There are many types of guns and a BB gun is one of them. Usually, a BB gun is powered by a CO2 mechanism to fire ball bearings or BBs. It also uses a powerlet (a disposable cylinder) that is readily pre-filled with 12 grams of liquid carbon dioxide.On the other hand, some expensive types have refillable CO2 reservoirs.
The standard 12 gram powerlet by Crosman is commonly used in most of the BB gun. Contrary to airguns, CO2 BB guns provide power for repeated shots.
Hence, check out this review to choose the best BB gun for your needs.
Top 7 BB Gun Comparison Table
| Name of product | Weight | Maximum velocity | Shot capacity | BB reservoir | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daisy Outdoor Products Model 1938 Red Ryder BB Gun | 2.2 pounds | 350 fps | 650 | 200 | $ |
| Daisy Powerline 340 BB Repeater Pistol | 0.6 pounds | 240 fps | 13 | 200 | $ |
| 880 Powerline Air Rifle Kit, Dark Brown/Black, 37.6 Inch | 3.10 pounds | 800 fps | 50 | 350 | $$ |
| Umarex XBG 2254804 CO2 Powered .177 Caliber Steel BB Air Gun Pistol | 1.2 pounds | 410 fps | 19 | 19 | $ |
| Smith & Wesson M&P Airgun (Medium) | 1.2 pounds | 480 fps | 19 | 19 | $ |
| Remington 89260 Remington 1911RAC CO2 BB Pistol | 2 pounds | 320 fps | 18 | 18 | $$ |
| Crosman M4-177 Tactical Style Pneumatic Multi-Pump BB and Pellet Rifle Kit | 3 pounds | 625 fps | 18 | 350 | $$ |
The top 7 are decided by certain factors:
- Weight
- Maximum velocity
- Shot capacity
- BB reservoir
- Price
Weight
The lighter the BB gun is, the more handy it is to carry it around without being a hindrance.
Maximum velocity
The more the maximum velocity is, the higher the energy and powerfulness of the shot will be.
Shot capacity
The more the number of shot capacity, the more the fun and shots you can get from your BB gun.
BB reservoir
The more the number of BB reservoir, the more the number of BBs that could be loaded at the same time which saves some time and effort.
Daisy Model 1938 Red Ryder BB Gun
The first best BB gun in this review is from Daisy. This 177 Cal BB gun rifle has steel smooth bore barrel with 650 shot capacity. 350 fps is the maximum velocity for this BB gun.
It is a lever-cocking spring air action and designed with stained solid wood stock, forearm with blade, ramp front as well as an adjustable rear sight.
Since its introduction in 1940, Daisy Red Ryder has achieved a legendary status. With lariat ring with a leather saddle thong, this BB gun is recommended for ages 10 or older with adult supervision.
The simple, easy-to-use designs with safety features built-in makes it ideal for developing shooting and marksmanship skills as a young shooter to airgunning. Daisy covers the beginner airgun market and it is still the first choice when it comes to introducing a BB gun.
I would suggest buying the siver BBs instead of copper BBs for this gun. The copper BBs have imperfections that might cause a jam. It is after all a lever action, single shot, BB gun.
The Daisy BB gun fires .177 inch diameter steel BB’s. A small wire spring detent gate is included in the feed mechanism in which each BB must pass through.
I would recommend against using any plastic BB’s in this BB gun. This is because the potential diameter differences of plastic BB’s and the possibility the feed mechanism can deform the plastic BB’s which possibly can induce hard to correct jams.
If the BB gun cocked but wouldn’t fire and the cocking lever went limp without any resistance, try a few simple steps to get it work again. Firstly, turn on the safety. Secondly, sit down and place the butt of the gun on your knee while making sure that the barrel is pointing at the ceiling.
Then, try to cock the BB gun and observe how far the cocking lever can go. As a side note, it can go to around the 9 or 9:30 position on a clock. Next, hold the gun firmly with a great deal of force and observe if you could force the cocking lever on up until you can hear 1 or 2 audible clicks.
If you can hear the clicks, it means that the internal jam is probably cleared. As the final step, take it outside. Turn off the safety and see if the BB gun fires. If it does, then you are probably good to go. This is common problem that requires just a very simple fix.
