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Invicta Battlefield last Sunday

I've got one here. Initial impressions are it's a good copy of the MWS. Everything works as it should and the parts that need to be steel are steel. Negatives are it's very dry out the box and needs a good lub. I have a horrible high pitched ping from the recoil spring but I think a bit of lub will sort that out. The other thing to watch out for is the QC. I've found a few loose screws straight out the box so it's worth giving it a once over when you get one to make sure everything is tight. It might even be worthwhile using loctite on anything that is loose out the box. Also worth pointing out with mine that the FPS is very consistant with very little variation between shots which is nice.

That, really. Flip your thinking around, it's got nothing to do with purchase or your use of it. You're not committing any offence by buying or attempting to buy a RIF, the onus is entirely on the seller to provide a defence for their behaviour if prosecuted. But I've been unable to find any instances of airsoft retailers being prosecuted for selling RIFs, so we don't know what evidence would actually be required. It's not spelled out in the law itself. A site-membership / UKARA-like scheme is suggested in a Home Office circular, but the other defences have no such specificity or scheme and would rely on individual and ad-hoc evidence (or a simple declaration). As @Tommikka notes, some retailers openly claim to be adducing an entirely bogus non-defence, and zero figs are given. One ex-retailer (Fat Bobs) simply had a checkbox to declare your intent. I have no idea whether or how retailers record their defence for each sale, or even if they bother with it on an individual basis. RIF retailers are in the business of selling RIFs. Unless three little kids in a trenchcoat totter in wearing a false moustache and squeak "Hello, we - I mean, I am an adult who wishes to purchase your very best stick-'em-up shooter, mister" they're going to make the sale.

kinda like the cannabis situation in Holland - or at least it used to be in the 90's 😆

A licence would be something that's necessary by law, eg a driving licence is required to drive on public roads or a firearms certificate is needed to own a firearm. There's no such thing as an airsoft or ukara licence as there's no legally recognised bit of paper which says a person is either an airsoft player or on the ukara database. There would also need to be appropriate legislation put in place so please show me where in the vcra (or accompanying notes) a licence is mentioned in relation to airsoft.

Got me some stickers and some Plasti Dip for the tired pick and pluck foam in my gun case. Killed hotel boredom for a bit and gave it some life.

Invicta Battlefield on that stoooopid hot sunday beginning of this month!

Dont use UPS, I order from WGC all the time, use the EMS shipping option

They are pretty speedy on the email, there are 2 forms to complete, takes like 5mins. The phone call will be to get your email if they don’t have it.

I think that UKARA 'proves' that you skirmish and therefore qualify to use a realistic imitation firearm. You can prove this in other ways too, provided that the seller of the rif that you want to buy from is reasonably certain that you are genuine. That is of course 'reasonably' convinced in the legal sense. The seller may be your local site, who know damn well that you have played there for years but do not have UKARA. If challenged by the plod, they could show bank statements showing that you have paid for games, and attest that you played them. My son does not have UKARA. I could sell him a rif based on the receipts for games paid for by me for him, and numerous pics of him playing at registered sites. How I understand it anyhow. Possibly wrong. Too pissed to be near a PC tbh, but we'll see in the morning.

First off, if you built this RIF 25+ years ago, have you checked inside it for any issues? Is the hop rubber still fresh and soft? Second, what ammunition are you using? BB quality is a big deal. Third, you shouldn't ever need PTFE tape on an AEG. That mod originated for VSR cut barrels and hop rubbers, where the design allows air to balloon the hop packing and cause a leak. If the hop unit is loose on the rubber, then yes, you should wrap the rubber/barrel in layers of tape for stability, but that's a spec issue at heart, and I would suggest finding a rubber or unit that fits better. Fourth, this issue could be something as simple as the nub or hop arm having shifted, putting more pressure on one side of the rubber. In order for us to give you better advice, I'd suggest disassembling your barrel group, testing and feeling everything, and post pictures! Give us the details and the nitty gritty.

Generally, I'll organize with either my buddies, or folks who have military experience. They know the value of calling enemies out, holding strategic points, and pushing when they need to, so even if it's not a win at the end of the day, we'll typically take home more than our fair share of kills. However... If I'm working with noobs, or even just disorganized players, typically I do my best to simply hold a few strategic points and provide cover fire for anyone nearby. In my perspective, it's often tactically useless to try and organize a push, since if I leave a strategic, game-winning position and have to respawn, chances are that no one on the team will move to cover it. At the end of the day, I feel out who is actually going to work with me and who isn't and play accordingly. It feels amazing capturing flags with one or two skilled players and really turning the tide of the battle, but if there just isn't any team cohesion, I move fast to take and hold overwatch positions and allow other players to move up safely and do well.

