the captain, we decided to order them. I placed the order on a Sunday and by Tuesday they were at my door.
Airsoft Atlanta now sells the Inertia BBs in .25g weight. I will probably be ordering them and giving try. If they are on par with the .2g Inertia BBs and they offer a sweet deal on them, I will be sure to buy a lot.
First Impressions
The box was heavy – I ordered almost 20 pounds of BBs. I was already pleased with the shipping speed, so I opened the box with a smile. Inside I saw 10 mayonnaise sized jars holding 40,000 dark colored BBs. I opened a jar and the first thing I noticed is the smell. Not the color, the slickness, just the smell. I'm guessing Cyber gun washes these BBs pretty well in some kind of cleaner, because everyone in my office agrees that the BBs smell very clean, like bleach.
Build Quality
After passing around the BBs for a smell test I grabbed a handful and began to look at them. They're not black, but range in color from medium to dark grey. It almost appears that these BBs were made from recycled plastics of varying shades of grey. You can see dark spots and light spots and even what appear to be cracks, but are actually just thin lines of off colored plastic. The contrast of the coloration in these BBs can easily give the impression that they are scarred, cracked and pitted, but this is not the case.
Under magnification, you can see tiny dimples on the otherwise super slick surface. Under the same magnification I could not see similar dimples on either Infinity .2g or KSC .2g BBs. I thought this might drastically affect the accuracy, but as you can read in the Testing section, it didn't.
I was also able to see the marks left behind by what appears to be a process to remove imperfections like burrs. There are what can best be described as scrape marks on maybe 1 in 100 BBs. These marks are polished, so they must have happened before the final polishing. They don't appear to affect accuracy, either, since I made sure to use a few with my test firing.
After extremely close inspection of Inertia, Infinity, KSC, TM and Viper BBs, I've noticed that all of them have imperfections. I stated, above, that under the magnification of my 5 mega pixel digital camera's macro lense I could not see dimples on the KSC and Infinity BBs. Well, when a bright light is used and placed at different angles, you can see similar dimples. It would seem that the coloration of the BB lends itself to appear to have imperfectins that other brands do not. While I am sure Grand Master quality BBs would be exempt from these imperfections, it seems that the normal high grade BBs are not. Since my testing revealed that the performance was on par with other brands, I conclude that BBs are not affected by these easier to see imperfections.
I cut 5 brands of BBs in half using an X-acto razor saw. The results seem to
reflect the price you pay, though they don't reflect on performance . . . odd.
The dark markings on the light colored BBs was caused by the saw and are not
part of the BB. Also, while cutting the BBs I noticed that the Inertia BBs had
a very distinct smell, similar to the smell I noticed upon opening the first
jar. While the other four brands had that very recognizable PVC odor, the Inertia
did not.
(click to enlarge)
While all of the BBs had bubbles in them, you can see that the Marui BBs only
had one bubble in 4 that were cut. KSC had small bubbles and they got larger
with the Inertia, then the HFC and then Infinity, which had huge bubbles. It
should be noted that Infinity BBs are simply AE BBs bought in bulk and repackaged,
and also that the Infinity had the tightest grouping of the BBs tested.
Loading
I used my Marui speed loader, first, with these BBs and they loaded just like any other BB. I had no problem getting the speed loader to feed them and the magazine accepted them just like a KSC or Infinity BB. The jar makes it very easy to grab a few or to pour them into a loader or hand. When loading my electric loader, I found myself with much fewer spills. The BBs also fed flawlessly with these BBs, just like any other brand would do.
Testing
My initial testing was done in my backyard at 50 feet, using a 50/50 mix of KSC and Inertia BBs in my SIG. I took aim at a variety of things including plant stems, flowers and a soda can. I was unable to tell a difference in accuracy between the two BBs and the only way I knew in Inertia BB had fired was when I didn't see the BB.
I set up a target in my garage so that I could sit in my kitchen, supporting the rifle on some pillows. The distance from the shooting position to the target is 45 feet. There was no wind and the lighting was great.
I spent about 30 minutes adjusting my red dot scope and the hop up. It takes a little longer when you can't see the BB. After I got it right on target, I started the testing. First, I fired 3 sets of 20 shots each of the Inertia just to be sure the results would be consistent. It was, so I began recording. The tests were performed with 10 shots at 45 feet using .2g BBs. The first test was with Inertia, the second test was with KSC and the third was with Infinity BBs.
