# BB Guns **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449 "2008-06-10T15:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/1 "2008-06-10T15:40:23Z")
What does the “BB” mean in “BB Gun”? Baby Bullet? Buckaroo Banzi? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/2 "2008-06-10T15:45:12Z")
Ball Bearing The original purpose of the balls being shot was for use in bearings. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/3 "2008-06-10T15:46:43Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262] Ball Bearing The original purpose of the balls being shot was for use in bearings. [/QUOTE] This realization was someone’s “Ridiculously Obvious Things You Never Realized” posts in one of those threads. Upon reading that thread, it was mine, too. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/4 "2008-06-10T15:57:04Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262] Ball Bearing The original purpose of the balls being shot was for use in bearings. [/QUOTE] Ahhh…no. BB is a size designation, not an abbreviation. Shotgun pellets are sized by number of letter. There were/are size B, BB, and BBB pellets. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/5 "2008-06-10T16:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262] Ball Bearing. [/QUOTE] Not so, according to [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun): > [@](#): > > While it is often stated that “BB” stands for “ball bearing”, this is not the case. The original BB guns used the BB-sized lead shot for shotguns, midway between B and BBB size. BB shot was nominally 0.180 inches (4.57 mm), but tended to vary considerably in size due to the high allowable tolerances for shotgun shell use. Around 1900, Daisy, one of the earliest makers of BB guns, changed their BB gun bore diameter to .175 inches (4.45 mm), and began to market precision-made lead shot specifically for their BB guns. They called this “air rifle shot”, but the “BB” name was already well established, and everyone continued calling the guns “BB guns” and the shot “BB shot” or just “BBs”. [This link](http://www.huntnfever.com/guninfo.html) has a table of birdshot sizes, the largest of which are BB and BBB (might that be “big ball bearing”?). > [@](#): > > The original purpose of the balls being shot was for use in bearings. As the Wiki article explains, the original BB guns were intended for lead shot. The use of steel BBs came along later. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/6 "2008-06-10T16:19:03Z")
Why not “A” shot? THen AA and AAA? Is this to take up alphabet slack for all of those “B” bateries that don’t exist anymore or those “B” drives that have gone the same way? ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/7 "2008-06-10T16:27:07Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] Not so, according to [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun): [This link](http://www.huntnfever.com/guninfo.html) has a table of birdshot sizes, the largest of which are BB and BBB (might that be “big ball bearing”?). As the Wiki article explains, the original BB guns were intended for lead shot. The use of steel BBs came along later. [/QUOTE] Just goes to show that you should never trust adults 😉 At age 10 (?), I asked this very question of an uncle (whose BB gun was the first I ever shot) and “ball bearing” was the explanation he (quite convincingly) gave me. I stand corrected. Sorry for passing along dis-information. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/8 "2008-06-10T17:18:59Z")
Thanks all. Although “Ball Bearing” is cool, I guess the size is where the name came from. Jeez, you guys and gals are sharp! Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/9 "2008-06-10T18:18:29Z")
Pah, I still reckon it’s B, BB and BBB for Bearing, Ball Bearing, and Big Ball Bearing. If there was a BBBB size, obviously that was Bloody Big Ball Bearing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/10 "2008-06-10T19:37:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sigene] Why not “A” shot? THen AA and AAA? Is this to take up alphabet slack for all of those “B” bateries that don’t exist anymore or those “B” drives that have gone the same way? [/QUOTE] No, they had to skip B because then everyone would think that you just have a stutter. “Yes, I’d like some B-batteries.” “What kind?” “B batteries! Come on!” /demetri martin joke ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/11 "2008-06-10T21:48:48Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262] Just goes to show that you should never trust adults 😉 At age 10 (?), I asked this very question of an uncle (whose BB gun was the first I ever shot) and “ball bearing” was the explanation he (quite convincingly) gave me. I stand corrected. Sorry for passing along dis-information. [/QUOTE] I thought your definition was elegant and succinct. So it was incorrect. I don’t really carere since I shoot pellets. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bb-guns/452449/12 "2008-06-11T00:44:03Z")
Quite some time ago I made the BB/Ball Bearing connection all on my own, and have assumed it to be true until two minutes ago. I’m a little dismayed I was wrong, because I seem to recall being rather pleased with myself for having figured it out. But at least I’ve never misinformed anyone else by repeating my false assumption. Nyah, nyah, **cormac262**! 😃