I run 4S pretty frequently in certain builds. In general, the motors seem to handle it fine. However, you should note that GATE Titans (mine and those of others) have been known to have issues on 4S. Perun, on the other hand, seems to deal with it fine. I run 4S paired with a 38 TPA motor and 12:1 gears, which allows me to use whatever spring power I'd like (currently using a PDI 170%, which is right for my American fields' assault limits), and so if I want to I can simply up the spring power and start feeding it heavies and have myself a DMR. But really, in my case, it's just for funsies. I saw a 4S on sale one day, and then saw the 38 TPA on ChiHai Shenzhen one day... and the two sort of came together. I will say, the two instances I see people using 4S for practical purposes are DMRs and low-speed motor DSGs (which I have done), especially those that use overly strong springs. It's also a way to more cheaply mimic brushless trigger performance while not having to deal with the avoidance of certain ETUs and settings.

In my experience, people and teams generally get out of a milsim what they put in. If you attend and your admin is good, you're not monging around, shooting bits randomly cause you're bored etc and put some effort in, you won't just be an NPC for others entertainment and your effort will impact the event. But you need to be ready, available and asking for takings. Sometimes the most boring job (external security during a raid, qrf, manning an op, doing stag) can turn into the coolest parts of the weekend if you do it well. You repel their qrf, you rock up to a squad and save the day as qrf, you see and report in the vital bit of intel, you call stand to and repel the fob attack etc etc. If you attend thinking you're owed a good event and it's up to the organiser to entertain you/structure events so you feel Gucci because you've paid a fee and travelled all that way, then you'll probably end up not enjoying it and feel like an NPC. And that is generally because you and your squad aren't doing stag, aren't staying switched on etc so that time the enemy catches you off guard you'll get rolled up and that could just end up being your main contact for the weekend. basically, if you and your squad are switched on, you can't just be an NPC because you will be ready, you will react to the contact etc. You won't be caught napping and off guard, shot in your sleeping bags or your squad rolled up in a contact because you have a stag on, you've maintained spacing and have the right formation etc.

Hi, My son (14) got me into Airsoft and I enjoy it more than I should for my age 😉 But I’ve found that most people just fight for themselves without much strategy or team work. You often end up with static situations where both sides are shooting at each other without much movement. In the army you would do fire and movement. So one fire team suppresses the enemy with fire while the other fire team moves into a better position. Then they would switch roles (simple scenario). But how do you get players that might not know each other and most likely won’t have an army background to do co-ordinated attacks? I’ve tried it with my son but he just thinks I am ‘over thinking this’.

Ok, I understand the reasoning behind UKARA and I understand that you have to play 3 games at the same site in 2 months to qualify but I'm confused! Well, i have questions at the very least. Whats happens if i don't like the first site i play at and go to a second site? That means i have to play 4 times! And then what if i dont like the second site? I then have to play 5 times . . . ad infinitum! That's a bit crap! Read, on here, that someone has been playing for years, has never registered with UKARA but is buying new RIFs like they're going out of fashion! How? What are the other defences, apart from theatrical, that you can use? I was at my local (ish) shop a couple of weeks ago and was looking at a rather pretty little Sig pistol. I was on the verge of slapping my money on the counter when i mentioned that i probably couldnt buy it as in not registered. The lad said that, because of our conversation, he was satisfied that I played and I could buy it! If its that easy why do I need, or even want, to register? I didn't buy it but if the bill for repairing my car comes back cheaper than i expect, I'll be straight back to throw some money at him.

Yes, in the sense of what we actually have now, rather than what was proposed in 2006/2007. It's a very peculiar situation where we have an entire industry dependent on committing crimes, then arguing that each and every sale has its own defence. Nobody can sell RIFs, and yet everybody can sell RIFs. Eh, it's worked out OK, although it's rather surprising that they didn't just lump RIFs in with (other) air guns and only allow them to be sold by registered firearms dealers.

