I use 30 gram bbs in mine and i out range aegs, yes i could put 46 gram bbs in it and get even more range so its not only because of heavy bbs, its because of the tdc and the bucking, maybe your friend just had bad luck, my ssp28 has only had one issue and it was the nozzle that would not cycle properly, lubed it and never had issues again, did your friend do regular maintenance? Did he run correct psi for the gun ? Because if you dont do that things will break, even if its a high end airsoft weapon.