Rogerborg

Ace, great to hear it wasn't anything serious. That's a pretty smart spring change system too.

Not all heroes wear khaki. Or maybe you do, I don't know. Either way, thanks for doing this, I wish eBay would make it a bit easier.

Big oofs, that's awful. I really wish eBay allowed contacting bidders, just for circumstances like this where there's no way to warn them that they're about to get ripped off. I know, "privacy", but since they won't do a damn thing about counterfeits themselves, it's a piss poor way to protect customers. I've never done it before, but I'm half tempted to register a sock account and bid a crazy amount just to try to protect these victims.

Withdrawn bid, lucky escape. I've reported it to eBay for all the good that will do. Back in the day, eBay used to let you message other bidders directly. I'd take great pleasure in sending winning muppets links to new items that cost less than what they'd just bid on a used one. Ah, good times,good times. I can see why eBay stopped allowing that.

Ah! Good call. Looks like it's a dead simple quick-change:

https://www.trijicon.com/support/product-authenticity "Please do not contact us to determine if a potential [used] purchase is authentic. We can only determine authenticity if we have the product in-hand at our factory. " That seems like rather a silly attitude. I know they've probably spoken with some lawyer who's said what lawyers will always say: "Do nothing, say nothing, that'll be $5000." But why not say "Send us a picture, and we'll answer with either 'That's definitely a fake' or 'We can't say for sure if that's a fake'. We will never say 'That's genuine' from a picture." Because it's in their interest to reduce used market sales, and protect buyers from being ripped off with fakes and then bitching about the brand.

Why? The wires are hot. The cost is in time, to see if it's locked up under compression, and if so release the ARL.

Hot wires mean power is getting to the motor. It's likely locked up with the spring under compression, and the motor armature lined up with the permanent magnets (I can science, me) so that there's not enough torque to get it moving any further. However, it will still draw more current than when it's spinning, so don't keep trying to free it up with trigger pulls and don't bypass the fuse. Cheaper to replace that than the motor! That's the theory. In principle we'll have to wait for someone who knows the practice to tell you if there's an easily accessible anti-reversal latch release on the M249 that will make this a 10 second job, or whether you're looking at disassembly to get to it. Sorry, a quick Googling doesn't turn anything up.

I'm starting to suspect that I may be a diversity hire.

Listen carefully...

Airsoft eugenics FTW. I actually agree: if you want to sell, git gud. Consider the cost and time required to set up and handle payments from the one or two volume sellers.

I haven't checked, but is he taking ads down early in order to post new ones? Also, it's 14 per account. Has anyone checked IP addresses? Not great for anyone who posts something similar just before a fresh pile-o-gunz gets dumped. I'd call caveat emptor on that. Also, giving the ongoing stocking situation, if he has something for sale that would be cheaper at a retailer if they had any, but they don't, then isn't he offering the best deal? My only real objection is if he's making it hard for folk to find other sellers. I guess that depends on whether you're visiting the facilities before or after another steaming dump.

I'd view it as a gateway for "as new never been scrimmished" sellers to drop into the forums if they want to. It's particularly funny if they go straight from the classifieds to this thread. Fair point, maybe the frequency of ad posting (not just concurrent live ads) could be dialled down a bit.

But offering it as collection only sharply reduces the potential market. I'd list the gun as postable - granted with the risks of that - and see if I could find a local buyer for the case. Regarding the risks of posting expensive toys, I wouldn't deal with someone who comes across as a professional angry man, either as a seller or a buyer.

It's what I thought right away, which is why I'm not that fussed by this thread. What 15 year old lad wouldn't browse PatrolBase and then come up a wizard wheeze to get his hands on some of that tacticool kit? All that aside, if he's keen to try airsoft, good for him. Let's get him playing at a proper site, then a solution will present itself.

