Review Bug-A-Salt 3.0 bugasalt salt gun review

[kreisler]

Bug-A-Salt 3.0 (bugasalt V3.0 "bug assault" salt gun) review

Summary: After all these years this well-known popular fun US product is finally available from an official importer in Europe and at fair pricing! With this third iteration and the revised laser pointer, the product has ultimately reached final maturity status, and I welcome all the fine improvements over the V2.0. Other owners of the V2.0 might not need the upgrade but the product has indeed become more satisfactory and fun. For international latecomers (Europe), the buy is now a no-brainer.

Introduction.
I've been knowing the product from when it was crowd-funded in 2012. I was able to get my hands on the V1.0, upgraded to the V2.0 in 2015, saw more colorful powerful iterations coming out ('Lawn and Garden' edition, …), then the release of the V2.5, and in parallel the development and testing of the V3.0, which took several years until 2020. Since then I couldn't justify the efforts and costs to upgrade yet again, especially since some independent small scale operators in Germany whiffed an opportunity to hike up the price (original? counterfeit?) on amazonDOTde to outrageous levels:

I liked the advertised little enhancements over the V2.0 but decided to simply enjoy my old version and not bother any further .. until recently when I saw the news on insta that the company managed to setup official warehouse supply in the Europes, not only in Germany. bugasalt.de is their official German website, operated by their partnering importer company MACVAD Europa GmbH (Düsseldorf, DE), and they have similar websites for other European countries, that's the absolute news in 2022 and why I am posting about my new unit! When I saw the pricing, I didn't hesitate but placed an order for the bugbeam-combo deal at imho nice price, shipped from the warehouse in Zolling, DE.

Packaging.
The shipping box, stamped with some original markings, is smaller than I had expected and doesn't come with extra padding inside. The retail package with the string-fixed product is secure and protected enough this way. The carrier was GLS not DHL:

Seeing this outside barcode label sticker on the box, it is safe to assume that each retail package is stored pre-boxed in the warehouse. Then the warehouse specialist can just grab the box, throwing in the papers and extra items like the bugbeam laser, and dispatch it:

At first glance, there seems to be no major difference between the older version 2.0 and the new version 3.0. Could you even tell which product is bigger in size (dimensions)? They certainly carry much of the same DNA:

The product is fixed tightly to the cardboard backing by three plastic strands which also act as seals. Two stickers, and an instruction sheet taped on the inner cardboard complete the scope of supply:

Unboxing.
While there are tens of thousands of reviews on amazon and youtube, with this collective post we get a chance to have a closer look at parts, discuss technical details, do trouble-shooting, share stories or photos, and keep the topic and fun alive. As one can see, the instruction sheet isn't written very formally but succinctly:

I plan to keep the retail package as storage placeholder for the salt gun. There's so much written on the backside of the retail package, good info. The left half of the backside reads like this:

No need to bore you with me reiterating the relevant aspects of the product, as stated everywhere (product package, company's website, dealer's product page). The right half of the backside reads like this:

The translation into German is beautiful, professional. Better than I could have translated the original English text. Good to see that the importer did it, while I am not sure if a translation was necessary (requirement?) for foreign products distributed in our country:

The product is highly patented everywhere, noice! Nevertheless if you use search term <salt gun> (in English or Chinese) on the internets, you'll find a bunch of counterfeits, mostly of the V2.0. Oh and you might want to remember what was written on the backside of the bugbeam laser retail package:

 

[kreisler]

Setting up.
A few words on the bugbeam product. It's very small, light-weight, and entirely made out of stiff hard plastic. The design and construction is minimalistic and matches its purpose of holding the laser unit absolutely tight and secured to the nozzle, not developing any slop or play after hundreds of shots:

The material is appropriately thick-walled around the nozzle. When I opened the bugbeam, the three coin cells loosely dropped out, and so did the switch assembly, whoops. Then I took these still photos, and when it was time to put everything back together, I couldn't remember the correct insertion of the batteries lol. Hehe did you pay attention to the correct polarity and battery insertion? From the dead flat design of the switch contact disc I deducted that the round (convex) part of the coin cell should face upwards, i.e. towards that contact disc; and I was right. Clearly, the manufacturer could have provided polarity markings on the inside of the bugbeam. No big deal, I placed my own polarity labeling inside hope you like it. And btw don't use a 1x10180 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (4.20V fully charged) as replacement for the 3 coin cells (4.731V total ootb), it's too long:

A word on the included allen key because you might lose it one day and need a replacement. The key isn't a snug fit in the two setscrews because the latter don't come with the tightest tolerances but everything works nicely together. From my comparisons, the allen key performs like a 2.0mm bit, and no other bit would fit:

