Rogerborg

I'm sure yours is fine.

A Maple Leaf and omega nub does a very decent job, through a clean barrel. Other opinions are available, but bear in mind that it's airsoft, and there's a certain amount of magical thinking about the best shots, not the typical ones that miss due to wind, leaves or eddies in the space-time continuum. There's only so much consistency possible when slinging tiny bits of plastic in the real world.

And "yes" to the next dozen times you ask again. If you're 18 or over, then you can buy, or attempt to buy, a RIF with the UK, and own it. You aren't committing an offence by doing that, so you don't need any defence, or to worry about it in any way. If you can get your hands on it, you're good to own it. Please do be aware that possession of any RIF or IF in public is an offence unless you have (and can prove) a "reasonable excuse". The standard for that is very low: one piece of case law mentions "playing cowboys and indians". If you're at, or on your way to or from, an airsoft skirmish, you're good.

Great to hear that, and it's always a pleasant surprise when something in airsoft turns out to be as easy as it should be, rather than as hard as it could be.

Well, it might have been. We've also heard from folk who have had their UKARA numbers on the package being asked for it again, being required to complete firearms declarations, and waiting weeks-to-months. People have even been told that they need to complete declarations after delivery. I'd rather have a UKARA number than not, but it doesn't seem to be the panacea that it once was. Oh, it does interest us, and it's certainly an irritation when you don't have one, and know fine well that it's not strictly necessary. I played once, loved it, bought a couple of two tones (rookie error, but it worked out OK), booked two more games, and had the paint off of them as soon as they arrived without any qualms on the basis that the future bookings actually satisfied VCRA S37 more than a membership or UKARA since they were evidence of future intent, rather than past behaviour. I mentioned this to a friendly chap at the local site at my 2nd day, and he said "I should stop you there and tell you that I'm a police constable..." [oops] "... but I completely agree with that reasoning." In practice, it seems that the sale of RIFs within the UK just isn't an issue. We've heard (anecdotally) that some retailers keep records, particularly ones that also sell airguns, but it's pretty clear that others don't give a stuff, or are even creating fake non-defences which would seem to be making a legal rod for their own backs. Nobody cares though. As we keep telling new players, what you do with a RIF (or IF!) after you get it is far more important than how you get it. Any time that it will come to the attention of the State is likely to involve Firearms Act 1968 S19 (public possession), and that's your first and most important hurdle. Clear that, and the VCRA is unlikely to be an issue.

They do make sense... except when they don't. The X-ASR in my Specna, for example, doesn't want anything to do with running a Big Dragon M160, M130-ish spring and 11.1V - it just flashes and sulks. This is hardly an extreme setup. Of course, better mosfets are available, but you won't know until you know.

At that price, I'd want bodilly fluids from Mila Kunis, and not her tears.

Eh, you can run 11.1V without a mosfet. All a basic one is doing is protecting your trigger contacts from arcing. Those are a £5 part on an M4. I won't break out the "all airsoft guns are basically the same" meme, but... basically, they are, within reason, especially at the low end of M4s at the moment. Buy whatever you want, within your budget. If you stick with airsoft, those guns will get relegated to backup/loaners, or projects for modification. If you don't, well, you won't have spent too much on them. No need to over-think it. (Although the Double Eagle guns with their fire control system do make a very strong argument for themselves).

But how does the offender adduce them? That depends on who you are, and what you're doing. "You" (i.e. we, the end owners) need a defence for importing/causing to be imported, manufacturing, or modifying. I've modified two IFs into RIFs and still remain one step ahead of the law. But we don't need one for purchasing within the UK. It's the seller that's committing the offence there. And how can they demonstrate that they sold the RIF only for an approved purpose? It's in Home Office circular 031 / 2007, The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (Commencement No 3) Order 2007. This lists a suggestive scheme that's functionality identical to what became UKARA. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures "UKARA membership" (actually a central record of site membership) is just one scheme, there are others. Or a retailer can check directly with your local site. Or they can just take your word for it (Fat Bobs), or make up some bogus non-defence and cheekily charge you for that (Airsoft World and the other chancers that now accept "Just Cos"). It's entirely up to them what risk they'll accept - and it seems increasingly clear that there is none. If you can find a retailer willing to sell to you without UKARA or equivalent, go for it.

And a review noting that it doesn't seal and provides a nice route for BBs to ricochet around inside it. Well, you can't fault them for exploiting a market that will cheerfully spunk hundreds on crappy plastic and pot-metal toys that all perform much the same because "u get wut u pay 4 m8". And to be fair, if you added up a decent combination of lid, lower face, Revisions, Peltors and a ExFog, you'd be up around £200. Except that then you'd have Revisions, Peltors and an ExFog rather than whatever unknown bargain bin specials are being thrown into those systems. When the electrics fail or the "polycarb" cracks after 31 days, you can whistle for support or your money back. The part that really winds me up is that they're selling tat at premium prices but they can't even be bothered paying for coherent marketing copy for it: the OneTigris is for "Sooting Wagrgame" and you need to "inatall" things on it.

