Specna Arms BBs - airsoft ammunition review
Three series of Specna Arms BBs
Longer-experienced players may still remember balls with wings. This was the name for very poor-quality ammunition, which still had traces of the contact point of the two halves of the mould. Fortunately, the times of using this type of fodder for our magazines are over and we can get good BBs even at a small cost.
When deciding to buy ammunition for our airsoft gun, it is worth following the rule to buy the best product we can afford. I think this is a universal rule that will tell us what brand of goods to order. A separate issue is the selection of the weight of the BBs. In this case, we have slightly different factors to take into account and it is rather not a topic for this text. Today we will focus on three series of Specna Arms BBs. This move is a kind of attempt by the manufacturer to organize the product line. Therefore, we have three lines of BBs dedicated to slightly different applications.
Edge BBs are positioned with the most demanding users in mind, i.e., those who can afford to buy the most expensive BBs to minimize the loss of accuracy and precision in even the smallest field.
The One BBs series is a kind of intermediate solution. Good for replicas that we haven't tuned and those where, despite the modifications, we can't afford to buy more precise ammunition.
Core BBs, on the other hand, are intended for beginners. Both due to their budget and application to airsoft guns, which may be characterized by lower precision than more expensive designs.
I myself like to use Core BBs in some applications. They work well when I have to make a lot of test shots on airsoft guns in the condition straight from the box. I do not hesitate to use them in a situation where the precision and repeatability of shots go to the background. They will be a very good proposition for players with support rifles and for people who have a limited budget just starting the game. On the Internet you can find opinions that they dirty the barrels of replicas excessively. Wanting to check this, I did a test. I shot 1 kg of Specna Arms Core 0.2-gram BBs through the replica. I cleaned the barrel before that. For this experiment, I used the SA-J73 Core airsoft gun, which had a standard Hop-Up system and a barrel at that time. The effects can be seen in the photos from the endoscope below. In my opinion, it cannot be clearly stated that the BBs dirty the barrel. In the further part of the article, it will turn out where there are trade-offs related to the lower price of this type of ammunition.
I think One BBs will become a new sales hit. In fact, their target group is the largest of those described here. They will be good for players who have already spent a bit more money on a stronger, more precise airsoft gun, but do not yet aim to look for performance in every possible place. It is also possible that people who simply ... shoot a lot and are looking for a way to save. Those players would decide on them. They will certainly be cheaper than the top Edge BBs and we will check whether their performance differs from more expensive counterparts later in the article.
We've known Edge BBs for some time. Judging by their popularity in skirmishes, few people need to be introduced to them. Interestingly, this type of ammunition offered by Specna Arms can be found in probably the widest range. There are BBs weighing up to half a gram (0.5 g), which can be found in tracer and bio variants. Here, precision and quality are at the highest level, so they are perfect for players who do not have to make any compromises.
Shooting tests of Specna Arms BBs
How to objectively show the differences between different BBs? You can definitely measure them. The problem is to make it precise enough, and thus reliable. It would be good to use complicated and hard-to-reach measuring equipment. Unfortunately, checking the BBs with a calliper or a kitchen scale is not enough. On the other hand, anecdotal evidence like "me and friends bought a pack and were not happy" unfortunately also leave much to be desired.
I decided to take shooting tests. The BBs were fired from two airsoft guns. Specna Arms SA-J04, which is basically in the factory configuration and with SA-E14, which is tuned to the assault limits applicable in most games in Poland. However, to eliminate factors such as power or quality of replicas as well as the influence of wind, I shot at the target at a distance of 20 meters. It may seem close. This way, however, I was able to ensure repeatable conditions. To compensate for this distance, I opted for small targets. I shot cardboard targets 14 x 14cm. Each measurement series is 10 shots. Thanks to this, we can not only evaluate the focus of individual groups, but also how many of them hit the target.
Before the experiment, the barrels of the airsoft guns were cleaned. The settings of the hop-up system and the zeroing of the sights were the same for all measurement series. The airsoft guns were supported on a tripod. The photo below shows us the results.
My first conclusions are that you can really see the differences between the different series of BBs. They definitely pop up between the Core series and others. I think that the lower number of hits and the generally greater dispersion are caused by poorer cooperation with the replicas' hop-up systems.
The BBs seemed to spin less evenly. Interestingly, the One series gives a slightly better focus, although it was the Edge BBs that generally allowed for more hits. It seems to me that the difference between these two product lines will only be emphasized when more precise airsoft guns are used. Users of DMR or even airsoft sniper rifles can feel the advantage of Edge BBs to a greater extent. This theory seems to be supported by the fact that it is difficult to tell the difference between the two types of ammunition when used with the SA-J04 factory airsoft gun.
Importantly, during the test I did not notice any clearly negative phenomena such as jamming or problems with feeding the BBs through the magazines. It is worth mentioning that apart from the test shots, I made many more cycles on each type of ammunition, if only to set the airsoft gun's hop-up systems and to reset the sights. If I had to point out the differences in the presented series of ammunition in one sentence, it would sound like this: While all Specna Arms BBs fulfil their task, the repeatability of our shots improves with the use of more expensive types of ammunition.
Author: Boreq
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