Rogerborg

I know, I know, ask the Firearms section at the Home Office. It's all a bit bonkers when you apply a moment's thought. There are sellers in the UK who will flog you (for example) an SRS with a spring that puts it over 2.5J, i.e. technically an air gun firearm, not an airsoft gun. Strictly speaking, they wouldn't then need a RIF defence for that (but should be following air gun laws, not that they do). But they do need a RIF defence for selling the exact same object with a fractionally less powerful spring in it. Although strictly strictly speaking, because it's not based on a specific real world firearm, it's not actually a RIF at all. Even though by any reasonable-person (non legal) definition it is, and sellers do ask for a defence. Unless the spring inside it puts it over 2.5J. In which case apparently the outside stops looking like a real gun, even though it has now become a real (air) gun. I know, I know... firearms legislation. 🤪

Do you have a reference for that position? It would be handy (for paintballers and air gunners) but I'm still struggling to see why they are exclusive, and why the same item can't be covered by two different Acts at the same time. Motor vehicles, for example, fall into a plethora of conflicting and overlapping definitions in multiple Acts, Regulations and case law, which are applied as it suits the State rather than us.

Sorry to hear that. Given how new(ish) those are, isn't that still under warranty?

I'd call it rather curious, and wonder what's behind that belief. Home Office circular 031 / 2007 only mentions airsoft. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures I always get twitchy reading that, as it's neither Act nor Regulation, it could vanish off of the interwebs at any point, or a court could simply decide not to find it persuasive given that it doesn't actually claim to be the direction of the relevant Secretary of State.

Very much site dependent. Folk play in wheelchairs and have fun, but that depends on what you expect from the hobby. Airsoft guns aren't that accurate, and YouTube videos are heavily edited. If you have limited mobility then you'll spend a lot of time either out of range, or getting closed down and hosed. If you don't enjoy getting shot (and over-shot) with bits of plastic then you're not going to have a great day. Only one way to find out though.

"Buy a TM recoil because it's got the best parts, then replace them all with bester parts." has a familiar ring to it. Where have I heard that before? 😕

True that, 0.28g is the minimum that I use in woodland now. And keep your expectations realistic: no amount of money, or belief, will prevent your BBs being effected by wind, rain, or foliage, and nor will they make your targets just sit still and wait for them. I'm perfectly happy and competitive with AEG toys in the £75-£140 range, plus the aforementioned hop rubbers and barrels. Aftermarket motors add snappiness and rate of fire. After that it's about BBs, getting the hop dialled in, and where you point it. If I were going to spend £500 on an airsoft toy, and the goal was maximum accuracy, i.e. maximum consistency, I'd forget about AEGs and think about trying-then-buying a used HPA package.

At that price, I'd be looking at an Edge 2.0 to get the Aster. Specnas with rubbery Maple Leaf bits are a decent enough shout though. You could also throw in a ZCI barrel while you're in there and still come in well under that budget. At a minimum, clean the barrel and hop.

A nuance: the VCRA provides a defence to the offence of importing a RIF. A defence is not a licence to do so, although Border Farce have historically chosen to treat it as such. They could choose not to at any point. At least that's according to what's presented has as Border Force Operations Manual here https://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/02/imitation-firearms.pdf "The VCRA sets out a number of defences to prosecution which although do not technically apply at the point of import it is UK Border Agency policy to apply them to private individuals as if they did." The caveat is that there's no document number on it, or anything that could be used to verify that it is, or was, an actual Border Farce document, so you couldn't even cite it to them.

OMG CHEETARS PUNASHED!

Yup, definitely stealing that one. I had the usual day at Biohazard CQB. Fun, fast paced, constant action. But too many players for the site, and muddled briefings rattled out quickly in a room with bad acoustics. Infuriatingly long breaks between games, with no cattle-prodding of the slackers. So, just like every other site, really. The actual play was mostly good natured, very few whangers, solid play from the rentals, it'll do until Depot 2.0 gets going. MP5K and R17 both behaved well, some rebellion from the Specna Arms SA-E02 set up for CQB, which resolutely refused to apply any hop even after trying a selection of rubbers and nubs at lunch. I didn't push the spacer ring between the barrel and hop unit, I wonder if that gave the barrel too much vertical play.

See also YouChoob "celebrities" and "professionals". This used to happen all the time in reenactment as well. Local single-group events were great fun, and carefully run. Big multi-group events tended to become shitshows, with an escalating level of "Well, if you're playing by your own rules, then so am I." Not always, some of them were very well thought through and run, and you could generally tell beforehand which ones they were going to be, and which were going to be wing-it-and-hope whangfests. I know which one this event looked like up front.

I think the big-brain genius is talking about trying to smuggle a RIF back hidden in his car, without a defence, and just hoping that he won't get caught. I'm torn between wanting him to try it, and hoping that he doesn't.