Except for the placement of the BBs, the results were similar:
Inertia 3 inches
KSC 3 inches
Infinity 2.7 inches
One thing that really stands out is the sound of the BBs being fired. The Inertia BBs have more of a pop to them and seem to have a higher velocity. I'll explain why this is. My target is backed with a bath towel folded in half resting on the back on an industrial trashcan. The towel is on the handle and that makes it rest about 3 inches from the wall of the trashcan. When the KSC BBs hit the target, they bounce against the towel then fall to the ground. The Inertia BBs, however, hit the towel with enough speed to push the towel back and hit the trashcan with a nice snapping sound. They also tend to stick into the towel rather than fall to the ground.
(click to enlarge)
At the chrono, the results were interesting, to say the least. While I had
expected the Inertia to chrono at a higher speed, the difference was not enough
to account for the appearance they gave. In my SIG SG552, the Inertia came in
at 367 average, as opposed to 363 for the KSC and 364 for AE and Infinity. I
believe the appearance of a harder hitting BB was caused by the Inertia BBs
being harder than the other brands of BBs. Good or bad, this is just how they
are.
In Action
You can't see them. Nope, not one bit and I love it! The first few shots I took left me thinking, "Wow, this doesn't look so fake, anymore." For those of you with BB guns or real guns, you know that you have to aim with sights, not with the projectile. This is something that's missing in airsoft. You can see where your BBs are going so often you use your sights as a general target identifier and fire away, 'walking' the BBs to the target. I do it myself, sometimes.
Now that you can't see the BBs, it's a good time to get your sights zeroed. Paper targets work just fine for this. Now you're on par with the pros. Not really, but you're getting there. Once you zero your weapon, you are ready for the field.
Not being able to see the BBs may leave you at a disadvantage when you need to apply that old Kentucky Windage, but remember that tracers work both ways, and so do white BBs. How many times have you had a BB zip past your head, and you were able to spot the shooter, or the general area, by the path of the BB. Not anymore. You can't see them coming or going, and for me, that's a good thing. With a tightbore barrel and an M120 spring, I'm hitting pretty much on target so now it's time to trust the sights.
During a recent 2 on 3 night game, I was able to see just how cool these BBs are. After making sure I was sighted in using KSC .2g BBs, I switched over to my Inertia and trusted the sights rather than the BB stream. All 5 of us used the Inertia and there were no problems related to the BBs at all. Accuracy and performance was what we would have expected from any other quality brand of BB.
The more I play with these BBs, the more it becomes a 'love-hate' relationship. I love that they can't spot my shots, but hate that I can't track incoming fire. Last night, while playing another night game, I decided to let my opponent know I was ready by taking a cheap shot at 30 feet. I hit his helmet with a very satisfying 'POP POP POP.' He returned fire and it me in the forehead 3 times. This isn't normally too bad, but he's got an M16A2 with an M120 spring. It hurt. Both the best and worst part was, I didn't see them coming.
The Hardware
My team and I have tested these BBs in the following AEGs with great results:
- Stock TM MP5A5
- Stock ICS MP5A5
- Upgraded TM SIG SG552
- Upgraded TM M16A2
- Stock TM M16A2
- Upgraded TM SR16
We have varying levels of upgrades in our AEGs ranging from complete internal upgrades to just a spring and we were all impressed with the performance of these BBs in our AEGs.
These are the GBBs, springers and minis we've tested, all with great results:
- KWA M11A1 v2 (no more jams than with KSC BBs)
- KJW M9 FMV (first version)
- KJW M9 Vertec FMV (newest version)
- TM Boys M4
- UHC mini electric G3
- Cybergun Taurus PT Millennium springer
- TM M9 EBB
- Daisy Airstrike
- some unknown brand of P99 springer
Conclusion
These are great BBs. Not just because they perform on par with other quality brands, but also because of what they cost. The retail price for the Inertia (from Airsoft Atlanta) bought in bulk is $0.0025 and Excel (from 6mm Shop) are $0.0030. This isn't a huge difference, but these are black, come in a great container and they perform just as well as other brands. With .2g BBs, you won't find much better performance. My team trusts these BBs with thousands of dollars worth of AEGs and we can all afford to buy the Excel, Marui or KSC BBs, but why spend the money when we can get the same quality for less? And in black, even!
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