dapprman

They are one of my local stores (and on an extended route to/from work) so I've popped in occasionally. The shop is well stocked with a large range. BBs and gas seem cheap - also they tend to be cheap for ASG and Kings Arms magazines. Parking can be a slight problem though. (and by coincidence I might pop in tomorrow morning as my car is in for it's MOT not far from them).

45, 46 end of July.

For LIPOs you need some where safe to store them and do not let them fully discharge. Also the recommendation is to get a LIPO charging fireproof bag foir when charging them - sounds scary stuff but you just need to be sensible - I've started using them, partly for performance, partly as they are a lot quicker to charge/discharge. I use a turnigy 6 balance charger.

From here (if the link works) - took it from the option on the right of their official site

Page 77/78 of their 2014 catalogue. Can't tell if it's one of their guns where you can adjust the spring, because if it is you can quick change the spring yourself.

Got an AI one last week - tried to use it at the weekend for the first time but would not work - emailed them and they got back to me straight off - will let you know how it goes as everyone I've asked who's used one of these have had no problems.

I've bought from them as well - got the G5 carbine kit, 1 joule nozzle, and a pair of mags from them - all arrived within about a week. Also got them to add a spare speed loader adapter, which they let me have for free. Some say they are effectively GHK, don't know about that, but they do give great service and good prices.

You could try Den Trinity in Hong Kong - I got a hard to find KWA FPG nozzle there (though I was in HK on holiday which helped). Not sure what their postage is like if they do have the part.

As well as goggles/mask make sure you have gloves (those finger/knuckle shots do hurt) and ankle supporting boots.

As jcheeseright says. BTW you might want to say where you're based as there's a lot of sites 'down south'

Hmm, next you'll be wanting a comfy grip to hold it by Love my sten, but as others have said it's yours to do with as you like. Perhaps you could add a realistic silencer then attach rails to that ?

How much is a Sunday return ticket to Reading ? as The Mall is only about 5 minutes walk from the station. (alas the other sites I play to the north of London all require a car to get to)

This is what I did last week when coming back with a GHK G5 from Hong Kong. The check in desk contacted airport security who looked and confirmed it was a gun then called HK police who came over (armed) took me to a secluded area so they could check it over then gave the all clear and let me pack it in my luggage while the BA check in girl marked my case as security checked/cleared. Only took about 30-40 minutes and was completely painless.

Only real problem with the second generation Ares Tar-21s (like mine) is the micro-switch - and yes mine is suffering but on finding a reputable engineer who can fix it the repairs will not cost much. The gun is a PITA to work on as you effectively have to remove everything out of the back to work on it, and the gearbox casing is meant to be weak (only an issue if you're going to play with the gear box), but that's about it.

Not sure - you can tell the difference though as it has no MARS sight on top, just a rail, plus the barrel is normal length where as the original version was the ctar version with the short barrel.

You don't really need. The trigger area grip is designed to also be used as an angled fore grip

With Ares the original version had the replica MARS sight, which was not well received. Also it had a few issues. Ares brought out an updated version with a top rail instead of the sight and many of the issues fixed, however the fire selector micro-switch still over-heats resulting in you suddenly firing full auto when in semi mode - the fix is simple if you're o.k. with playing with the internals, I'm not so I'm presently waiting for one well regarded repairer near me to finish their own fix so it can be applied to mine.

While in Hong Kong I treated myself to an early birthday present of a GHK G5 and some extra mags Being escorted by 4 armed police men to have it security checked was kind of cool, and if I did not know better, two of them may well have been airsoft players themselves as they had a brief discussion on the G5 while checking it was not a real gun.

Ares do a side rail to fit on the other side from the bolt catch. Aside from that the only ones I've seen with bottom rails have been home-mods by their owners

From a legal standpoint your friend could buy it and give it to you, but as soon as you give him any money for it he's broken the law and could be open to prosecution. Safest way, as others have said, is just to wait till you've got your defence sorted out. edit - changed 'more' to 'money' in first line

Have already priced through them the G5, carbine kit and 4 spare mags - however those will have duty and VAT charged on them where as if all my HK purchases come to under £390 then no Duty/VAT Still if I don't get then I'm likely to order from Samoon

If it's through a courier, they pay and then you pay back when they deliver. (or at least that's the theory of how it works).

Just found it - if imported from outside the UK it £135, though if the duty total is less than £9 they won't charge you. VAT is on anything over £15.

Think the threshold is now £390 (surprised me as I thought it was just £130). As to being charged - depends on the carrier. UPS, TNT or any of the other major international couriers you will always get charged, same for Parcel Force. If just through Royal Mail then it's pot luck.

Airsoft items have a duty charge of either 3% or 4% - will find out first hand in 11 days time if I buy anything in Hong Kong (GHK G5 if I can get a good deal)