Usual opinion on that: pre-game chrono is theatre. It confirms that honest players are honest, or will punish them for being inadvertently a bit hot (but honest enough to show up). Rogues - and we seem sure they were in evidence - will simply cheat or avoid it. They'll even get a thrill out of that. The "holiday rules" aspect of an expensive event like that is also going to lead to it, and if they pre-announced that there was going to be no chrono, they practically invited it. You either catch rogues in game, or not at all. No warnings, no excuses, no "I'll put it in the car", they're off the site. Given the paucity of marshals, that was clearly never going to happen. Shouldn't your support (and money) be conditional on their behaviour changing? If not, why would they bother? That's assuming that they'd been honest in their disclosure. Actually, it's assuming that they were insured at all. Given the likely cost of cover for a one-off event, they might have decided to just chance their arm. And I say "they", but if you'd lost an eye, who exactly would you sue? An individual? A limited company? A limited company with no assets set up just to run these events? And on what grounds? Having eye-pro shot off or through doesn't automatically mean a hot gun, and accidents don't always mean liability. Eye pro can be insecure or insufficient. As I keep noting, EN166-F glasses are not and can not be rated for airsoft energies, and yet many folk wear them. The only case I can think of is one where a rental lad got blinded by being shot in the eye, in a safe zone, point blank, and claimed that the site had said nothing about removing mags, hadn't checked them, and hadn't prevented dry-firing. You'd think that would be open and shut, but even at that, the site argued the toss on liability and I don't know how or if it was resolved.

Ahoy and welcome. Are you planning to rent for a bit before re-mortgaging the house to buy RIFs?

Showing his missus the advert, before he bumped the price and added: "Don't really want to part ways so might not say yes to offers" ? But then why even leave it up? Either way, avoid like the plague.

Ah, I misrecollected some of the details. Brigadier, not Major, it was a larger multi-tool, but a 2" blade, I infer folding, so not illegal at all. Arrested, fingerprinted, DNA taken, accepted a caution and permanent criminal record, which later seems to have been struck when he received better legal advice. The take-away point though is that yes, they check things. It seems like everything going on the train is going to get x-rayed, so you'll get caught. Given the potential criminal penalties, and the certainty that you'll lose the item, you'd have to be a mug to attempt it without a rock solid defence. I have high hopes for OP though.

Why? Unless you have a defence, and can produce it on the spot, don't do it. You're looking at up to 51 weeks in prison, and/or an unlimited fine. Yes, they check. Truckers are regularly caught and given custodial sentences for contraband and weapons. An ex Army Brigadier was caught on the Chunnel with a small multi-tool with a 2" blade, arrested, and accepted a caution and a permanent criminal record. https://metro.co.uk/2006/11/20/brigadier-held-for-knife-on-train-400495/ (There's a happier ending to that one, fortunately, but it shows that they do check)

To be clear, I think the description is helpful and at least partially honest, but I'd be offering a fraction of that asking price for a junk toy.

Advert looks honest, it's not in stock, caveat emptor on that one. I don't think there's any intention to rip anyone off, just optimism.

No blood, no boobs = no byline.

Has there been any press about it, good or bad, large or small?

It would be a dick move, as you're not going to be playing with the hop full on: you'd be bouncing 0.2g off the ceiling. And if you get caught hot in-game (unlikely, but decent sites do chrono in-game) I'd have zero sympathy for you being kicked out and banned from that site. This isn't meant to be judgemental, I get that it's very frustrating that airsoft is such an inexact science. And if you've only got one gun with you there's a strong incentive to take a... liberal... interpretation of chrono rules. I've come a cropper at chrono with an unexpectedly hot gun: just barely, but barely is enough. But that's a great reason to always have a backup. If you don't have an M100 handy, you could clip that M105 down. Clip off the last coil or two (I do one at a time), heat the raw end in a gas flame (I've just barely managed it with a cigarette lighter on site) to get it glowing dull red, and flatten it down. Give it a little run over with a file if you fancy getting it really flat. Chrono, and repeat if necessary.

Well, we are where we are. Specnas come with an M90 spring[*] and I was seeing around 0.83J ("300fps") out of mine today with the M90 in it. 90m = 295 feet, so that's actually about what I'd expect. Fine for CQB, not so great for woodland (only Tokyo Maruis go further with less energy ) Hop should effect energy. If it was shooting at the same muzzle velocity with or without hop then it sounds like something was wrong there, and it's now actually applying hop - and you won't need much to lift 0.2g. Although 0.58J (250fps) is pretty weak, I'd want more than that for outdoors. Given the quick change system in the Specnas, and that the air seal could be better (reportedly and from experience) I'd be looking at looking at throwing an M100, 105 or even 110 spring in there. Or sorting the air seal, but I couldn't get mine perfect with grease or new o-rings, and a spring is cheaper than changing any other part. [*] As well as an M120 which isn't much use for the UK - too much for an AEG, likely not enough for a DMR.

Christmas blow jobs are the best.