Tommikka

I like turtles

Rather than fear of arrest, the advice is the fear of attention. Pre-speed cameras we used to call it the ‘attitude test’ when stopped by traffic police. Failing the attitude test today could be the difference between a concerned person reporting strange activity that gets an inquisitive Bobby talking to you , and a night in the cell.

Carver Bks out near Bulford / Tidworth ish? That was where I first drove, and I returned at some time in the late 90s to 2000s for my niece & nephews

I lived in Durrington, in the early 80s, so our playground was ‘tankie’, officially known as Charlie crossing. There was a hill that we would sometimes sit on watching until training troops pulled out We found many things, mostly collecting spent blanks and link. Taking them to school for metal work class cutting the ends off the blanks and making belts to sell to the rest of the school. The general currency being Penguin bars. Live blanks would be fired off by doing something dodgy with an air pistol, sometimes the full blank, sometimes cutting open first for the contents and firing off the percussion cap via airpistol

I was born far away on a Scottish island, my sister in a BAOR hospital - but we ended up down here and I spent my early teens doing anti-social / illegal things on Salisbury Plain with discarded ammunition - but out of the way and unnoticed

Just another couple of irrelevant thoughts. One of our original three founding members of the team had just left the marines, therefore our original t-shirt is identical in appearance to regimental t shirts worn by service personnel. No particular problem as it’s just a green t shirt with a military style logo. However as we are situated around the Salisbury Plain area, and may be up in the morning at the weekend in combat trousers and team t shirt you can then add on one of us who gets short hair cuts but has no situational awareness, and on his way to a game day will routinely stop at the garage for coffee & a newspaper. There are certain types of people who have been hanging around the Salisbury Plain area for decades keeping an eye out for easy targets with no situational awareness. Add to that a few years ago a newer type of people who conducted an untargeted / random attack on an individual who was selected due to proximity, a camouflage style back pack and a short haircut Worst case scenario - you don’t know the current security risk and could be mistaken for what you are not. Easy case scenario - random member of the public finds you suspicious and a call is made, resulting in educational words Ridiculous idea - what landowner would ever think that any business use would be viable when it depends on people getting out of bed on a wet Sunday to dress up and run around the woods????

I have no comparison of bio BB vs non-bio BB, but the main factor that matters is consistency in each BB Nice round balls manufactured to a consistent size, that do not have nasty mould seams to affect their balance will fly like all the other ones in the batch Good manufacturing complete with quality control will do that, and as long as the bio materials are not being affected by their storage environment then they will be fine The experience with any BB will be dependant on its match / suitability for the set up of the RIF

Your need is going to depend on how much you shoot (and how much air you use) vs how long it takes to refill Have you played with HPA to get an idea about your air needs ? Does the site you play at provide HPA fills? The first will guide on how much air you need, and the second as to whether you can top up. One bottle can cover an airsofters needs for the day depending on efficiency and how much you shoot. Airsoft typically operates on a lower input pressure than paintball, but if your inline regulator covers the right pressure ranges you can get a second air cylinder at a fair price ( if you need the fitted regulator at a lower pressure than ‘standard’ it can be more expensive - but cheaper than a compressor ) ’Home’ compressors can now be reasonably priced for a basic setup (make sure it’s fully filtered) But they are slow, noisy, get hot and should be maintained - which often does not happen at home If your site provides air fills then I would recommend filling there and making sure you are topped up before going home If you occasionally need more air at home then a (filtered) stirrup pump will do the job Keep topping up instead of draining and refilling Note that I keep referring to filters ’Clean’ air is essential, and the lack of clean air with bad habits was cause of a series of ‘flash fill’ explosions at site fill stations one year - the injuries were incurred by players who were not at fault, but fill stations had been contaminated by oil on fill nipples, and anything blown inside can contribute A less drastic issue is that regulators fail due to accumulated ‘dirty air’ then the burst disk does its job - still dramatic but less dangerous, and I’ve been present at quite a few burst disk failures, you don’t want a spinning cylinder hitting your ankle (I’ve never had one on mine, I’m usually running away) If you do need and are committed, I don’t have an opinion on particular compressors / brands - just be aware of their uses & limitations

Apologies to @tackle The police often do deal with RIFs in public, the cosplayer jumped on by a group of police in London last month for example They get dealt with in a suitable manner - often including ‘strong words of advice’ but including enforcement of the law. This community among others helps a lot by condemning inappropriate use, and when backing up suitable activity (such as on topic for 3D printing RIF parts - as to good intent on playing airsoft or bad intent on bypassing non airsofters problem with buying RIFs) Don’t get too worried about “they will come after us due to idiots”, do be aware of the possibility, but if we are a good community who think of protecting our hobbies then we look like the responsible good guys

