ak2m4

Just-Cos - the follow up.
 
As everyone ought to know, I’m not an airsofter but a paintballer, and my airsoft interest is primarily as a game organiser / for the crossover in hobbies that involve shooting each other.
I purchased Just-Cos membership to finally get answers to my questions on what it actually provides, £20 for peace of mind and if it actually provided cosplay personal liability insurance I do have a use for it.
 
 
Following seeing the two documents, I emailed Just-Cos for clarification / cancellation as the cover is based on group 4 x cinema visits and 4 x event attendance.    Reading the documents as written it would not cover me for my Comic-Con trips.
No response (though only allowing a couple of days, so I then raised an eBay case of ‘not as described’ sending screen shots of the Just-Cos web page and subsequent documents 
(I could have given them longer on the email, but I always recommend using the appropriate process - if you wait then your process time is potentially ticking away)
 
The following comms are edited to get the jist of it.
 
My claim:
 
The advertised cover is insurance to the individual The provided policy is group cover for organised cinema group visits and group attendance of 4 events This therefore provides no personal cover for myself at events I attend (with 13 more planned this year)
 
Cosplayer Worlds response:
You have misread the policy. It is individual insurance that has been in place for 7 years without any issues at all. The cinema part of it mentioned was an additional section of cover added because we initially held events at cinemas where we block booked the venues. Therefore we held that as additional cover as required by Zurich insurance. The cover is to insure claims against an individual or individual(s) -a group- in a single claim. Therefore, you are covered exactly as advertised.
 
Me, not convinced, and their response focused on the cinema visits rather than the limited events. I’m not fussed as to whether or not there are cinema trips, of which it would be my choice to turn up or not.  I’m swaying, so if they would back up that I’m covered (or make a convincing explicit statement of such) then I could retain it 
 

The cinema visits would have been incidental, and the event cover being the applicable area. Of the two documents the named cover is for Just-Cos (which is normal as a group etc), but the second document does state that “around 4 events” are attended. My concern is that it is documented that cover is for any event attended by any member. To date this year (prior to signing up) I have already attended 4 events and have another 13 confirmed for the remainder. I would expect to be attending a minimum of 17 events in the 13 month membership period
 
Cosplayer World Ltd:
I understand your concern however I can assure you that the limited attendance only applies to the group cinema visits. The policy underwriters considered it a greater risk to have a ‘large number’ of people in ‘fancy dress’ as they didn’t understand Cosplay was the same as re-enactment (which opened another tin of worms as they envisioned soldiers running around) were in fear of one of our group running around a PUBLIC centre with a replica firearm. So they made a pint of the limitation as a sub-clause. We stopped the cinema events after only three held, due to poor attendance, so the policy has only been in place for individuals as a VCRA exemption for the last 5 1/2 years. We will ask for the cinema clause to be removed on the next policy renewal to avoid any future confusion.
 
They have made the wrong response - they were telling me covers unlimited, but have just told me that the insurers have enforced the numbers as limited - which contradicts them 
But the worse part - they have brought up the VCRA.  (Stating what we all know, that JustCos is a dodgy RIF sales defence) 
There is no cosplay defence in the VCRA. (And if extra defences can be madeI have other memberships which are more appropriate for my activities)
 
Me:
Note that I do not require a VCRA exemption as I am not an airsofter. The advertised service is for cosplay, as you have confirmed this to be cover to provide a VCRA exemption then this is definately unsuitable for my purposes - the events that I have referred to are Comicons, Alt conventions and Steam Punk events The VCRA has no provision for cosplay as a defence
 
 
Cosplayer World Ltd

I don’t have any more time to waste with you on this as you obviously seem to be bored and just want an argument. The VCRA section is an addition to the base policy INDIVIDUAL cosplayer cover. The same as the cinema ADDITION for groups that I already clearly explained. The VCRA section is just there, you don’t have to use it. It’s part of the whole package that we provide you for a measly £20 a year. If you have car or home insurance, you don’t have to, nor are you expected to have a fire, flood, theft or accident at once. It’s also part of the whole insurance package, for your own peace of mind. I’m refunding and cancelling your policy as I personally consider your lack of basic understanding to be an additional risk in itself. Goodbye and good luck.
 
