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With the rise of gel ball blasters as a safer, cleaner alternative to airsoft and paintball, there's growing curiosity about how hard these projectiles actually hit. Recent developments will soon mean the introduction of heavier gel balls, aiming to improve performance and accuracy — but how do they really compare in terms of impact energy?
We’ve run the numbers comparing:
A standard gel ball (0.22g, 7.3mm)
A new heavier gel ball (0.5g)
A typical 0.28g airsoft BB (limited to 1.5 Joules)
A standard paintball (3g)
Let’s break it down.
When a projectile hits its target, the force you feel depends on two key things:
Kinetic Energy (Joules) — how much energy it delivers
Momentum (kg·m/s) — how much “push” it carries through impact
Both increase with mass and speed — but air resistance also plays a big role. Lightweight gel balls slow down faster in the air, especially over longer distances.
We ran simulations of each projectile traveling 10 meters, a typical engagement distance for casual skirmishes.
| Projectile | Mass (g) | Speed @ 10m (m/s) | Energy (J) | Momentum (kg·m/s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Gel Ball | 0.22 | ~57 | 0.36 | 0.0125 |
| Heavy Gel Ball | 0.5 | ~70 | 1.23 | 0.035 |
| Airsoft BB (1.5 J) | 0.28 | ~90 | 1.13 | 0.025 |
| Paintball | 3.0 | ~70 | 7.35 | 0.21 |
The newer 0.5g gel balls carry over three times the energy of standard gel balls — which means you’ll definitely feel the hit more, especially at close range. They're more stable in flight, more accurate, and the increase in range will be substantial.
Surprisingly, these heavy gel balls now match airsoft BBs in impact energy. Airsoft still tends to have a bit more momentum due to higher speed and denser materials, but the performance gap is much smaller than before.
Even with upgrades, gel balls remain far less powerful than paintballs. A typical paintball carries over 7 Joules of energy — more than 6x the impact of a heavy gel ball. That’s why paintballs leave bruises and gel balls don’t.
If you're going to upgrade to heavier gel balls, expect a noticeable increase in hit confirmation — both visually and physically. For casual skirmishes or backyard games, they now provide airsoft-level impact while still keeping the safety and cleanup benefits of gel ball blasters.
