Rogerborg

Thanks, it's good to get the numbers. 380mm is quite a long barrel, so I'm not surprised you're seeing a significant drop by reducing the volume. Have you checked how far back the piston is going now? I await corrections with an airsoft physics explanation, but can't see any point to having the cylinder cut out further back than the piston rings(s) just before it releases.

It's not something that overly concerns me, as the worst brew ups seem to happen to RC lads charging eleventeen chonky batteries in parallel. That said, I do actually put the lipo and charger into a ceramic pie dish, and keep the route to the back door clear in case I need to hurl them outside. And at the first sign of puffing or damage, don't risk it, not at the price of £10-£20 for a new one.

Given that he apparently has no qualms about signing up as Mr Undercover, probably better to not warn him up front.

But that doesn't alter the fact that they were just sent the exact same information that they already had, possibly plus the word "airsoft". So I'm left wondering: if they didn't check the UKARA the first time they had it, did they check it the second? In other words, maybe just saying "Yeah, airsoft and that" is sufficient to get it through, with or without a (real or imaginary) UKARA or site membership number. Pure speculation, but I'm coming down on the side of not having a UKARA number or other defence put on the packaging now.

Wait, this is a real thing? Not a meme?

Mmm, with inflation and exchange rates and supply chains, I wouldn't find excuses to avoid or delay purchases.

Agreed, it was a general musing about sites. Area-66 is notably diligent about doing robust build-work and flagging, taping and declaring hazardous areas out of bounds. The whole church area was out of bounds one weekend out of an abundance of caution because of some damage to the big trees there, which they then had taken care of professionally.

Probably not. We have been making inroads into firearms crime, although it's been essentially static since 2013 or so.

That they demanded the same information that they already had: his name, address, and UKARA number. It feels a bit like "dance, monkey, dance."

Yes, but this one goes to level 11.

Yes. Same offence, same defence. One subtlety is that a defence (against prosecution) isn't the same as a license (to actually permit it). Border Force have historically treated a defence as a licence (that's the language from one of their own internal documents that came to light a few years back), but at any point, they could change their minds say "OK, we're not sending the rozzers round, but neither are we going to allow imports. At all." Enjoy whatever we can, while we can, is how I see it.

Mmm, I rather fear that G&G's new WTF prices are going to become the norm rather than the exception.

Congratulations, you are now an airsoft tech.

I'm sorry to hear it, but not surprised. We know that Border Force got a bunch of recruitment and training prior to the changes at the start of 2022, and the imposition of duty on all EU and global imports, regardless of declared value. I FOI'd Border Force a few years back to ask how many UKARA checks they made, and they claimed not to hold that information as each agent keeps their own records. Could be thousands, could be none at all. And the thing is, UKARA is a scheme paid for by UK retailers, and I've never understood why it's used to assist imports. I'm in two minds about whether having a UKARA number on the packaging is actually a net negative now - it might just make it easier for Border Force to spot the firearm-shaped-toys.

Hopefully you get something more constructive than this.

Pitching, or catching?

Maaaaaybe. However, the receiver, magwell, gearbox and hop are fixed points of truth, and the magazine has to sack up and fit them. It really comes down to whether you want to make X mags fit 1 feed tube, or 1 feed tube fit X magazines.

Do you think you should have one? Do you think I should have one? Where would you draw the line?

Which is the absolute worst thing you can do from a liability perspective. It's effectively putting up a sign saying "This was predictable and avoidable, but we didn't avoid it. Please collect your winnings."

Recommended for the number of times that he congratulates people on shooting him. Be the change you want to see - I've inculcated myself to shout "OW! You fuuu...antastic shot, well done!"

I reckon I'm probably closer to representative of the Modal UK Male than @Tactical Pith Helmet but still a little more pro-boomstick than most. It's hard to judge mass prevailing attitudes as any survey is likely to be highly biased towards producing a pro/anti-gun result, depending on who's commissioning it, and which demographic they canvas. It'll be a very sharp divide between country and town, and region by region - as @EvilMonkeenotes. I'm suburbanite, had airguns and easy access to countryside to shoot them in as a teen, have tried clay pigeon shooting and had a go with black powder musketry, which is when I looked into shotgun certificates and found that they were shall-issue and a very low bar. That would be in the 1990s, I have a vague recollection that the security requirements then weren't even a gun cabinet, just a plan for securing them, e.g. chaining to something solid. I'd speculate (and this is just speculation) that most UK men would vaguely like to own some kind of firearm. But 98% of us find reasons not to. And - this is sheer projection at this point - I'd venture to guess that the main reason more men don't have any boomsticks is that most women are very much against them. Of all licensees, only 6% are women. Mrs Borg doesn't even like the sight of my toy guns. I have to do my teching when she's out or asleep, and keep a pornhub tab open so that I don't get caught browsing airsoft sites. It's also remarkable that 2/3rd of licensees are over 50. Some of that will be due to a tailing off of younger people getting into shooting, but do I wonder how many are divorcees or widowers taking advantage of a new found freedom to indulge themselves.