I’m too stupid for Just-Cos membership and I can’t read policy documents - or am I just too stupid to think there is a CosPlay membership & insurance scheme as opposed to a dodgy VCRA defence ?
 
 
 
I’ve had my £20 refunded and am no longer a member of Just-Cos

@Tactical Pith Helmet  gas only days at the Mall were simply the best...

they're pretty decent for the price.  Wish I could get hold of them easily though.  CYMA are just super difficult to deal with for various reasons.
 
@Ben Savage ZCI is decent, give another one a go and let us know how you get on. 
 
I'm started to list the widths (guide rail to guide rail) of all pistons now in the descriptions.  Hopefully it helps a few people out. 

they're pretty decent for the price.  Wish I could get hold of them easily though.  CYMA are just super difficult to deal with for various reasons.
 
@Ben Savage ZCI is decent, give another one a go and let us know how you get on. 
 
I'm started to list the widths (guide rail to guide rail) of all pistons now in the descriptions.  Hopefully it helps a few people out. 

@Tactical Pith Helmet  gas only days at the Mall were simply the best...

@Tactical Pith Helmet  gas only days at the Mall were simply the best...

I've had good games a Tuddenham in a pre-fab single story accommodation block.  A lot of thought went into the games and they were spring and gas only days.  Only one chap had a GBBR the rest were pump action shotties, pistols etc.  Bloody great fun.  

they're pretty decent for the price.  Wish I could get hold of them easily though.  CYMA are just super difficult to deal with for various reasons.
 
@Ben Savage ZCI is decent, give another one a go and let us know how you get on. 
 
I'm started to list the widths (guide rail to guide rail) of all pistons now in the descriptions.  Hopefully it helps a few people out. 

I paid around £100 in December, with the intention to gut it and get a bit more practice at working on AEGs, some parts are shockingly poor, such as the gearbox screws and the body pin which holds the gearbox in which were both seemingly made of cheese from how easily the body pin deformed and how one of the screw heads snapped off before the screw was tight. It was a bit alarming that it arrived firing 450fps (especially from a UK shop) and I think that some of the cheap parts used were probably not suitable for such a strong spring and would not have lasted very long.
 
I have a couple of Cyma 002 M4 CQBRs which have the metal receivers, and I expected the cylinders/inner barrels to be the same, but the cheaper CM603 has what appears to be a red anodised cylinder and inner barrel, whereas the more expensive CM002 has what appears to be brass cylinders and outer barrels. I found the finish on the cheap inner barrel and cylinder to be better than I had expected, but I still plan on replacing the barrel with either an XT (If 380mm is available) or ZCI (although I've seen their quality is declining), and the cylinder I had used originally until the piston head screw scratched the inside after coming free.
 
I'm thinking of ordering some ZCI 14 teeth pistons for the current build (as the previous one worked quite well before my mistake) and having a few ready for when I decide to work on the CM002s which I plan on doing the same work to, as they already have a tooth removed which will probably be better than me attempting to remove a tooth from a Cyma piston as I don't think I would be able to do a neat enough job to be happy with.

I rather like the CYMA pistons; they just do the job.

Assemble the gearbox without the spring, spring guide and sector gear. Once it is tightened up, hold the gearbox vertically to see if the piston slides down easily.

If it doesn't you can try polishing the piston guide rails, although you may need a piston with wider slots for the guide rails.

There is no point changing the rack.

It does sound like something is a little tight somewhere.

Ahoy and welcome.
 
Which type of MP5 are you using at the moment?  Just trying to get a feel for what you consider heavy or light.
 