This BB gun is a straight shooter which is great for hitting cans across the yard using it. It will rip right through aluminum cans and I had no problems regarding the accuracy so far. I’d say that this Daisy BB gun is very accurate up to 30ish yards.
It could also hold a great amount of BB’s too. This way, you don’t have to constantly refill the holding chamber. After shooting about 500-700 BB’s through this best gun, I’ve never experienced any jam. If you don’t want to pump several times in order to get one shot off and you also want to avoid dealing with CO2, then this BB gun will fulfill all those specifications.
Suitable for:
- Developing shooting skills
- Developing marksmanship skills
- Straight shooting
Daisy Powerline 340 BB Repeater Pistol
The second best BB gun on the list is the PowerLine 340 BB pistol. This best BB gun is a spring-air pistol which features a 200-shot BB reservoir that comes with a 13-shot Speedload Clip. The removable clip is located in the grip.
Once you load the reservoir with 200 BBs, just pull the Clip tab all the way out. Then, shake the BB pistol and push the tab back in order to reload the Clip without removing the magazine. The sights are blade and ramp front with fixed open rear.
The safety is crossbolt trigger block. Meanwhile, the maximum muzzle velocity is 240 fps. with the overall length being 8.5 inch and .177 cal. (4.5 mm) BB caliber. The stock, forearm and grip is molded black while the barrel is smooth bore steel.
The maximum shooting distance is 100 yards. It is appropriate for adults and those ages 16 or older with adult supervision.
There are several simple guides on how to operate this best BB pistol. Firstly, put ‘on safe’ (push the safety down) and make sure there is no red dot showing. The BB pistol cannot be fired by pulling the trigger in this position.
As a side note, the safety is not automatic. Therefore, it will only do its job when you do yours. Always remember that the best safety is good gun handling.
The next step would be loading it. Ammunition should be loaded from the magazine into firing position since the slide will be returned to the forward position during cocking. To avoid misfeeding ammo, do not hold the slide open while you are cocking it.
The third step would be to cock it. Grasp the cocking slide with the muzzle pointed at a safe direction. Release in one smooth motion to cock after pulling it back firmly. Grasp the slide firmly to avoid slipping and snapping shut which could possibly cause injury. Now, your pistol is loaded.
It is time to test to test it out. Aim at a safe target and use the correct sight picture each time you fire the pistol. Push the ‘safety’ up to make sure the red dot is showing. It is ready to be fired when the trigger is pulled. Lastly, fire it out!
The Powerline 201 is another non-Co2 BB guns on the market. It is capable of putting a hole through thick cardboard but it may not be as powerful as any other BB guns. It is extremely lightweight since mostly it is made out of plastic.
For the low cost and moderate power (240 fps), the magazine is easy-to-use. Observe the mag release as the magazine drops almost immediately. However, the BB gun is slightly clunky.
The pistol only takes 4.5mm BBs so keep that as a warning for future and first buyers. It is quite powerful and reaches up to 178-234. It was a little stiff to handle the safety and slide at first. However, after loading it full and shooting it for a while, the safety and slide loosened up and became way smoother now.
Overall in this BB gun review, it is not too powerful and the accuracy is decent, but it is fun to rack the chamber and shoot without any worries about CO2.
Suitable for:
- Fun on the range
- Basic training for pistol shooters
- Beginners
880 Powerline Air Rifle Kit
The third BB gun in this BB gun review would be the 880 Powerline. The 880 air rifle kit comes with safety glasses, 4×15-millimeter scope with rings, 500 Daisy pellets, and 750 BBs.
The multi-pump pneumatic rifle has wood-grained Monte Carlo stock and forearm that is capable of shooting BBs 750 feet per second while the pellets could be shot at 715 feet per second. The purchase includes one year limited warranty.
The magazine holds up to 50 BBs every time you pull back the bolt. Just push it forward and you’ll load another BB. Or you could single-load your choice of any .177 caliber pellets.
Pump the BB gun 3 times for indoor target practice. On the other hand, pump 10 to achieve maximum velocity for outdoor shooting and pest control. The scope could be adjusted for windage and elevation.