Hmm, that is a reasonable question, especially in the context of kids using it. I'm sure if a civil servant with a clipboard turned up saying "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" then they could find cause to shut down just about anything. Some of the the Work at Height Regulations might apply. From a player's point of view, if it goes badly wrong, you'd be suing the site or the owner, and their indemnity insurance should cover them unless they've lied so egregiously that the insurer could void it. Even at that, if it reaches court, I'd expect the insurer to be told to pay up, then take it up with the site owner. That's what happened in some motoring cases that I looked into a few years back (apologies, I don't have the citations to hand).

As far as I can see, it's the same licence, Simple UK Light, and as @Tommikka noted above, you'll ideally have applied as an "Incorporated Association [...] a group of people who share a common interest". It's commendable that you're concerned about following the letter of the law. However, if you have any sort of licence, you'll already be ahead of many-to-most airsofters using non-PMR sets. And if you stick to the UK light frequencies (or PMR), and use it a typically remove airsoft site, the likelihood of anyone ever noticing, or caring, or requiring you to show that licence is vanishingly small.

Yes, and you're doing the right thing, even if pragmatically speaking, there are no consequences for (ab)using the PMR channels at higher power. You should have a Simple UK Light licence, which allows use of any of these frequencies. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0036/79965/Business_Radio_Simple_UK_licence_template.pdf

I'd hazard a guess that over 90% of Brits, particularly urbanites and women, wouldn't own a gun even if we could buy one over the counter in the corner shop, no questions asked. There's no real passion for increasing gun rights, it's more of a rearguard action to preserve the few that are left. The UK still has some amount of hunting, but it's a niche activity, split between seasonal bird shoots by the land-owning upper classes, managed culling of deer and some wild sheep, pest control (a lot done with airguns rather than bang-guns) and a bit of poaching. There are a few target shooting clubs, and recreational clay pigeon shooting centres. That said, shotgun licensing remains "shall issue" in the UK. You have to apply and pay for a licence, provide references, and have secure gun storage, but otherwise it's up to the local police force to find a reason to refuse. Once you have a shotgun certificate you can buy as many smoothbores as you like, up to a 2" cannon, or (I believe) a 3-shell pump action. This means that in practice, anyone who wants a shotgun for pest control, recreational shooting, or any other reason (just don't say home or self defence) can get one, yet only about 1% of adults do. I'm actually surprised it's that high. If you were to use a firearm for self or home defence in the UK, you should expect to find yourself facing murder or manslaughter charges, irrespective of the circumstances. Conversely, I'm not aware of any UK police constable who has been convicted over shooting someone while on duty, even when they give their evidence in the form of song titles. Licensing figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-england-and-wales-april-2020-to-march-2021/statistics-on-firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-england-and-wales-april-2020-to-march-2021 As at 31 March 2021, there were: 156,033 firearm certificates on issue, a 2% decrease 548,521 shotgun certificates on issue, a 3% decrease 565,929 people held a firearm and/or a shotgun certificate, a 3% decrease of 20,422 since last year In the year ending 31 March 2021, there were: 4,988 new applications for firearm certificates, of which 98% were granted and 2% were refused 10,901 new applications for shotgun certificates, of which 97% were granted and 3% were refused 2,566 new coterminous applications, of which 97% were granted and 3% were refused 306 firearms certificates were revoked – a decrease of 18% (-65) compared with the previous year and 0.2% of the total firearm certificates on issue 982 shotgun certificates were revoked – a decrease of 14% (-159) compared with the previous year and 0.2% of the total shotgun certificates on issue Experimental statistics: 365 firearms and shotguns were reported as lost or stolen; of which, 126 were lost and 239 were stolen