GunmanAirsoft

The only radio equipment which is legal to use on PMR446 frequencies must be type approved. Type approval requires that it have such features as 0.5W maximum ERP, fixed antenna, be incapable of being reprogrammed etc. As a basic rule of thumb, if you can remove your antenna or program it to different frequencies then it is not legal for use on PMR446 frequencies. The 'purpose of document' paragraph at the start of this document makes it quite clear: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/spectrum/spectrum-policy-area/spectrum-management/licence-exempt-radio-use/licence-exempt-devices/Analogue_and_Digital_PMR4461.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwi6rrvxxL3MAhViIsAKHcZlDRsQFggbMAA&usg=AFQjCNELfpw4NlItAD2huol8mwFTh9Gh9A&sig2=HWY6EmztD2VyoHSvbvFDHA

One standard licence covers your whole team's use of the frequencies as long as you are there being responsible for the use. The simple business licence has standard frequencies which can be used anywhere in the UK and they all use the same frequencies so you have to coordinate with anyone else using them. It's like the Pmr446 but you pay for it and you can use higher powers and more frequencies.

Great guide, much needed. Might be worth mentioning that many sites use one or more of the UK Business Simple frequencies for marshal/safety comms so people should check with any site they attend whether there are any frequencies to avoid. Is there a technical guide to setting up radios on here anywhere to help people avoid mistakes like leaving Baofeng set to the default 25Khz bandwidth?

Oh my God, between now and my previous post which quoted the exact law there have been several posts with massively incorrect information in them. If you are under 18 you cannot buy an IF or a RIF. That is the only thing restricted by age. Anyone of any age can own an IF or a RIF regardless of what they intend on doing with it. To sell, import, manufacture a RIF, or to convert an IF to a RIF you need a valid defence. A valid defence is using it at an organised, insured Airsoft event. The minimum attendance is one event. If you want to spray your two tone gun in a realistic colour and you will be playing with it at an organised and insured event then you can do it. There is no age restriction on doing this apart from the fact that under 18s cannot buy cans of spray paint. Sources are: Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (Sections 36 & 37) Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (Realistic Imitation Firearms) Regulations 2007 Firearms Act 1968 (Section 24a)

The exemption under section 37 of the VCR Act 2006 which applies to airsoft: 3.(1) It shall be a defence in proceedings for an offence under section 36 of the 2006 Act or under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to that Act for the person charged with the offence to show that his conduct was for the purpose only of making the imitation firearm in question available for one or more of the purposes specified in paragraph (2). (2) Those purposes are (a)the organisation and holding of permitted activities for which public liability insurance is held in relation to liabilities to third parties arising from or in connection with the organisation and holding of those activities; (b)the purposes of display at a permitted event. Those exemptions apply to the 4 offenses under section 36: (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; ©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. The sale or purchase of Imitation Firearms to/by under 18s is prohibited by the Firearms Act and no exemption exists that I am aware of.

Our Tuddenham site holds the correct public liability insurance so yes, absolutely.

Converting an IF to a RIF has no age restriction. The sole requirement is that the gun is to be used at a correctly insured airsoft site.

If you're playing at a properly insured skirmish site with it, then you are not breaking the law if you spray it.

If you were registered with one of our sites and asked us in advance we would happily provide confirmation of your current UKARA status to a third party. As far as we're concerned, it's part of the service paid for by the UKARA admin fee we charge. Don't forget, UKARA was put in place to prevent retailers from going out of business, from a business point of view I can understand if a retailer is reluctant to come forward with details that help you buy a RIF from someone else, it's not how the process was intended to be used and they're opening themselves up to being dragged through court to defend somebody else's sale... If you haven't done so already, contact the site operator who your membership is with, I'm sure they will be more than happy to help. On a related note, I do get frustrated when I get calls or emails from sellers saying "I've got Fred here, says he plays on your site and wants to buy a RIF, can you confirm him?" Can you please ring me first and ask so I've got half a chance of figuring out who you are? My memory is shocking especially with names, and I may have 3 or 4 Freds playing on different sites.

Actual wording of the airsoft defence in UK law : "3.(1) It shall be a defence in proceedings for an offence under section 36 of the 2006 Act or under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to that Act for the person charged with the offence to show that his conduct was for the purpose only of making the imitation firearm in question available for one or more of the purposes specified in paragraph (2). (2) Those purposes are (a)the organisation and holding of permitted activities for which public liability insurance is held in relation to liabilities to third parties arising from or in connection with the organisation and holding of those activities; (b)the purposes of display at a permitted event." If the RIF is sold to be used at one game no offense has been committed, the law says nothing about how many times or how often you have to play.

Seems like every now and then they produce a duff one. Having said that, sometimes changing gas helps as different gasses produce different back pressures on the outlet valve of the mag. Unless you tweak the mainspring, the striker always exerts the same amount of pressure on the valve but if the gas pressure is low it can push out too much gas for too long. With heavier slides I've always found the WE pistols work better with higher pressure gasses like red or black. TM pistols with lighter slides are better with green gas and also tend to work better in the cold. I've not had a play with an XDM but I can't imagine it's much different to their other newer pistols. Without looking at the gun I'd guess a gas problem, or you got unlucky and got a "Friday afternoon" gun :/

Thought I was going bonkers for a minute. If anything flash mags are noisier because of the zip-zip noise they make lol

I thought flash mags were just hi caps with a string attached to the winder? How does that stop the rattle?

Here's how they work... The top bit of the magazine is a hopper which you fill with BBs. The bottom bit has a clockwork mechanism that feeds the BBs up a short tube to the top of the mag and into the gun. The winder just winds it up, as you fire the spring unwinds, turning a wheel which picks up the BBS. The rattle comes from the BBs in the hopper part as they are loose and free to move about inside the mag If you fill up the mag, wind it, then top it up it will rattle less, but as you fire there are less BBs in the mag and more empty space so more rattle. Mid and low caps have a really long tube that goes round and round the inside of the mag with a compression spring inside. You feed the BBs in from the same hole as they feed out of the mag and into the gun. The spring expands to fill the space in the tube behind the BBs therefore no rattle. The downsides to mid and low caps are the lower capacity and you need to use a speed loader or push the BBs in one at a time, kind of like loading a real magazine. Carrying a partially full speed loader will create the same rattle as a partially full hi cap however...

I always store mine with the mag removed, safety on and the battery disconnected, in a gun bag, at work. Magazine spring tension should be released by emptying mid or low caps or else you'll end up with mags that like to keep the last few BBs for themselves. I always released the tension on my hi caps too as if you leave them wound up in storage for a while they can get jammed (don't ask me how). I always store my pistol with the mags empty of BBs but full of gas. The pistol is stored mag out, chamber empty, trigger pulled. My shell ejecting shotgun is stored as per my real 12 bore : magazine and chamber empty, action open, safety on. Always make them as safe and inert as possible, because the first thing people seem to do when they see a gun like object is to pick it up and pull the trigger (the mind boggles). My real rifles are stored in one safe and the ammo and bolts in a different one, but I think that's probably a bit over the top for Airsoft kit ;p