The scope features a cross-hair reticle which is fogproof, shockproof and color corrected. The BB gun is appropriate for adults and those over 16 years of age under adult supervision.
The power and velocity are easily adjusted by the number of pumps you put into it. The scope mounts to a scope rail using tightening screws. It can be easily removed while the BB gun has standard iron sights.
BBs are kept in a reservoir before being loaded one at a time when you pull back the bolt. There is a magnet equipped which keeps the loaded BB from falling out until fired. If you use pellets, they have to be inserted manually which proves to be a little tricky if you have big fingers.
More pumps means more power but less accurate at long range. On the other hand, less pumps means it will be more accurate but not as powerful. I would suggest 5-7 pumps as it gives good power and good accuracy at 25-45 yards depending on your skill. 5 pumps means it can pass through a thin piece of wood or penetrate a thick fence board.
Maximum, you could pump 10 times. Generally, you can pump depending on how much power you want. 1 being the lowest while 10 the highest.
What impressed me was the smoothness and ease of the pump and the very crisp (although slightly heavy) trigger.
The scope is pretty dim so you might want to replace it with better ones. The provided pellets and BBs are pretty good but for varmiting I would recommend any other ones. For the power level, it’s a really quiet air rifle.
So far, I used 4 pumps for indoor targeting with 6 for outdoors. After exceeding 6 pumps, you wouldn’t gain a lot of velocity. However, the pump arm catch (a spring that catches a cutout at the end of the pump handle) is far to “catchy” and hard to release. A little work with a file might fix this issue.
Also, the recoil feels like you didn’t shoot sometimes. A few spiders could be exterminated by just its air pump action alone. Shooting using BBs was fine but not as accurate as with pellets.
Overall in this BB gun review, this quiet yet powerful pistol is the perfect choice for plinking pesky birds and critters around your garden.
Suitable for:
- Plinking
- Ease of pumping
Umarex XBG CO2 Powered BB Air Gun Pistol
Next BB gun in this review is the Umarex. The 19 shot drop free magazine is which is made of metal is powered by one 12 grain CO2 capsule that is placed in the grip and has quick reloading.
The lightweight and compact BB pistol comes with a fixed front, rear post and notch sights. It shoots in double action at 410 fps. The double action is equivalent to a fast action pistol. Once you’ve filled the pistol with 12 gram CO2 capsules, load BBs into the drop free magazine and insert it. Once you are done, you’re ready to rock and roll! Set out a target such as a paper target, tin cans, little green men, or just about anything and have a blast!
The design is simple that’s easy to use. The best BB gun is capable of delivering about 130 rounds out of one CO2 capsule before a loss of power is noted. The all-metal mag shoots regular steel BBs with under-muzzle Picatinny Rail.
A polymer build is molded with grip texture and the grooves to ensure a non-slip grip. The functional magazine release button is located within the polymer frame and grip. Press it and by doing so the magazine will eject from the bottom of the grip making it easy for you to reload.
The under-muzzle Picatinny rail is suitable for accessories as an additional feature such as a laser or a flashlight. A white dot on the front sight helps you to acquire your targets fast and easy.
One of the minor issues though is that loading the BB’s are quite difficult because the load spot being super small and they tend to fall out really easy.
If you shoot from 40 feet away at a tree, the BBs can penetrate both the bark and underlying wood. This gun is not small by any means; regarding the size, this is a true-to-life replica.
The weight distribution is mainly in the handle which allows this gun to rest comfortably in your hand. Although it does have a noticeable plastic feel, it still does maintain a solid build which could be passed as real.
When I shot at 40 feet, the drop is less than 1/4inch. On the other hand, at 60 feet, the drop was measured at 3/4 of an inch. Meanwhile, at 80 feet, the drop became more prevalent and a little over 1 and a half inches.
At 100 feet, the drop was around 2 inches. At that distance, the BBs started to slightly curve with the prevailing wind.
The C02 cartridges offer a steady 90 shots. However, after that, the depletion of air causes each shot to drop more and more.
To conclude, 90 are decently accurate and powerful shots with 40 being lob shots and 10 shots that cannot travel more than 10 feet. An average of 150 shots per CO2 cartridge is recorded so far.