The VCRA section 36.1 and 36.2 cover: 36. Manufacture, import and sale of realistic imitation firearms (1)A person is guilty of an offence if— (a)he manufactures a realistic imitation firearm; (b)he modifies an imitation firearm so that it becomes a realistic imitation firearm; (c)he sells a realistic imitation firearm; or (d)he brings a realistic imitation firearm into Great Britain or causes one to be brought into Great Britain. 36.2 Subsection (1) has effect subject to the defences in section 37. 36.1a is about the manufacture - if 3D printing parts to modify then 36.1a does not apply. If making a new RIF then 36.1a does apply 36.1b is about modifying an IF into a RIF, therefore if it already is a RIF then 36.1b does not apply 36.2 highlights that there are defences to all parts of 36.1. I’m not bothering to quote the defences, but the core VCRA defences plus the additional statutory instrument airsoft skirmisher defence apply to all parts of 36.1 - manufacture, modification, sale, import For 36.1c the seller is liable, so a good seller will want some form of documented defence, and for 36.1d the courier/customs want to be convinced by a documented defence For 36.1b and 36.1d the individual acting may be the ultimate user or may be doing so on behalf of the ultimate user. If the latter they may need to think about some documentation. (Eg if you submit 3D files to a 3D printing service provider - though they may have no idea about the VCRA) If you are the individual manufacturing / modifying then it’s all down to you ….. ….. when we look at what the defences are (I still can’t be bothered to copy/paste to quote them) - the airsoft skirmisher defence does not state the original 2006 proposal nor the UKARA 3 game requirement. If you manufacture a RIF or modify an IF into a RIF for the purpose of being a chav, then you’re committing a VCRA offence, if you intend to play the game of airsoft skirmishing on an insured site then that intent is your defence and you know whether or not that is your intent Don’t be a dick after manufacturing / modifying and you won’t have to prove your intent in court Though of course - if you are modifying a RIF into a RIF then there is no offence **** Note that in early drafts the modification of an IF into a RIF was a separate offence excluded from the defences, but the paragraph was moved / wording was changed and the defences are valid

You can buy divider systems as linked below, but I would just make something with acetate sheet I ‘made’ a simple tube pouch once with a notebook holder by folding a sheet 90 degrees at a time, but if you just cut some slots in strips of acetate you can make a set of pigeon holes to fit an ammo box https://amzn.eu/d/j30fhSZ Mock up of my folded slots …

Bear in mind that I’m an interloper on here, with my real world being paintball and that airsoft is an aside, so don’t be distracted by my HPA which is the right way for the ‘serious’ paintballer (noting that I reverted that pistol to 12 gram CO2 keeping the HPA mod for specific uses) In airsoft the defaults will be battery and green gas etc. Only go to HPA when it is truely justified for that gun - it could bring more problems depending on site to ensure that you can get HPA fills Other than there often being less understanding of HPA in airsoft (or deliberate ‘ignorance’ to exploit bypassing regular locks etc) it’s a backward step to tether a RIF to an airline with a bottle on your back

It’s a start, but the proportions are all wrong for that pistol mount …… ….. though in a slightly more serious manner, I have actually played a pistol with a 13ci cylinder attached It worked, but could not be held outstretched on target for long ….. Running a pistol challenge and needing more pistols in the team inventory gave me the “justification” to “invest” in a twin, which then simplified to going akimbo and managing reloads & CO2 changes

Current UK airsoft limits are limited by the Police and Crime bill, providing you are within the limit your RIF / IF is fully exempted from firearms legislation Previously, though there were Home Office guidelines (which I believe were similar to the now legal limit) the legal limit was under firearms legislation for air weapons at 6ft lbs and 12 ft lbs (pistol type and rifle type) Note that there have been legal arguments that the lack of a rifled barrel can make the 6ft lb rule applicable 6ft lbs = 8.13 joules 12ft lbs = 16.27 joules The higher 2.5 joule allowance is 1.8 ft lbs UK airsoft has a nice and simple set of limits which is reinforced by legislation and explicitly excludes (compliant) airsoft from firearms legislation In paintball however, we remain in the murky world of firearms legislation (6/12 ft lbs), case law (max 300fps) Home Office guidelines (with a good working relationship with the UKPSF), and varying interpretations of placement under the VCRA

A PS …. Aim to practice reloads from either hand, which means you can keep the left pistol on the left and the right on the right Alternatively if better at reloading in one particular side then you can swap pistols over as they empty, that can mean you always know which will run out before the next and can reload from the optimum side