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Fair enough. I stand very much corrected. Both seem like solid choices then.

My input would be that they're unlikely to be any better than V12s and cost twice as much.

I believe I used them many, many moons ago. If I did then certainly nothing bad stuck out - the EU retailers seem pretty good.

Literally today bought from Beesting - got my new tank, line and adapter from them. I'll let you know how it goes, but their sales were very friendly when I shot them a few messages.

I saw them too and went straight for a boring Guarder one, heh.

Not owned Bullet Ants, but I can say that the V12s are a very, very solid choice.

Hm, I was more meaning the Salient arms style slides are very well complimented by simple stippling for the realistic look - maybe it's the plastic, but it's certainly unique just as said above!

V12s are great, cheap and very readily available through eBay. Remove the foam around the edges and they don't fog much at all.

Not too sure about that 'ivory carving' and how it fits in with the overall look, but otherwise brilliant.

I imagine he means £50 including rental, which doesn't sound far off. Considering that rental is only £20-25 of that though, you're only racking up £60-75 loss, and getting a gun that isn't bright orange at the end. Worth waiting really.

Rechargeable cells. All new AEGs will come with their applicable batteries, but power sources is a whole different conversation.

Manufacturing an RIF (i.e. painting it or removing the colour) without a valid defence is illegal. Also, it will look awful and the dull feeling of regret will never leave you until you buy something else.

Ok. Check out these threads first: http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/12854-new-player-guides-info/ If you still have any questions then feel free to post of course. To answer your question: You can do it, but need a valid defence. To my knowledge, the only defence currently accepted by HMRC is a UKARA site membership - otherwise your gun must be two-toned (high visibility paint on 51% of the body). As far as beginner guns go, you won't find them that much cheaper abroad really as the prices here on entry-level gear are quite competitive.

Are you a new player?

Above. depends how much you want to spend really. If you don't want to be spending more than £350 then get a TM VSR-10 and leave it stock. If you're happy to be dumping money on the thing then go for a JG VSR-10 or any of the Maruzen APS-2 builds (commonly the L96s) like the Well MB mentioned above. The VSR-10 will give you better performance though due to where the magazine is located (leaving you more room for a longer barrel).

Redline Firebase regulator 10lt 300 psi SCUBA cylinder [Happening intensifies]

Are you new to airsoft? Will this be your first airsoft gun or first skirmish-able weapon (i.e. do you already own something you use in the back yard for target shooting?). If so, you may wish to make yourself aware of VCRA and the legalities of a valid defence so that you can buy what you want. Those links you've provided there are foreign websites - had you have purchased either without a two-tone service they would have been destroyed by customs. If you're going for an AEG for skirmishes then most people will tell you the same thing: CM16 by G&G. It's a brilliant gun and can be had new for well within that price range. Many websites in the UK offer a free (or very cheap) two-toning service. Again though, this is all dependant on your situation. If you're truly new to airsoft then my recommendation would be to simply go a few times and see if you like it, rent some gear and get yourself a site membership so that you can get a UKARA number (the most commonly accepted form of defence).

Nice. I've been considering a new BFG for a while now - I might grab one over the summer.

What calibre are you using there? Edit: Or rather what calibre primer does the mag flash base take?

Is the 7 day refund period from the purchase or delivery? Perhaps needs clarifying on the 'contact us' page.

The usual disclaimer: If this is your first gun and its for skirmishes then don't get a sniper rifle. You need to dump a significant amount of money into upgrades (£250-450) to make it competitive - otherwise you're just going to be outclassed in every engagement. With that said and done: Depends on the brand, but probably the springer - gas is inconsistent and you need to be spending more than £141 to get a reliable setup - I'd imagine it's running green gas, and cooldown and the general weather effect performance massively. Consistency of shot is the number one thing you need with sniper rifles, and should be at the forefront of your purchase. From personal experience, if you're looking for an L96 then most of the clones are fine. The Mauser is actually alright, but massively overpriced being a rebranded Cybergun. Well is probably the brand you're looking at right now, and they perform alright out of the box. I would recommend finding one without a scope and then buying your own (around about £40-80), but obviously airsoft is all about how much you're happy to spend. One thing is for sure though: Don't go for a cheap gas sniper rifle. The consistency will be naff and the magazines will probably end up leaking after just a short while. There's also the consideration of spending more money on a decent green gas. Although this cost is negligible (around £8-16 per can), it is something you may wish to bring into consideration. Could you provide some links to what you're looking at?

I don't think there's much disagreement here at all. If you're replacing everything (and I mean everything) then the BAR-10 will save you money and the external finish is slightly nicer. If you're looking to keep it stock then TM is always the better option (but you're not). As far as I know, no one has said otherwise.

Worse still is that I've spelt it the American way and not noticed. I really must add the British dictionary to my browser again.

You'd be right, but as a country with a common law legal system neither is very close to right nor wrong until it's taken to court; I can see reason why UKARA cannot be admissible given the obvious conflict of interest it implies, but then again the signed forms you have to present are pretty much the closest we ever get to a 'license application' (sorry). He's hoping no one does anything dumb and we have to change things up too much.

tl;dr - not all defences are UKARA, but UKARA is a valid defence. UKARA was a reaction to the VCRA changes in 2007 that added legislature regarding realistic imitation firearms (basically anything that looks like a real gun). In short, it meant you needed a 'defence' (a valid reason) to buy one. A defence could be many things: An airsoft site membership, producing films or plays, reenactments etc. - anything that you could use to prove that you had purchased an RIF (mentioned earlier) for reasons other than to hold up a post office. This is a very grey area though, so the United Kingdom Airsoft Retailers Association (UKARA) database was created as a way of unifying airsoft site memberships so that a retailer (particularly online ones) could look up players without having to make numerous phone calls to site owners. Bear in mind that an important stipulation of the VCRA amendment was that is was the seller who was liable for finding out if the buyer had a valid defence - retailers were afraid at the time of being shut down (or worse) for not doing their due diligence. UKARA made it much quicker for retailers to sell their items to people that they had some knowledge of being genuine players, reenactors or media producers. 7 years on and not a single airsoft player has ever been prosecuted (nor retailer, to my knowledge) for owning an RIF. Edit: Just in case you're not aware, when people say 'UKARA', they basically mean the UKARA database of players and the sites they're registered at. Basically every skirmish site can approve a form for you granted that you attend twice over a period of less than 3 months. Any retailer that's a member of UKARA will then add your name to a database (along with the address you've provided) and give you a number that you can use for purchases. Many make the mistake of thinking UKARA is a license to own an RIF - it isn't. It's just a valid defence and there are many others out there. In fact if you have receipts for frequently attending a site then there's no reason that this couldn't be accepted as a valid defence too, but most retailers (online ones in particular) won't accept this as it's a lot of effort to verify and not worth it when they're liable for the sale of that gun. If you rob a shop with it and it's traced back to them then questions will be asked about what steps they took to make sure that you had a legitimate (and legal) reason to own one.