Win some lose some. The difference the leadership can make or break a milsim/filsim. Snipers in rolling respawns, a pet hate I have been fostering for some time, you know the one, marshal with flag will be 5/10 behind last player. The convo goes like this "but my sniper, Gillie suit....... They are mostly white noise by this point "sure bud you have a med, you also have a secondary...." Mostly the same thoughts here, you quickly recognise who will be in the fire team of immediate affect. Might just be that single engagement or you might end up shooting/moving with that person for the game or morning. A salute to those that sit/cover angles of attack, and full confession, I did used to think "you could get closer" but then found out the hard way what happens when no one is on over watch for the objective

Not been airsofting in weeks, life has been very lifey. Hoping to get back to being shown up by rentals this weekend, all being well 🤞🏻

Oh I missed some fun!

UKARA is a bit murky, is a bit fluffy and a bit tick boxey, but if it's a way we can continue to buy RIFs and not dayglo IFs or gel blasters, I'll continue supporting it.

If you want to be on the ukara database then I'm afraid so, however IIRC games at different sites run by the same company do count but the time period still stands. Being on the ukara database isn't a legal requirement to buy a rif, you just need to satisfy the seller that you'll be using it to play airsoft at a proper site There's been a few over the years, but tbh they've generally been a bit dodgy at best. Lastly thank you for not calling it a 'licence', this is a term often banded about by people who don't know what they're talking about

Thanks leo. I guess I should have a fiddle now I have a starting point. Im not seeking a high ROF and probably wont use an ETU. I was considering using PWM to moderate the heat , but perhaps that's not needed.

Dielectric grease cant stop contact arcing, just corrosion over time leading to high contact resistance, the heat then generated at the contacts and carbon build up, which can extend their life. A contact lube is a good thing for airsoft type contacts which slide against each other in any case. It wont stop damage because of the arcing either. Airsoft contacts are electrically awful. It wont help much with our inductive (motor) loads tho. Diodes, capacitors and resistors can effectively eliminate the arcing if used correctly. Mosfets, or a relay, just put less energy through the trigger contacts so they last lots longer and we still have to protect the mosfet from the inductive load.

It's about intent. The seller has to be happy that your purchase is with the intent to use it at an insured Airsoft site or organised event. Ukara just helps shops by showing what you have already done in a way to show your likely intent.

The VCRA (plus additional elements by ‘statutory instrument’) define the defences. UKARA in itself is not a legally required defence, but it is a scheme under which your status as an ‘airsoft skirmisher at insured sites’ can be documented. The 3 games rule is not specified in the legislation, but it aligns with the proposed methodology by the airsoft business community’s lobby groups while the VCRA was a bill. It is the retailer / seller who could be committing an offence under the VCRA, and therefore the UKARA retailers association put into place a scheme based on the proposals at the time of the bill, is most importantly credible if a retailer has to go to court - and has a level of value to the airsoft sites that administer it. The UKARA database is a central register compiled from local site membership schemes, which without the VCRA would be a membership marketing method of encouraging repeat business VCRA defences: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/38/section/37 VCRAsection 37.2)Those purposes are— (a)the purposes of a museum or gallery; (b)the purposes of theatrical performances and of rehearsals for such performances; (c)the production of films (within the meaning of Part 1 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48)_see section 5B of that Act); (d)the production of television programmes (within the meaning of the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21)_see section 405(1) of that Act); (e)the organisation and holding of historical re-enactments organised and held by persons specified or described for the purposes of this section by regulations made by the Secretary of State; (f)the purposes of functions that a person has in his capacity as a person in the service of Her Majesty. Note that they include caveats to justify each Defence, b, c & d don’t include ‘making prank YouTube videos, or student films, e requires organisation of historical re-enactments rather than just deciding to dress up, and f has ‘in the capacity’ of their service. (Claims of needing a RIF to practice weapons handling get brought up every now and again - weapons handling has a defined meaning in armed services and includes full safety procedures, stripping etc - which don’t work with an AEG etc, plus if you are conducting practice drills or extra practice shooting then an IF would do and no VCRA Defence would be required) The airsoft Defence covers the purpose of ‘airsoft skirmishing’ and caveats the intent to skirmish at insured sites. Your shop that decided they will be happy to sell to you either has been convinced of your true intent, or just does not care about the unlikely risk of being taken to court and is happily selling to anyone whilst giving lip service to the defence. As a buyer anything that the seller will accept is good enough - but with another potential downfall (if anything made it to court) There is a shop that introduced the ‘cosplay Defence’, complete with partnering to a Comic-Con with links to their rules which forbade RIFs and therefore documenting a conspiracy to defraud involving the retailer, the Comic-Con and the buyer. (Cosplay is not a VCRA defence, however professional cosplayers that truely perform as opposed to turning up to a Comic-Con as a paying customer could qualify under theatrical - if they have appropriate insurance) Your shops response has more substance - they tell you that you have convinced them that your intent is to skirmish