The installation instructions suggest the use of a "#2 Phillips head screwdriver". On my copy, the PH2 bit doesn't fit while the PH1 does. In practice, any fine household crosshead screwdriver should do the trick, like the one from your Victorinox SAK (Swiss Army Knife):

The "Slip adapter ring on BUG-A-SALT barrel."-part wasn't too easy. The adapter ring is a pseudo one-piece construction which could break at its symmetry plane, however one has to bend/widen its stiff opening a little, otherwise it wouldn't slip on the barrel. By fingerforce, caution, patience, I was able to widen and slip, hooray:

Are we ready to shoot yet and finetune our aiming with the laser? Not yet. First we must fill in some ordinary table salt in the mag! When I emptied the V2.0 mag, I was surprised to see a layer of salt powder at the bottom. Note that the shape of the salt mag is the easiest indentifier whether the bugasalt unit is a V2.0 or V3.0, circular vs rectangular. The build quality is comparable imho, I cannot state that the V3.0 mag is built more robust:

Here a better look at the powder having formed after years of occasional use. The general and good advice is to leave the salt mag empty when the gun is stored and not used. That's because humidity could cause the salt crystals to bind or clog. I never let my mag run empty during use. Maybe you should because then the salt crystals would have less time to form such powder buildup:

Beam pattern.
Finetuning the aiming of the laser beam was fun and straight-forward. I setup the target crosses on the tin foil at the recommended 27" distance (=68.6cm, or my arm's length). If the center of your circular shot pattern is off to the left (horizontal left), the laser must be shifted to the left too to correct your mis-aiming, so turn the allen key clockwise. Similarly, when the center is off to the top (vertical up), turn the allen key clockwise to correct the mis-aiming. The following reduced-size animated GIF shows the same photo taken from three slightly different perspectives (1, 2, 3). Focus your attention on the right half of the photo to get a clear mental picture of what the spray pattern, at 27" distance, looks like for the bugasalt 3.0. I had drawn the target cross first, and then aimed and shot at it from exact 27" distance. The result is a perfect hit because before I had tested lots of shots to get the laser aiming finetuned. Then focus your attention on the left half of the photo. It shows the spray pattern of my bugasalt 2.0 from exact 27" distance. No aiming needed, just visualize the center of its spray pattern and compare with the V3.0 pattern, what a difference! One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words:

Build quality.
These two units are cocked and loaded, one can tell by the raised orange visor. Interestingly, the US patent doesn't seem to have changed between the two versions. If I can trust my eyes, the newer version looks held together with fewer screws:

Videos on disassembly and mods exist on youtube. It just shows how much the users appreciate the robust plastic build and find it worth bothering (maintenance, mods). While the product is made fully out of hard good quality plastic and feels very sturdy/impressive in hand and during use/operation —all amazon reviewers agree on that aspect—, it's needless to say that it is still a plastic toy, made by a large Chinese ODM toy manufacturer, which will break (internally or externally) if you give it a beating or rough treatment like drops on tiled floor:

Yet another size comparison pic. The V3.0 is more compact in every respect (dimensions: shorter, narrower, slimmer), and one can feel/appreciate the size difference, not so much the weight reduction (731g vs 746g). This aspect can't be the main reason to buy the new version. For V2.0 owners the weight and size reduction might be too marginal or irrelevant:

Conclusion.
To me, the main reason —and it is well worth it! imho— to buy the current version and retire the V2.0 is the improved beam: the salt beam is tighter, reaches farther, and with the now affordable/EU-available bugbeam laser has a superfun accuracy. Now I shoot flies from a deliberate distance and don't approach them at 1 foot distance anymore. The improved beam plus the laser makes all the difference how much more you enjoy a bugasalt gun! The salt gun has been on the market and a huge success for over a decade(!), so this pictorial presentation revealed nothing new, I am just personally confirming what youtubers had already shown in their videos regarding the differences between V2.0 and V3.0. But the main reason why I am writing now is that the company has finally opened shop in Europe a month ago or so, and that's groundbreaking news to any international shopper who had been hesitating to buy the bugasalt in earlier years, e.g. thru self-import from a non-EU source like amazonDOTcom.

Have you got a Bug-A-Salt, too? Which version? Let's share and hear/see some photos (or stories or updates) from you guys. Is your unit still working flawlessly or did you have to do some maintenance or any kind of repair/replacement? Do you still use it occasionally or regularly, or have you entirely moved on? Me, I can't get enough of this product haha, the problem is that usually I don't go hunting in the garden but mostly shoot indoors when I see some bugs and I want that kind of day fun lol but there ain't many flies inside the house.

 

[000Robert]

I have a Version 2 that does pretty good.