Bio-BBs - Need Help Finding water soluble bbs

[optix]

hey guys
need help to find some bio-bb's that degrade fast under/applied water

reason being a indoor paintball facility will only allow us to run games under that condition

much appreciated to everyone

[MultipleParadox]

I think most will tell you to use BBBastards. Haven't them myself though. I think I read somewhere they degraded in about 3 months. I've seen other taking much much longer (6-months to 3-4 years if my memory's good)

But don't take tht for granted, I'm all new to this :P

[venture]

as a gundoc, please weigh degradation time against the jams you will experience because of air humidity semidegrading your bbs.

keep them in a dry place or in vacuum sealed packs always.

hard to believe they can handle the mess pb makes, but sweeping a few bbs is a problem???

[Gulag]

Originally Posted by venture

as a gundoc, please weigh degradation time against the jams you will experience because of air humidity semidegrading your bbs.

keep them in a dry place or in vacuum sealed packs always.

So there IS a downside. Good to know

[L473ncy]

.20 Bioval BBB maybe? I know that they offer 90% degradation in 6 months under lab conditions. Factors that affect their biodegradability are carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and water. Don't bother with Excel Bio or Cybergun Bio.

http://www.biovalbbb.com/Certificates.html

This might be what you're looking for (emphasis mine):

Today, the terms biodegradation, biodegradable materials, compostability etc. are very common, but frequently misused! Consequently, this is a source of misunderstanding. The European Standard EN13432 "Requirements for resins recoverable through composting and biodegradation - Testing scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of biological resins", resolves this problem by defining the characteristics that a material must have, in order to be defined as "compostable" or "biodegradable". This norm is a reference point for material manufacturers, public authorities, composters and also very useful to consumers. According to the European Standard EN13432, a compostable material must have the following characteristics:

Biodegradability, which is determined by measuring the actual metabolic conversion of the compostable material into carbon dioxide. This property is quantitatively measured using the standard test method, EN14046 (which is also published as ISO 14855: biodegradability under controlled composting conditions). The acceptance level is 90%, which must be reached in less than 6 months.

Disintegrability, that is, the fragmentation and loss of visibility in the final compost (absence of visual contamination). This is measured with a composting test (EN14045). The test material is degraded, together with organic waste, for 3 months. After this time, the compost is sieved with a 2 mm sieve. The residues of test material with dimensions higher than 2 mm are considered as not having disintegrated. This fraction must be less than 10% of the initial mass. Absence of negative effects on the composting process. This is checked with a composting test. Low levels of heavy metals (below the predefined maximum values), and absence of negative effects on the quality of the compost (e.g. reduction of the agronomic value and presence of eco-toxicological effects on the growth of plants). A plant growth test (OECD test 208, modified) is carried out on compost samples where the degradation of the test material has taken place. There must be no difference from control compost. Other chemical-physical parameters that must not be different from those of the control compost after the degradation are the pH, salinity, volatile solids, N, P, Mg, K.

HIDD is another brand I've heard tossed around. AFAIK they degrade in 1 to 2 years though so not as good as the Biovals.

I know some airsoft sites in the UK are obligated to use Bio BB's for some permit reason or something so I'll see if I can ask around.

Since it's an indoor field I would think that photodegredation would be a non factor though. Although I don't think there are many if any airsoft BB's that photodegrade well (if at all).

[Crunchmeister]

I haven't tried Bastard bios myself, even though I'm a Bastard dealer. I hear they're a big improvement over any other bio-BB out there.

But I'm leary of bio BBs in general. Any time I've used them, they've caused jams, have filled by barrel with gunk or they've broken in the mag or feed path. It's left me very reluctant to try any brand really, even Bastards.

And I second what venture said. They don't mind the greasy mess left everywhere behind by paintball spooge, but mind inert plastic BBs? That makes sense.

[L473ncy]

It might be a bit cost prohibitive to do now but a 1% grade probably wouldn't be noticeable and BB's should roll off to one corner to be collected in drain pipes or similar. I know that some indoor places that use "reballs" do this and basically just sweep the reballs off to a corner for a spray down, drying out and reuse. For the record, reballs can be used like 600 times over and over according to the FAQ on their webpage.

But then again to do a 1% grade now you'd probably need a building permit and building inspector to come in and look at it. That is unless there's already existing grade for water drainage in which case the BB's will just collect there and you can just sweep them up after the fact. Or just "pressure wash" the BB's while you're spraying down the floor and push them to a corner for easy scooping up.

[Airsoft Mum]

We used to run games out of season in a war museum.....after the event I would vacuum the BB's......and then used them in my claymore mines! It's just a thought that you might want to consider. Failing that Airsoft World have Bio BB's that degrade in 3 months. Why not check out there website?

[MadMax]

The only pellet that I can think of that is significantly water soluble are Palco's Eco BBs:

http://www.palcosports.com/catalog_p...prod=E1720WH12

I can't say anything about their ballistic properties or loading reliability as I haven't tried them myself though. However they did dissolve into loose powder in minutes with water immersion. They're probably the fastest degrading pellet available. I saw them at ShotShow several years ago. Their fetching marketing ladies were dropping them into containers of water to show that they broke down in minutes.

They might not be the best alternative to tolerating inert pellets in the sand though. IRC their outer shell used a sugar as a binder which may attract ants or promote fungus growths in bulk quantities. I really can't see how rigid bits of plastic would be a problem in an indoor pball field which gets saturated with non evaporating pball muck. I think they have to scoop up the sand and properly dispose of it once or twice a year anyways.

[George Burdell]

Originally Posted by MadMax

The only pellet that I can think of that is significantly water soluble are Palco's Eco BBs:

http://www.palcosports.com/catalog_p...prod=E1720WH12

I can't say anything about their ballistic properties or loading reliability as I haven't tried them myself though. However they did dissolve into loose powder in minutes with water immersion. They're probably the fastest degrading pellet available. I saw them at ShotShow several years ago. Their fetching marketing ladies were dropping them into containers of water to show that they broke down in minutes.

They might not be the best alternative to tolerating inert pellets in the sand though. IRC their outer shell used a sugar as a binder which may attract ants or promote fungus growths in bulk quantities. I really can't see how rigid bits of plastic would be a problem in an indoor pball field which gets saturated with non evaporating pball muck. I think they have to scoop up the sand and properly dispose of it once or twice a year anyways.

I got a bag of those once; I fired less than 50 of them. They are incredibly inaccurate and I can crush them with little force, so they will easily damage your gun.