Do bear in mind that this is not a quick pour reload gun. The magazine only holds 20 BBs. You would have to insert it into the clip one by one. You might notice spending more time reloading than shooting.
To sum up this BB gun review, you don’t have to pull anything but the trigger.
Suitable for:
- Decent accuracy
- Powerful shots
Smith & Wesson M&P Airgun
Moving on to the next in BB gun review would be the Smith & Wesson that has .177 caliber. It could reach 480 FPS velocity and has semi-automatic fire mode.
With polymer body, frame and grips, the best BB gun has 19-shot BB magazine that is powered by CO2 housed in the grip. Front and rear sights are fixed but 12g CO2 cartridge is not included. It fits the same holsters that are made for firearms.
Accurate to standard handgun distance of about 25 feet, this BB pistol will have shooting your targets with double or even triple taps! The white dot front sight makes acquiring targets easier.
The airgun is available in two-tone- standard black frame or dark earth brown frame. The overall length is 7.5 inch with 4.25 inch smooth bore barrel.
Just a push of the magazine release button will release the 19-round magazine free from the bottom of the grip. This allows for easy loading of the metal-constructed magazine.
Sliding the backstop slides reveal the CO2 power compartment. A handy flip down puncture screw is for easy puncture of the capsule. Meanwhile, the fiber optic sights make target alignment a breeze.
The continuous fiber rod will glow bright green which creates two visible green dots. You would just have to center the white dot on the front post between the two green dots for quick target acquisition.
The pistol has a manual safety, double action trigger which adds an element of realism as it is amazingly close to the actual handgun. An equipped accessory rail beneath the muzzle is great to add a tactical flashlight or an airgun laser.
However, if you are looking at a BB gun with no intention of hurting anyone, then you are in the wrong place. This 380 fps gun is capable of penetrating human skin so I don’t advise you aiming directly at them.
About every 80-100 shots, you would have to change the CO2 cartridge. I would suggest using Crosman and apply a drop of gun oil on top to avoid leakage. The cartridges are small that are roughly at the size of a roll of nickels.
They last a while but since they are only small CO2 cartridges, they cannot be refilled. Therefore, you may need to get more. Based on physics concepts on how gases behave under different temperatures, you’ll have to replace them often in colder weather compared to in hot weather.
For example, if you live in Florida, you may get more shots per cartridge rather than if you lived in Maine. It is pretty accurate up to 20-25 yards (60ft-75ft). Except for the trigger, there are no moving parts. Do take note that it shoots 4.5mm steel BB’s and not airsoft BB’s, 6mm.
Since it is semi-auto, it fires a BB until empty every time you pull the trigger. If you want a strong BB semi-auto, then I would recommend any other products on the list. The gun doesn’t weigh much but the plastic is durable.
Overall in this BB gun review, the pistol is worth buying if you are only going to use it for fun purposes. If you are looking for hunting purposes, I would recommend a rifle for their great range and accuracy.
Suitable for:
- As a practice gun
- Practicing holster drills
Remington 89260 BB Pistol
The second last on the best BB gun review would be the Remington pistol. With all metal frame and checkered brown grips, this best pistol provides a solid feel and is operated by a 12 gram CO2 cartridge.
The semi-automatic recoil blowback action mechanism provides an ultra-realistic shooting experience. It was designed according to the specifications of its famous GI-issue sidearm counterpart.
The 177 Cal 4.5mm steel BB Remington pistol offers a thumb-operated slide stop with magazine release for drop-out 18-shot BB magazine that also holds the cartridge. The best BB gun is equipped with a field-strippable slide, manual with beavertail grip safety, fixed blade front sight and fixed notch rear sight.
The dimensions of this best BB gun are 8 inches in length, 1 inches width and 5.5 inches in height. The 2 lbs. best BB pistol only has the grips made of plastic while the rest (the frame, slide and even the magazine) are metal. This further makes it more realistic.
It can fire a blast of CO2 even when there are no BB’s being loaded in the magazine. Although the range is very limited, the potential for eye injury still exists so be aware. You could test the range by firing it with an empty magazine onto a suspended cloth.
