Bbs Or Pellets
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Transportation & Substances · CPSC Code 1936
Down 45% over 5 years
The verdict
Bbs Or Pellets carry a danger score of 35/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 11,078 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 45% over the last five years.
- 35/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 11,078
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 5.3%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1936 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 35/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for bbs or pellets - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume11,078 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)5.3%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-45%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Bbs Or Pellets (CPSC product code 1936, in the Transportation & Substances category) generate an estimated 11,078 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 221,557 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 35/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 45% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2006 (16,784 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2023 (4,047 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for bbs or pellets is foreign body to the ear, accounting for approximately 25,063 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by foreign body to the hand (24,105 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 90,918 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 5.3% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 2 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how bbs or pellets fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 11,541 | 7,762 | |
| 5-14 | 79,409 | 11,493 | |
| 15-24 | 60,867 | 9,547 | |
| 25-34 | 15,723 | 3,431 | |
| 35-44 | 6,911 | 2,262 | |
| 45-54 | 5,048 | 1,072 | |
| 55-64 | 3,230 | 997 | |
| 65-74 | 1,164 | 248 | |
| 75+ | 749 | 89 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Ear | Foreign Body | |
| Hand | Foreign Body | |
| Face | Foreign Body | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Finger | Foreign Body | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Lower Leg | Foreign Body | |
| Foot | Foreign Body | |
| Head | Foreign Body | |
| Lower Arm | Foreign Body | |
| Upper Leg | Foreign Body | |
| Lower Trunk | Foreign Body | |
| Hand | Puncture | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Upper Trunk | Foreign Body |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
72YOM PRESENT AFTER HE WAS SHOT IN THE LEFT 2ND FINGER WITH A BB GUN, HE SHOT A BB INTO HIS FINGER. DX: FOREIGN BODY IN SKIN OF FINGER OF LEFT HAND
13YOM WITH A METAL BB IN THE RIGHT EAR FOR TWO DAYS. ABRASION TO INSIDE OF EAR. DX: FOREIGN BODY IN EAR.
21YOM WAS RELOADING A PELLET GUN AND BEGAN NEGLIGIBLE DISCHARGED SENDING A PELLET INOT THE PALMAR SURFACE OF THE LEFT HAND, IT DID NOT EXIT THE DORSAL SURFACE DX: PELLET GUN SHOT WOUND TO LEFT HAND, FOREIGN BODY REMOVAL
13YOM WITH A BB GUN THAT FIRED INTO HIS DORSUM OF THE RIGHT FOOT AT 1930. WAS WEARING LEATHER BOOTS AND PENETRATED THROUGH. DX: PUNCTURE WOUND OF FOOT, FOREIGN BODY IN FOOT
18YOM PLAYING WITH FRIENDS AND ACCIDENTALLY SHOT IN FACE WITH BB GUNDX FB FACE SOFT TISSUE
3 YOF C/O FB IN EAR PUT BB IN EAR DX FB EAR
11YOM WITH FB (BB) IN HIS LEFT HAND. PATIENT SHOT HIMSELF ACCIDENTALLY. DX: FB LEFT HAND.
56YOM WITH LEFT EYE PAIN DUE TO PUNCTURE FROM *** PELLET. DX: LACERATION OF LEFT EYEBROW
26YOM WAS PLAYING *** ON A FRIEND'S PROPERTY STRUCK IN THE LOWER ABDOMEN DX: BLUNT TRAUMA LOWER ABDOMEN
27YOM PATIENT REPORTS HE WAS DRINKING LAST NIGHT BAL NOT COLLECTED, WHEN A FRIEND ACCIDENTALLY FIRED A BB GUN AND HIT HIM IN THE TOP OF THE FOOT DX: FOREIGN BODY IN SKIN, OPEN NONDISPLACED FRACTURE OF MIDDLE PHALANX OF LESSER TOE OF LEFT FOOT
57YOM GOT A BB LODGED IN HIS RIGHT RING FINGER SIGHT IS NOW SWOLLEN DX: FOREIGN BODY FINGER
35 YOM SWALLOWED A HANDFUL OF BB PELLETS ONE WEEK AGO AND REPORTS ED METAL DETECTOR DINGED. DX: FOREIGN BODYT INGESTION.
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Daisy model 25 BB gun. This bb gun will fire with the safety on. I recently purchased one of these products through amazon, and it largely worked fine for the first few hundred BB's I shot through it. Then I started inconsistently failing to fire when the trigger is pulled, and it gradually got worse. Now, when it does this, the trigger can be depressed all the way to the stop, and it appears to then be released and any number of actions will cause it to randomly fire, releasing the trigger, releasing the trigger and pulling it again, releasing the trigger and pushing the safety, releasing the trigger pushing the safety on and then depressing the trigger again. I stopped messing with it when I successfully managed this last series of operations.
Hi- Last Fall, after cleaning my [REDACTED] 20 gauge shotgun with [REDACTED] Gun Cleaner and a bore snake, I inserted 2 plastic Pachmayr snap caps in the shotgun. Last week I removed the gun from its case for a hunt. Upon opening the action, there was no visible snap cap in the right barrel. Fortunately the snap cap in the left barrel was still visible although it too had begun to slide down the barrel. I was able to get both snap caps out of the barrels. The plastic rim on each had disintegrated over the past year, allowing both the caps to slide down the barrels, obstructing the bores. The snap caps are blue and marked Pachmayr, CAL.20 MADE IN ITALY. These plastic snap caps are still being marketed. Based upon the disintegration of the plastic rims, a serious/deadly accident is indeed foreseeable. if you contact at Lyman, the company that markets this product, please alert them to this serious flaw in their product. I have photos of the snap caps.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to bbs or pellets on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are bbs or pellets?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, bbs or pellets have a danger score of 35/100 (low risk). An estimated 11,078 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from bbs or pellets?
The most common injury is foreign body to the ear, accounting for approximately 25,063 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from bbs or pellets increasing or decreasing?
Down 45% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for bbs or pellets injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 90,918 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by bbs or pellets?
Of all ER visits involving bbs or pellets, approximately 5.3% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (94.7%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with bbs or pellets?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Transportation & Substances
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 35/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
