It's about how it looks. The law is there to make sure realistic looking guns aren't sold to people they shouldn't, and that even the unrealistic ones aren't sold to minors.
So yeh, AEP, GBB or just a gas pistol, springer etc. - it's all the same. Can't buy if you're under 18.
As far as I know pretty much all of these Chinese made eotech replicas are essentially the same, think it's always going to be a bit hit or miss with them.
Yes it would be an IF and no longer a RIF if you painted it that way, but you should be aware that - assuming you are going to use it for airsofting, or historical re-enactments, or in a movie or a play you are producing, etc - then it absolutely is not illegal to own a RIF, even if it looks like the most unbelievably realistic gun ever, providing you can demonstrably prove you have an entirely peaceful reason for wanting to possess such a thing.
It only becomes illegal if you to do something stupid and antisocial with one, such as holding up a bank with it, or scaring people in the streets with it, etc. That is the reason why the legislation about the things is called the Violent Crimes Reduction Act and not the Stop You Making Movies or Plays, Going Airsofting & suchlike Act. But of course it is also illegal to hold up a bank whilst holding a wooden spoon in your coat pocket and claiming it is a gun; it merely becomes easier to hold up a bank with a RIF at your disposal, which is why so much of the sections in the VCR Act are concerned with the supply of RIFs as opposed to the possession of them, because supplying a RIF to someone who is going to do something stupid and illegal with it, is effectively going to make you complicit in the crime.
So in essence it's fairly simple: if you have either an IF, or a RIF, then just don't be a dick with it, don't flash it about in public and don't scare anyone with it, use it only for a legitimate purpose and don't lend it to, or sell it to anyone who does not have a legitimate reason to own it (and who can prove that to you satisfactorily). Adhere to that behaviour and you will not have any problems.
Above all, always bear in mind that as much as we like the things, not everyone is into guns, nor able to easily identify a real one, so you can entirely understand someone being scared if they think someone is wandering about with one because they see you putting your realistic-looking but plastic AK74 into the boot of your car, so just don't ever create that possibility and the law will not ever be your concern. You have a legal responsibility to ensure that is the case, which is what all that VCR Act stuff is really about.
If you ship a gun into the UK, it is always more or less going to get spotted by customs. I wouldn't class that as two-tone as it's not two-tone enough.
There are loads of great websites which can give you a quality gun and will two-tone it for you. Take a look at proairsoftsupplies, zeroone. Anything without "just" or "bbguns" in the name.
If you're at starting airsoft, take a look at G&G rifles, I vouch for them and I'm pretty sure that everyone else on this forum will as well.
Rather than relying on the answers on this thread, you should take a look at the legislation for yourself, since you need to stay on the right side of the law in order to avoid a potential fine and/or imprisonment. Ignorance of the law has never been considered a suitable defence for any criminal activity, and there is no guarantee that anyone who replies on this thread is giving you the correct information, even though most will at least be trying to do so. Nevertheless, if you are considering getting hold of any sort of weaponry, you should certainly make an effort to be aware of the legalities for yourself, in order to be absolutely sure of your defence. You can read the legislation for yourself at this link, I'd recommend paying particular attention to Sections 36 through to Section 41:
You should also be aware that laws can change and be amended. Provision is generally made within the text of any UK legislation to allow the authorities to make changes and amendments to existing laws with minimal difficulty, providing such changes are not especially radical. This is quite a common occurrence with laws relating to firearms, since there is always new weaponry coming along, which the law then has to take into account, so be aware of the fact that the VCR Act does get added to and amended from time to time.
Here is the most recent amendment list for the VCR Act:
Once you are familiar with the laws, you will know exactly what you can and cannot do without breaking the law, which is certainly the most sensible way to go, since a fine and prison sentence is unlikely to be fun. In short, you would be foolish to rely solely on some strangers on a forum telling you their personal interpretation of the law to keep you out of the court room, because it won't.
Having looked at the VCR Act, I daresay it will not take you long to spot that there are plenty of loopholes, gaps and stupid bits of the law which are not very well thought out! This is usually because such laws get fired through Parliament in response to a what is a popular subject in the newspapers that year, as some MP or other tries to make a name for themselves on the back of the issue, rather than the law actually being well thought out. So don't rely on the misplaced conception that the law is based on common sense, because it quite often appears to be based on anything but common sense.
Historically, knee-jerk reactions from particularly the tabloid press in the UK has on occasion led to changes to firearms laws in the UK which have in fact been counter-productive, some of which have even meant that the number of illegal weapons out there on the streets has increased dramatically. A recent example of this would be when Brocock produced an air pistol revolver which used a self-contained air cartridge system (known as BACS). That particular Brocock pistol could be converted into a weapon capable of discharging .22 centre-fire ammunition, although frankly making that conversion was not as easy as the media actually made out, since it required a lathe, plus some skill in using one, and also required one to be able to get hold of .22 ammunition too. Most people who were not into the sport of shooting air guns had never heard of Brocock's pistol, but it became common knowledge when the tabloids started to make a big furore out of it, and predictably enough, as they do when a record or movie is threatened to be banned, the sales of Brocock pistols went through the roof, with eventually over 80,000 of them being sold in the UK.
So, in 2003, the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (which was effectively the prototype for the Violent Crimes Reduction Act) decreed that the Brocock pistol (and indeed all self-contained air cartridge system weapons) had to be either handed in, or put on a firearms certificate. Of course since the Government offered no compensation to those handing in their firearms, hardly anyone bothered to do so, and so what that 2003 law effectively did, was put a crapload of illegal firearms out there which the Government had no way of tracking. It is known that there were around 80,000 Brococks sold in the UK, but only around 6,000 of them were put onto firearms certificates, but there were nowhere near 74,000 of them handed in, which means that unless everyone who bought one dutifully destroyed it and said nothing about having done so, then there must be literally thousands of them out there. I've no doubt that there are people out there who quite legally bought a Brocock prior to 2003, which is now sat unloved in a drawer, and who are blissfully unaware of the change in its legal status. But the law would not care about that, which tells you all you need to know about the law not being based on common sense, but also tells you why you need to make an effort to stay aware of any changes which might be made to it when you have any sort of weaponry in your possession.
Since in his day, you could go to the local ironmonger's and buy a .50 Bulldog revolver with no licence whatsoever, Charles Dickens was certainly not referring to firearms laws when he had Mr Bumble say that: 'the law is an ass, a idiot!', but he did nevertheless have the sentiment right enough. But as stupid as the law may be on occasion, you should still make an effort to not only stay on the right side of it, but also to be seen to be staying on the right side of it. And you should make that your responsibility.
Brunix001 reacted to proffrink in Gas Blowback Pistol - for minors