Initially starting at point blank, continue to move back to see the effective range of the CO2 blast. After doing so, stage your scenes with an extra margin of safety. Framing the scenes is even better so the pistol is never pointed directly at another person.
However, the slide action probably wastes some CO2. When it comes to range, this best BB gun is effective from 25 to 30 yards. Therefore, if you are looking for long range it’s better to buy a rifle.
The blowback action can burn through a CO2 cartridge in after around 5 full magazines. However, that seems decent. Surprisingly, the sound is loud for a BB gun which could be a nuisance when you are using it at night time. On the bright side though, it adds to the realism.
The accuracy is average with anything beyond 15 meters will cause the BBs don’t group as well. So far, I average about 50 BBs per co2 container. It may be not much but the blowback takes a bit of CO2 on this one. Extra clip is great to have.
Styling and the features are great but the magazine is difficult to load. The BB’s will start popping out when I try to load it. This happens again once the magazine is inserted in the best BB pistol. This causes several BB’s to come out all at once in the chamber which causes a jam.
You may be unable to clear the jam without disassembling the pistol. Fortunately the disassembly is quite easy. The high velocity and good targeting makes this a good budget friendly sidearm. So far, I had no jamming or leakage issues.
Overall in this Remington piston review, I was amazed by the weight, balance, size, and features of it.
Suitable for:
- Authentic design specs
- Precision accuracy
- Operation and control
Crosman M4-177 Pneumatic Multi-Pump BB and Pellet Rifle Kit
The last on the best BB gun review (at last) is from Crosman. The next variable pump rifle is here and provides everything you may need: rifle, ammunition, targets and shooting glasses. If you like adaptability of the AR platform, you’re going to love this M4-177.
The airgun is designed with rifled steel barrel and shoots both pellets and BBs. The rifle is easy to use for right or left-handed shooters. You could expect velocities up to 660 FPS using BBs and 625 FPS when you are using 7.9gr, .177 caliber pellets.
There are plenty of Picatinny rails for mounting any of your favorite accessories. The front and rear sights as well as the stock are removable for upgrade possibilities. It weighs 3.56 lbs and has 34 inch length. The mechanism is bolt action with variable pump as power source.
The pellet capacity is 5 shot clip with 350 BB reservoir. The 18 shot BB magazine has rifled barrel with elevation adjustable front sight and dual aperture windage adjustment rear sight. This is a single shot airgun so you must pump 6 – 10 times before every shot.
For target shooting though, as little as 3 pumps would be fine. I was shooting at a sign at 75 yards with ease (if you pump 10x). Surprisingly, the iron sights are good which is a rare thing for iron sights. I assume 25-50 yards is dead on.
When the scope is correctly sighted in, I can shoot one-inch groups at 100 feet or even better. A fore grip can be mounted. However, it will interfere with the pumping stroke. When the stroke is not complete, the gun will not shoot.
There are vertical fore grip and picatinny rail mount bayonets available for this. The stock does collapse with four adjustable positions. At 25-50 yards, you would not get any fun shooting at that range for plinking.
The telescopic butt stock is easy to adjust with the stock being fully detachable and extendable and you can put a sling on this M4. Meanwhile, the trigger is smooth. Nonetheless, when you pump it after 5 pumps, it’s hard to pump the last 5 in.
The best BB gun holds copperhead BB’s and most of any form of pellet (try to avoid 8+ grain pellets, though). For a full shot, it only requires two or three pumps. I would suggest wrapping around the bottom of the barrel under the pump using black electric tape to reduce the clanking noise each time you pump.
You can load 15 pellets and then put one clip in the Crosman BB gun. Next, store the other two in the magazine (which is useless except to add realism as well as to hold the extra clips).
Furthermore, almost every other external part is plastic. Therefore, be careful not to stockbutt anything or drop it from an excessive height. BBs lose a bit of accuracy when compared to using pellets but it is manageable.
Also, the picatinny rails are functionally useless because of the pump action nature of the gun. This severely limits the number of viable attachments, but some do work.
Overall in this best BB gun review, this gun is perfect for the price.
Suitable for:
- Target shooting
- Adaptability
Conclusion
I hope these best BB gun reviews has been helpful for you to choose the best BB gun for your needs. Not only that, you can check out cool accessories for your gun here.