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You don't actually NEED UKARA to buy a realistic replica, most retailers just rely on it as the simplest VCRA exemption when buying online. Its actually at their discretion hence some retailers waive the UKARA requirement for a little extra dosh or face to face dealings as you experienced. The 3 games at one site is not a big deal even if the site sucks. You still gain experience and then can move on once you are registered. Since the UKARA registration lasts one year, most sites will renew for a small fee even if you don't attend again. A private sale technically falls under the same requirement that the seller should be reasonably satisfied the buyer will use the replica for legal airsoft use. I haven't yet heard of a seller being prosecuted for selling a replica used in a crime but its possible.

For the record I just expressed that I was a private individual purchasing airsoft parts. I did not fill in any commodity codes or anything like that. I did put down my UKASA, which are non existent these days. My parts were delivered the next day.

Isn’t that the definition of a General 😉

I mean for the sake of science i'm curious how it pans out. However for practicality the issue in airsoft generally isnt a lack of horsepower, its getting the gearbox to survive it. Even on 11.1v you get a speediboi motor it'll eat a gearbox on standard gears let alone any high speed shenanigans. And realistically a 7.4 with brushless and precocking is gonna serve up all the practical response you'd realistically want, after that you gotta sell that soul to the hpa devil.

I also see if I can latch onto someone with actual experience in the forces - had a good run with a couple of ex army lads at the RIFT Battlesim - learnt a few things, even though my knees won't allow me to do them now LOL. I still remember that game where @RostokMcSpoonsand I held one of the kill houses in Ping Ping city for most of a game racking up a silly amount of kills. Knowing the sight lines and sneaky points of a site is super important. Actually just realised my first sentence could be read in several different ways 🥴.

These guys do milsim events to add to your list https://www.defiantevents.co.uk

Is the hop rubber new? Or have you used it already? Prommy purples *were* good hop rubbers but now I think there is no point in using them anymore, Maple Leaf ones are much better at lifting 0.28g+ BBs and are cheaper.

365 FPS? I take it you're locked to semi then? Check the barrel is properly in line in the hop unit (take it out and look down it - check the hop mound is actually central and not lopsided), make sure the barrel is, in fact, straight along its length as well (roll it on a flat surface and check it lays flat. Clean your barrel Use better ammo.

Be the change you want to see, and move. I tend to alternate between sniping at the back, and pulling the MP5K for a Leeeeeroy Jennnnkins run when things bog down. Exceptions exist, but airsoft "suppression" isn't all that at a typical woodland site. Most people prefer shooting to moving so the sound of brrrting is pretty much constant. Folk often don't even know that they're being shot at unless they're behind hard cover and hearing the tappy-taps. Even then, it doesn't have a literal-life-or-death deterrence effect, particularly as some folk are going to "not feel" their hits anyway. The main reason to try and co-ordinate is because it's fun, and you can build a narrative around it. Much of what we're doing is telling ourselves stories.

I think this is the best and easiest way to do it. I frequently just pair up with a friend as a sniper team and we can do some real damage with some basic communication and teamwork. Also this. I tried a milsim and I barely shot at all. Once during the night where we were essentially set up as the fall guys (only team without night vision put to defend an objective against way more than us all with night vision) and then were set up the next day on what felt like a very scripted vehicle ambush. So scripted to the point where we had to do a loop and pass by again because taskforce managed to bungle the vehicle ambush that hard and needed a 2nd chance at it. Didn't really enjoy myself for the event, so I don't really do milsim. Don't really want to pay a bunch of money to be uncomfortable in a field getting shot by nightvision gang all night without any response because I can't afford to drop a couple thousand on fancy NVGs. I much prefer a good filmsim game over a milsim and would much rather spend my money on such. Gunman Namsoft is a great example; go out, make the lives of the GIs difficult by doing my sneaky sniper thing while yelling taunts at them. Play as much or as little as I want to through the day and then head back to the safe zone to eat something and get a good night's sleep before doing the same the next day.

