LAST POST

SQUARE IS THE NEW ROUND

NOW THAT A PUBLICITY MORATORIUM HAS BEEN LIFTED, FRENCHIE BRINGS US AN OVERVIEW OF THE LATEST BB DEVELOPMENT, ONE THAT WILL SURPRISE - AND POSSIBLY STARTLE - AIRSOFTERS THE WORLD OVER (EITHER THAT, OR HE’S BEEN SNIFFING HIS PRITT STICK AGAIN!)

Change is not something that comes quickly in airsoft, it has taken decades for us to see proper electronic triggers, despite their inherent advantages for instance. One area where that has been only one significant change has been ammunition and that change was the widespread acceptance of biodegradable ammo, mainly driven by landowners and sites. The venerable BB (Bullet Ball according to Marui) has been around forever and there was little to suggest that this was going to change.

Airsoft guns are fundamentally muskets, projecting a sphere down a smooth tube. Hop up was developed to dramatically improve the range you can achieve from this basic setup since the alternative, massively increased power behind the BB, is simply not viable if we are to avoid injuring each other. Some experimentation with “rifled” barrels has been attempted but this is more to do with creating a spiralling airflow around the BB as it moves down the barrel and does nothing to improve the seal between the BB and the barrel. In real firearms the base of the bullet is forced into the rifling by the massive gas pressure release when the round is fired, and this seals the bullet against the barrel and the rifling imparts spin which stabilises the flight of the bullet. It is not possible to do this in airsoft guns, although it would make the whole process more efficient and the resultant trajectory more stable all without resorting to backspin to keep the BB in the air for longer …until now.

INVESTED INTEREST

To understand what’s going on and why there has been – and this is unusual – almost no pre-launch publicity, it’s worth understanding the nature of the production of BBs. Yes, obviously they come from factories but there are very few companies who produce our ammunition. If my memory serves correctly, there are or were only three in Taiwan and a few in China. Given the enormous variety of brands available you might reasonably (and correctly) assume that these few foundries produce ammo for many brands, big and small. The important thing here is that the production of BBs is vested in the hands of a few specialist firms who have made the necessary investment in tools and equipment.

We have been extremely fortunate to see advanced samples of a new system designed to address all these issues, which has been in development between one of the largest BB foundries in Taiwan and a major Japanese airsoft manufacturer. Although we have had three months to play with, test and evaluate the system, the embargo on writing about it only ended on the first of August this year.

The heart of what could be a truly revolutionary development is the ammunition and the barrel. Imaginatively dubbed the Bullet Square (BS™) the new projectile is just that – essentially a cube. This has been married to a barrel which has a matching internal structure with a low, one-in-five twist ratio. This has proven optimal in balancing flight stability with acceptable levels of friction between the barrel

“ANYONE ENTERTAINING THOUGHTS OF JAMES PUCKLE’S SQUARE BULLETS FOR USE AGAINST “INFIDELS” CAN REST EASY. THE BS™ ROUND IS SQUARE IN CROSS SECTION, HOWEVER, DURING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IT WAS REALISED THAT CHAMFERING THE OTHERWISE SHARP CORNERS WAS HIGHLY DESIRABLE FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE…”

and the projectiles. What does this mean in simple terms? In indoor testing with the supplied rifle (a plain vanilla M4A1), range without any holdover was consistent to point of aim at 70 metres with a measured muzzle velocity of 295 feet per second. Using holdover, whether guessed or dialled into the optics, would see us putting rounds out to 100 metres without problems.

Consistency was nothing short of stunning. The ammo weights are different from current standards, so we were using 0.26g (all that was supplied to us) and the grouping at 70 metres from a bench rest was slightly over 70mm. Despite some concerns, the BS™ rounds were maintaining sufficient energy to penetrate the paper targets we were using.

PUCKLE UP!

Anyone entertaining thoughts of James Puckle’s square bullets for use against “infidels” can rest easy. The BS™ round is square in cross section, however, during the development process it was realised that chamfering the otherwise sharp corners was highly desirable from a safety perspective, and it was found that this also greatly improved feed reliability and appears to ease the passage of the round through the barrel. It’s not a true dodecahedron, being closer in shape to a gaming dice. The barrel in the supplied gun was made of brass with an internal diameter of 6.001mm between flats. Apparently, Teflon lined, and polished stainless-steel barrels were trialled but found to offer no appreciable improvement to offset the increased cost and complexity of manufacture.

Speaking of manufacture, it will surprise none of you that this system requires very tight tolerances to run well. Airsoft guns are not tolerant of muck in the barrel, and this is going to be even more marked in the BS™ design. We cleaned the barrel as directed using the rod supplied with the gun. Apart from the slight rotation of the cleaning rod as it follows the rifling it is no different to cleaning a current barrel and we believe that existing rods can be used for cleaning with acceptable results.

The initial complexities encountered during tooling up are part of the reason that nothing has been announce before now. The basic design work on the ammo and the barrel was relatively straightforward, however, designing the chamber and tooling up for production was a major challenge. For this reason, we have been told not to expect a sudden shift to the new system, it will be gradual and phased, the M4 leading the way for electrics, followed soon we hope by a promised bolt action rifle based on an established design.

EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE

One of the benefits of this system to the gun maker is that apart from the barrel, feed system and barrel seal (chamber), there is no requirement to redesign the mechanics of the gearbox. The geometry within the chamber is impressive and is designed to ensure that each round presents correctly to the barrel, regardless of its orientation while being fed. Imagine the feed system from the P90 magazine but in a component only 9.5mm in diameter.

The increased efficiency of the BS™ round in the barrel also means that there should be less demand for upgrades which might strain the box over time as the range increase is achieved through massive efficiency improvements rather than brute force. Unlike the Tanio Koba system, BS™ maintains its effectiveness regardless of muzzle velocity, so snipers will be able to run their guns somewhere between 350 and 370 fps depending on ammo weight and be rewarded with greatly increased range and accuracy. The days of taunting the opposition because you’re safely out of range may be coming to an end.

We have no idea when the system will officially be launched as both companies are awaiting the granting of patents. These are expected late 2021 but the global pandemic has touched even these arcane activities.

Airsoft Action, along with a select few airsoft commentators have been promised sight of a full technical package with test results from the manufactures once the patents have been granted although we were informed that the results we obtained from the prototype BS™ M4A1 should be largely indicative of production results.

So, after years of complaining that there have been no truly innovative developments in airsoft, it seems that those who were in part responsible for the sport as we know it today are about to change everything all over again.

The future’s bright, the future is BS! AA