Stock levels - where are all the parts?!

[HodgePig]

I appreciate I'm looking at a very narrow cross-section of the market, but what's the craic?!

Stupidly got side-missioned when I should have been spanking cold hard on the slide that @Punisher3990 located for me off the back of my wanted ad, and now they're OOS again. As are almost all decent slides.

No, I don't need shiny bits, but I'm a magpie by nature and shiny things are my bag, and just wondering if this is a Hormuz issue, or has it always been patchy.

My Airsoft budget is pretty much limited to what I free up from other hobbies, and I just upcycle funds But that means when I'm after three parts and they're only in stock across three separate stores all with postage.... I'm kinda having/choosing to wait.

What does 'normal' look like in terms of hi capa/Airsoft mods and spares in the UK? Is this it, and our tiny little island just peaks and troughs in line with containers landing?

I know they get a lot of hate, and the markup seems steep on some parts, but a few bits I sourced for my SSP5 landed in five days and we're all in stock at Novritsch. That's my only real success at getting everything I wanted at one point in time from one shop

 

[Punisher3990]

I have experienced the same; it seems the hi capa/pistol parts are the hardest to source. Theres a few slides I wanted for my BDS9 before I fixed the RMR plate cover, but they were OOS everywhere; even the international shops didn't have stock. I also had a hard time finding Laylax parts for my MP7 and ended up having to import some from Italy.

I have also wondered if perhaps they slowed production on some of these parts or maybe they just cant keep up with the demand. Or maybe the shops here make so little on them it's not worth them keeping stock up.

 

[Skara]

A lot of proper shiny parts are made in small batches by small manufacturers so it's relatively normal for them to be out of stock most of the time.

 

[HodgePig]

A lot of proper shiny parts are made in small batches by small manufacturers so it's relatively normal for them to be out of stock most of the time.

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This makes sense, I'd just assumed as there are only the handful of brands/models, and they seem to be globally distro'd, that there was more mass manufacturing in place.

May also explain the prices

 

[HodgePig]

I have experienced the same; it seems the hi capa/pistol parts are the hardest to source.

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Glad it's not just me
Sounds like I may just need to get over the fact that there is no single place to buy everything I need at any one time, and clearly also need to hit the buy it button more quickly when I find stock!

 

[Impulse]

Parts availability in the UK is shockingly bad. I import most parts from abroad (Asia) outside of the things I can reliably get here like hop rubbers and the inner barrels I like

If you're looking for pistol parts and are happy burning a hole in your wallet because of all the cool stuff they have... have you ever considered boomarms.com?

 

[Galvatron]

I prefer to buy from British retailers to help keep their lights on but so many of them only tend to buy small quantities and I often end up buying from Asia. I don't know if they're afraid of large quantities gathering dust on the shelves or if local or overseas wholesalers only allocate so many spare parts.

I know the Ballerina pistol had a limited allocation to retailers from certain distributors but I wonder if the same applies to parts.

 

[Impulse]

I prefer to buy from British retailers to help keep their lights on but so many of them only tend to buy small quantities and I often end up buying from Asia. I don't know if they're afraid of large quantities gathering dust on the shelves or if local or overseas wholesalers only allocate so many spare parts.

I know the Ballerina pistol had a limited allocation to retailers from certain distributors but I wonder if the same applies to parts.

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Hey, I'd love to, but nowhere in the UK stocks the parts I need for my weird, niche guns. Even MWS parts are hard to source in the UK, and that's my most mainstream rifle platform.

 

[Punisher3990]

Sometimes places like Firesupport can order in parts as they have contacts they can use, but they are still at the mercy of stock levels/shipping prices etc.

I had to buy my 5KU pistol grip from 18airsoft; I would have preferred to get it from the UK, but nowhere stocks it.

 

[Shep120181]

Totally this personally I’ve contacted firesupport for items either out of stock or not on their webpage and they have ordered in

 

[Shep120181]

One thing I’ve never been brave enough to do is order in parts outside of the UK

I know I’ve said this before in a similar thread not sure why I haven’t just nervous I guess so to some degree I’ve also struggled with parts availability for that reason alone

This is where I think personally it really does pay to have a relationship with a RIF retailer I’ve lost count of the amount of times Dan @ DK Armament has found me stuff and in return I always get my RIFs through him only in addition to firesupport too for very specific parts

 

[HodgePig]

I had to buy my 5KU pistol grip from 18airsoft

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Dammit! I'd not come across these before.
My basket currently sits at £257.
Pre tax.
Pre shipping.


This cannot be the way

 

[HodgePig]

One thing I’ve never been brave enough to do is order in parts outside of the UK

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Weirdly, this was the first thing I did

Novritsch were good, sent me a pre-filled customs form for non-RIF stuff (not the legal term), which I didn't see, but when UPS called me I then found it, typed my name and emailed it to them.

I'm still not 100% clear on which components actually require UKARA and which companies seem to just apply it as a catch-all.

Having seen many issues with border force and airguns back when we moved out of the EU, I'm always a bit twitchy. Especially as some of us are on non-UKARA defences

 

[Austeyr]

I'm still not 100% clear on which components actually require UKARA

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Any complete Replica Imitiation Firearm requires a UKARA or other defence (As stated in the VCRA and law document). Parts don't fall under the VCRA.

The majority of Asian retailers with a good reputation will use other VCRA compliant defences if asked. There's still the risk of seizure/questions but even with a UKARA that can happen - Rarely, however

 

[HodgePig]

Any complete Replica Imitiation Firearm requires a UKARA or other defence (As stated in the VCRA and law document). Parts don't fall under the VCRA.

The majority of Asian retailers with a good reputation will use other VCRA compliant defences if asked. There's still the risk of seizure/questions but even with a UKARA that can happen - Rarely, however

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Just to clarify, I know RIF is the proper legal term, I just ballsed up describing a normal import customs form