Trying to organise skirmishers at a skirmish is like trying to herd cats, 1 might go in the right direction but it's not guaranteed. You then become sergeant major "move up". Everyone has paid their money and they can do as they please etc. Personally I much prefer to be in an organised group. I'd prefer a few good stretegic firefights that blasting like a skirmisher all day. Finding players who like the games I do, the way I do, at the sites I attend, when I can attend them (not much at the moment) is basically impossible. I'd suggest trying a milsim (Stirling) or more organised game (such as a gunman filmsim). With Stirling id always recommend the themed games at catterick 1st, they are more of a thinking man's skirmish. 11:00am to 11:00pm Saturday then again on Sunday, 7:00am (might be 7:30am) to 11:00am, all with hourly objectives. You get squad, command net, specific tas6ks, an awesome site/rules, team work etc. Without the need to camp, be on the ground for 24 hours etc. If you go on your own/2 people/small group, you'll be put with other players to form a squad. The most important fact is, everyone going there wants a more organised type game, it's that mentality and the fact they want it enough to go, that makes it so different. Once comfortable with that, then a combat mission at the trees or catterick is awesome, but they are harder/require more commitment. Most local site "milsims" are skirmishes with ammo caps and maybe medic rules. Gunman filmsims can be a bit of a middle ground between that local milsim and a Stirling. Enjoy the games you attend for what they're advertised for, a skirmish is a blat fest, a hard routine milsim might not have a single firefight etc.

Thanks all for your suggestions. @Joe142 @Shamal I agree about 5.11 kit. Had a few bits over the years for airsoft and while I was serving., and found them to be of decent, rugged quality. Always keeping an eye out for a bargain on the 190l CAMS bag. This is what I bought earlier in the year after, like you @TheFull9 not finding anything suitable at my go-to kit retailers, and most of the gun stores I've used also coming up blank. I like the design and amount of storage in the DSLEAF, especially for mags, but the rifles never feel properly secure and, with two rifles and 7 gas mags, the stitching on the shoulder strap gave way. @gavinkempsell unfortunately, a couple of the sites I go to have a bit of a walk from the car park to the safe zone, so having a suitably sized, sturdy grip is necessary. @RostokMcSpoonsgood shout! Heading there now.

Don’t get me wrong. The last thing I would like is to have a Sargent Major shouting at me 😉 I had enough of that in my army days! But it feels everyone is trying to pull a heavy weight on their own when it would be so much easier if they would team up and pull together.

Figured I'd share a few shots of my latest pickup, really happy with how it looks/feels. Now all I need is to get the folding stock and hook, then I'm sorted!

Got this far with my g3 as u got fed up with it being 4 shades of grey and black. Can't decide whether tinleave it at this or do something more to it. It will have the vortex optics reattached and wrapped in some woodland scrim netting as I just couldn't bring myself to spray the sights.

Was that a euphemism he shared with you whilst you were in the toilets

Generally …. A declaration is required for all goods entering the UK It should be declared by the sender, but the responsibility for the declaration is the importer - and when we buy from overseas that is us At the point of arrival they must satisfy themselves that the contents are legal, that any requirements are met (permits, licences, VCRA defence etc), taxes and duties are paid etc There may or may not be a good enough declaration, they may or may not believe it, they may or may not pull aside random or targeted types of packages / places of origin, and they may or may not inspect contents If a declaration is sent out then your answers could just be ‘no’ (it’s not a gun, it’s not a RIF etc) or the odd ‘yes’ (it’s not a gun, it’s a RIF, here’s my defence) In my latest (mostly unrelated to declarations) import that I’ve just ordered for some custom items, just after I signed off the approved designs I then received an email from someone else in the UK (that I do know) The UK contact invoiced me from his UK company In a few weeks time I’ll find out if they have done that for : 1) direct delivery to me as an overseas supplier to a UK business direct delivering to a UK customer - therefore the customs declaration will detail UK VAT paid 2) they will deliver to him and he will forward to me - an overseas suppliers trade sale to a UK business for onward sale to a UK customer 3) they want to keep me sweet for future business avoiding me getting stung by customs and keeping me out of the loop of the point of import (They deliver to him, between them they deal with any issues, and he sends to me) There is a 4th He may be taking bulk deliveries or they meet up etc, and he deals with the UK distribution

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The TM looks great 👍 Once you have the stock it will be complete 😁 I got a CYMA M870 folding stock and grafted it onto an ASG SPAS It worked out quite well and luckily I'm not worried about accuracy to the real one 😄