I'd always want the motor to be the limiting factor, not the battery (or the wiring). If you make the battery the limiting factor then it'll heat up and cook itself. Consider your home wiring: appliances will only draw what they need. An LED lightbulb drawing milliamps doesn't blow out just because that circuit could supply 30A or more from a 80-100A total. But if you tried to run a 2kW heater off of the weedy wiring going to that light fitting, it would melt the wiring. Over-supply is always better than under-supply.

Earth, Principality of Sealand, 1967. Princess Penelope preparing to repel boarders. Oh, I say.

SBS, right? Does anyone have an embassy on a riverboat casino? If not, they should. <Ackchyually> if my gnu is in 9 distinct shades of very-very-very-very-very-dark-grey, and 11% blue, that's the "principal" colour, right?

I've never bought a used motorcycle that wasn't someone's "pride and joy"... right up until the point where they realise they'd get more pride from the joy of buying something else.

Aside, while we'd all probably agree not to use harsh solvents on a plastic toy, do we know of anything that would be safe? I risked it and used isopropanol on my CYMA handguard, and while it took the paint off, it also desiccated the plastic a little. Not too bad, and it's very cheap plastic to begin with, but is there anything better?

Yup, I use coiled disc lock reminder cables to retain my pins, although any bit of cord will do. The advantage of kydex is that you get custom holders guaranteed to fit your 'nades.

Well, if it is a Kingdom of Airsoft Longsword, then it might work. That's one of their standard fUlLy UpGrAdEd packages, and they're still in business, so presumably they know what they're doing with it. Not that I'd pay anywhere near that for what is, at the end of the day, a toy gun that will sling plastic much like any other. And the absolute most that you can pay for the fUlL uPgRaDe is £1345, plus the base gun (half of which then gets thrown away), so he's asking new or near new money for it. Airsofters, bunch of wankers, innit.

It was, until a certain trading block made us remove dichloromethane / methylene chloride from domestic paint strippers in 2016. You could then buy the stuff neat on eBay, but that's been nixxed now too. Some industrial sellers are still flogging it, but only in bulk, or with postage that far exceeds the cost of the product. If the brake fluid doesn't get it all, then acetone or isopropanol might work, depending on what's in the paint. I'd do an isopropanol clean before re-painting anyway.

JB Weld is decent stuff, and may adhere and hold up to the strain, but - depending on how much meat is around the hole - I'd be looking at drilling it bigger and putting a bushing in. How's your parts pile sorted for those?

Thanks, and credit to him for covering it, even as a sales pitch[*]. Nothing wrong there, he's essentially reading out the same statues and regulations as we have in the legal section here. However, not mentioning S19 (simple public possession of a RIF or IF, requiring the active defence of a reasonable excuse) is a whopping big omission. And I'd really have liked to heard some case law - that's what we're lacking. Still, if it brings a few more pedants into the hobby, I'll welcome them. [*] Hearing that "his mate was in the SBS" doesn't alter my impression that this chap's self image may be a few rungs above strict mundane reality.

Hmm, I was going to raise a red flag about ordering directly from SWAT, but I see they've moved to a dealer network now. That's a much better model. Even at that though, I'd want to be very clear about stocking - LT, for example, list the timed grenades as stocked-on-demand, via the obfuscated term "warehouse special". Back on topic, I make custom holders from kydex. It can be bought in your colour of choice from eBay, and a 2mm A4 sheet is enough for making two holders. It's super easy stuff to work with, just cut out this sort of shape with a craft or Stanley knife or strong scissors, heat it in an oven or with a heat gun, and form it around the grenade (the round part being bent upwards to go under the grenade). Once it's cooled, remove the grenade, then if necessary reheat it and reform it inwards a bit so that when cool again it grips the grenade tightly. I don't need any other sort of retention, the springiness of the kydex holds the grenades securely, and they can just be tugged out without fiddling with any sort of strap or snap. Securing it to your rig can be done any way you like, I drill holes as shown above and lace or cable tie them on. Job done.

Necroposters built this internet! Well, the necroposted parts of it anyway.

I suspect that you meant to post this on Facebook and Reddit.

Oh, nice, but as you say, a last resort if you want to put a little charge into a battery on site. Might make sense if you're at a weekender with no charging facilities, and don't mind risking your batteries to whatever circuitry is (or isn't) in there.

Er, buy another one? Unless you're emptying drum mag after drum mage, 2.9Ah should see you through a day - I usually swap batteries at lunch to spread the load. Failing that, a 12V -> 240V inverter should be fine for running a mains charger (assuming you're not a bus wanker). The older SkyRC iMax B6 chargers will run directly off of a 12V (well, 12.5V to 14.5V) car battery - I think mine came with a crocodile-clipped lead for that purpose. That's not a recommendation, those are old tech now, just a note.