While I strongly suspect that OP isn't telling us the whole story, I can't see much of a problem with the sell-to-gift process, if everyone is open and above board about it. Given that it's always been legal to gift a RIF, buying one to gift to a 16 year old who has gone through the exact same process as anyone else who's got UKARA seems to me to satisfy the intent of the law, which is to make it available only for "the organisation and holding of permitted activities". I understand that we don't want RIFs getting into the hands of rogues, and it was a poor show by OP to ask how to get around the VCRA. However, if he's now found a way to get one without subterfuge by playing some airsoft first, it's big shrugs from me. Some things I'm bearing in mind: 1. There is no age limit on the defence for modification, so it's always been legal for his dad to get a two-tone, then for him to modify it into a RIF for the purposes of organised airsofting. 2. Berating the lad achieves nothing. If he can get his hands on a two-tone then there is in practice nothing stopping him from modifying it. All we can do is to encourage him towards the most responsible route,which is to play first, then postpone any purchases until later. 3. ... because he might be a fantasist who never does any of this anyway.

I'm going to be a bit contrarian here. They'd be selling to his dad, on the basis that it was going to be gifted straight to someone who will use it to play airsoft, with the same evidence of that as anyone with UKARA could produce. I mean, that's if the stories are straight, which I'm not convinced about, but I don't see a problem with the situation. I suspect that too. However, it's not outwith the bounds of possibility. I'm not actually suggesting that, I'd rather that he rented for 2 months first. Better for us to have him demonstrate an interest and get a RIF than for him to obtain a two-tone up front, never actually bother playing, and be left with an IF and nothing to do with it except get up to mischief. I cannot see any reason why, having turned an IF into a RIF, you'd undo it. Nothing in law obliges you to do so, and you're just making a rod for your own back by repeating the actual offence (modification) on each game day. tl;dr version - I think the lad is doing the right thing. Play three times over 8 weeks, then talk it out with the site, his dad, and PatrolBase, and get a RIF.sold over the table and then gifted to him.

It's a grey area as you can't get a UKARA number yourself (under 18), and neither can your dad (not playing). What's unambiguous is that at under 18 you can't personally buy any imitation, realistic or otherwise, and they can't sell it direct to you. However, as regards selling to your dad, PatrolBase can do as they like, it's them that are committing the offence, not him for buying it. If your site are prepared to say that they know and you've played there at least 3 times over at least 8 weeks, and your dad says that he's buying it to gift straight to you, I'd say that's well within the the spirit of the law. I would double check with the site to be sure that they're prepared to offer membership to someone under 18. That's generally (but not necessarily) synonymous with them issuing you a UKARA number, and again, that's for 18 and upwards. Good on you for asking anyway, some folk would just buy two-tone and then strip the paint or hit it with a rattle-can. Whatever you get, and however you get it, just be sensible and discrete with it and it won't be an issue.

I've just noticed this, it's ace. Now there's no sudden glare when I tab between AFUK, Twitter, Facebook and PornHub. 👍

Just be sure to use it to PUNASH A CHEETAR!!!

[Checks News section for any report of a theft from a retailer] Yes, suspicious adverts are suspicious. In more important news, I made some Neapolitan pizza last night, just cooked down tomatoes, basil and mozzarella (could not find buffalo), and pre cooked the wafffer thin base at 250C on a perforated tray. Not half bad, I have to say, although I do need a pizza oven or at least a stone, or might hit it with a blow-torch next time. Mrs Borg had deep pan with pineapple, I'm looking into divorce lawyers.

Well, all for the best if it's avoiding delays. They have flattened the ends more than mine got, and I've never been convinced by the point of springs that are always under significant compression. It feels like giving the gearbox a hard time for the sake of it, although I expect there's some reason why they all do it.

Is that what you went with? The spring looks like it might have been cut and flattened. Not at all a problem if so[*], I'm just wondering if they're replacing or trimming. [*] My CYMA M4 came from PatrolBase with the spring cut so short that it was only just barely under tension with the piston forwards. It still shot a consistent 330 fps and the gearbox was doubtless happier to not be under constant stress.

Perfect for hunting bounties and dealing with Rebel scum.