Steel or Copper Coated BBs

[Bond]

I hope this is in the right place as its airgun related. I am awaiting my new umerax legends Makarov to arrive as I am a huge fan of Makarov,s so i was wondering what are people's preferences regarding steel or copper coated BBs.

Josh

 

[Bighit]

May be better asking in this section . https://airgunforums.co.uk/forums/replica-airguns.6/


@mods could possibly move it to there for you.

 

[MrLuftArtisan]

I hope this is in the right place as its airgun related. I am awaiting my new umerax legends Makarov to arrive as I am a huge fan of Makarov,s so i was wondering what are people's preferences regarding steel or copper coated BBs.

Josh

Hello Josh
Have you considered either of these options both in. 177 cal.
The exite smart shot is great in my experience very accurate and clean manufacture.The dust devils I've not tried myself but imagine would also be a good option, much less chance of ricochet.

 

[John M]

I use Excite copper coated lead (Smart Shot) in my (non Baikal) Makarovs and Gamo Rounds in the Baikal Makarovs as the barrels are 4.5mm rifled on the latter. Non Baikal Maks have smoothbore barrels that are a little smaller and the Smart Shot is ideal for them. I don't like using steel BBs as they will ricochet more and damage steel targets due to their hardness over lead.

 

[field_sports_joe]

I might have picked one of these up as part of the whole "not leaving the gun shop without something fun" problem.

I see someone mentioned frangibles (dust devils) - these are quite nice for the lack of troublesome BB bounce when plinking with these, but I've found dust devils are not hard enough to hold the spring mechanism in many magazines while handling (fine once inserted which I guess is a more stable situation) so it is worth loading one steel bb in first.

 

[Bond]

Thanks to all the replies this is most helpful

 

[John M]

I might have picked one of these up as part of the whole "not leaving the gun shop without something fun" problem.

I see someone mentioned frangibles (dust devils) - these are quite nice for the lack of troublesome BB bounce when plinking with these, but I've found dust devils are not hard enough to hold the spring mechanism in many magazines while handling (fine once inserted which I guess is a more stable situation) so it is worth loading one steel bb in first.

I've found the DDs work with some mechanisms but not others. Not the most accurate generally but they were very consistent out of some of my pistols. Worth trying as a novelty but not so much for regular use.

 

[Talyllyn]

Copper coated lead work well in a lot of guns as an alternative to steel BBs.
Steel ones bounce back at speed if shot at a steel target holder but the copper coated lead deform nicely.

I would think the copper coated steel BBs would bounce back just as much as uncoated ones.

Gamo lead balls are slightly bigger than steel or copper coated BBs and don't work in all guns.

I've never used Dust Devils but a lot of people report feeding issues and very poor accuracy.

A box stuffed with old clothes, towels or a fibre filled pillow makes a good "catcher" for BBs.

Deformable BBs | Replica Airgun Forum

This is just some observations from my experience of using deformable BBs. I have used Excite Smart Shot Copper Coated Lead (750 per tin)

co2-handguns.freeforums.net

Cheers
Don

 

[Bond]

Copper coated lead work well in a lot of guns as an alternative to steel BBs.
Steel ones bounce back at speed if shot at a steel target holder but the copper coated lead deform nicely.
View attachment 664938
I would think the copper coated steel BBs would bounce back just as much as uncoated ones.

Gamo lead balls are slightly bigger than steel or copper coated BBs and don't work in all guns.

I've never used Dust Devils but a lot of people report feeding issues and very poor accuracy.

A box stuffed with old clothes, towels or a fibre filled pillow makes a good "catcher" for BBs.

Deformable BBs | Replica Airgun Forum

This is just some observations from my experience of using deformable BBs. I have used Excite Smart Shot Copper Coated Lead (750 per tin)

co2-handguns.freeforums.net

Cheers
Don

Thanks Don for your reply