The BBGageR steel BB sorter will be available soon. If you shoot a BB gun and you’re interested in accuracy, you are going to need to look at this!
But aren’t BBs all the same?
Well, actually, no, they’re not! Hard Air Magazine ran a series of extensively-researched articles on this some time ago.
In this story, we compared the five standard types of BBs that we use for HAM’s industry-leading BB gun test reviews. Then we went further and looked at the consistency of manufacture of these same BBs.
To do this, we used two precision measurement tools. One is a laboratory-grade balance that can measure weights to an accuracy of 1,000th Gram. (Trust me, that’s so precise that it records if you even breathe on it!).
The second is a BBGage. This is a precision “go, no-go” gage that’s conceived, designed and produced by Jerry Cupples. Hard Air Magazine has been using Jerry’s gauges to measure airgun ammunition ever since we started publishing in 2015. They’re still the best tools for the job!
For example, here’s the results from measuring a batch of Crosman BBs using a BBGage.
And does sorting BBs lead to improved accuracy. Yip it can! You can see that from the final part of our investigation.
Now Jerry has developed a new product: the BBGageR. This enables you to rapidly sort steel BBs to size, prior to shooting.
BBGageR has 48 identical apertures, laser cut to within 0.0025 mm of nominal size.
You can easily get approximately 48 pellets by using something like a pill bottle to get roughly that quantity from your bulk container, then pour them onto the gage, and roll them around like one of those toys where you wanted to put a ball bearing in the clown’s eyes.
The ones that drop through are less than the nominal diameter of the apertures, and the ones that catch in the apertures are greater.
You can repeat the process to do 48 at a time.
The technique Jerry used requires two BBGageR units to sort to a variance of +/- 0.01 mm.
For example, he started with a 4.41 mm BBGageR. Any BB that drops through into a small bowl or tray underneath is less than 4.41 diameter, and a keeper. Those that catch in the apertures are oversize, and can be dumped into a plinking container.
Then, use a 4.39 mm (or smaller) PelletgageR, and put those BBs on it, those that DO drop through are undersized, and become plinkers. Those left on top of the gage plate are then found to be in the range of greater than 4.39 and less than 4.41 mm, ready for target shooting.
The BBGageR steel BB sorter uses a thicker metal foil than the BBGage. It will – HAM believes – be available from May 2025 in the following diameters: 4.39, 4.40, 4.41, 4.42, and 4.43 mm.
You can buy the BBGageR and other PelletGage products direct from Jerry at his online store Pelletgage.com
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