Rogerborg

Mmm, it's really just a £20 surcharge on new players that don't want a 2-tone.

You need any nails for that cross?

Haha, what? The thirst on this bloke. 😆

They're also rather flexible with defences, so you might not even have to wait for membership / UKARA. Worse case, you can say "Cosplay, mate" and bung them an extra £20 for a bogus "defence". Normally I wag a finger at this naughtiness, but it's their problem, not yours, and I doubt you'll do anything nefarious with a RIF.

Steady on there, tiger. We're agreeing that you're right in principle, and in practice we know what airsoft retailers can be like. I have a track record of advising buyers to just fire in with a chargeback ASAP, the moment goods are late or otherwise than as described and they don't get a complete and instant resolution. However, I'm also getting the impression that you've taken this personally, and have turned a minor business transaction into a casus belli for a protracted spat. Is it really worth it over some toy parts?

Honestly, I think it is that. There's no real reason why shotguns and firearm possession are conditional-on-ammunition offence when the same very broad "reasonable excuse" could apply - and I think should apply - whenever you have one in public, shootable or otherwise.

Oh, the cap that holds the spring in place? So they've both sprung into hyperspace?

Sadly, rebuild kits don't seem to be much of a thing in the UK. And I wouldn't throw much money at a Raven: it's Nuprol's budget brand, which is saying something. If we're talking about the main recoil spring, you can get "upgraded" ones (for airsoft definitions of that word) which might work, e.g. https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/cowcow-rs1-recoil-spring-tm-hi-capa-1911-gbb . If that fits but turns out to be too springy, then you could lop off a coil, stretch then flatten it. A handy site to bookmark for springs and things is... well... https://springsandthings.me.uk/ Sorry, no idea about the end cap.

Agreed, I actually regret getting the metal slide AA R17 rather than the plastic version. Decent kick, but as you say, not so clever in our September to May winters.

Oh, we've had plenty of rants here about that. Our firearms-and-firearm-looking-things statute book is a patchwork Frankenstein's monster. The one that really does my head in is S19, which seems absolutely back-to-front in terms of rationality. Carrying firearm in a public place. A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse (the proof whereof lies on him) he has with him in a public place (a) a loaded shot gun, (b) an air weapon (whether loaded or not), (c) any other firearm (whether loaded or not) together with ammunition suitable for use in that firearm, or (d) an imitation firearm. Caught with an undersized bright orange toy in public, get the jail vs "It's OK, constable, it's a real firearm, but I left the shellazines at home." 😕

£100 comes in under TM money, so you're going to be compromising. I'm fine with a cheap Army Armament R17 mock-Glock as a woodland hip-hanger and occasionally indoor use. Avoid Raven, it's some random Nuprol rebrand that even Nuprol won't gamble their, er, "reputation" on. The AAP-01 got a lot of love when it came out. Glock mags, gas efficient, full auto. Then they started breaking, quite a bit - trigger or hammer, I think. Maybe not an issue if you're planning to replace parts anyway, and you can't really argue with the price if you buy today: https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/action-army-aap-01-assassin-gbb-pistol?pv=14741

There should be some sort of spring pushing the hop unit back against the gearbox. I mention this because they're easy to lose or forget when reassembling. I only use Maple Leaf rubbers now because they have long feed lips so should get a good seal. If they mis-feed (tested by dropping BBs up the inverted feed tube to rule out magazine issues) you can trim away the bottom lip as necessary.

It's reassuring to know that he's doing the warranty work for them in the UK, and particular that they get sorted under warranty.

Basics first, did you replace whatever's tensioning the hop unit against the gearbox?

I'm fine with Novritsch guns. Sure, you'll get some lemons, but he does seem to put some actual effort into upgrading replacing stock internals in much the same way as any bedroom tech would do, for the same or even less money.