If you can find one, the plastic Galaxy MP5K (G5K) is comically light, while still being a surprisingly usable gun in CQB or woodland.
 
if you're playing purely CQB, pistols are indeed usable as primaries.
 
P90s are a decent shout, and p-chan is best chan.
 

Curious, since used sales are in direct competition with new sales, and retailers pay for the UKARA scheme.
 
I don't think there's much of a GDPR (as was) compliance issue with a yes/no confirmation of details provided.  That's the very purpose that the person who provided them wanted them used for.  Notionally, you could use this to confirm that Joe Bloggs lives at 62 West Wallaby Street for purposes other than flogging them a RIF, but since you also need the UKARA number then it's almost certain that Joe has given it to you specifically to allow you to do this.
 
One thing: if UKARA did leak your data, who would you go after?  The site provides no contact details for whoever is running it, no address, no company number, only the ICO number of ZA031959.
 
https://ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Entry/ZA031959
 
This (as a matter of public record) give the address of a farmhouse in Cornwall nowhere near any airsoft site or retailer, but not the name of an individual or business.
 
Data controller: UNITED KINGDOM AIRSOFT RETAILERS ASSOCIATION
 
Address:
Hollygrove
Woodford
BUDE
CORNWALL
EX23 9JL
 
Companies House has an entry for a "UKARA LIMITED", involved in "94120 - Activities of professional membership organisations"  https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12865652
 
This was incorporated on 8 September 2020 by one Mr Haroon Al-Rashid Dawood Atchia of 20 Eversley Road, Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex, England, TN40 1HE, but it claimed to have gone dormant in 2021, then filed accounts for FY 2022 showing £15,000+ of debt.
 
All somewhat opaque.  I mean, how can you trust someone with your details if you don't know theirs?

what one did you buy in the end?  did you get some gauge blocks with it

update on the grenades, I had 3 break, friends steal 5, had one go off in my hand killing 9 of my teammates which was a comedy gold moment and generally they performed as well as I hoped they would. I'm going to knock up another load (and increase the infill on the parts that broke). 
 
they cost about £1 to make and I can't fault them.

Building a load of these impact grenades. It cost's about £1 to make and they work flawlessly. 

big shout out to the original designer (FULCRUMAIRSOFT) and the files can be bought here:
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/airsoft-micro-grenade-impact-cap-gun-ring-sound-grenade-meteorite-meteor-lite-e-fulcrumairsoft

Send the file over I can have a go on mine as it’s resin. 

I don't assume anything, by your own admission researching a seller is extra effort & you'd rather go to a retailer, a as I previously said, your money, your choice. 
The point being discussed, that many don't agree with, understandably, is the defence of cosplay has little bearing on airsoft, open to abuse by non airsofters, which in turn puts everything at risk for the genuine players. 
I sympathise with your situation, I too provide 24/7 care, literally day & night, to a relative, unpaid I should add, who is disabled & has dementia.
Add to that I've been receiving cancer treatment since 2021, & severe orthopaedic issues mean I currently can't climb or descend a flight of stairs unaided, so I know exactly how hard it can be to attend games, or even cope with getting around some sites.
(I'm determined to not let the health crap force me to quit) 
Cosplay would have been piss easy for me to use to buy rifs, but I don't agree with it for Airsoft rifs for all the reasons previously mentioned, maybe cosplayers and reenactors should have been made to go down the route of deacts or similar, in order to not "muddy the waters" for airsofters. 
& as has been mentioned, maybe people like you & I, who find themselves in difficult personal situations should have more flexible options for attaining a ukara defence. 
I'll put this out there as a general question, for example has anyone ever approached a site where they've started playing, but for whatever reason have had a protracted break between games, & asked the site to honour the previous games & make an allowance for the time away ?, allowing players get ukara approval. 

Ah cool, I'm in Lewisham.

So am I like the only person that actually asks for proof of defense for the stuff i sell? Also how is this thread still going.
Just Cos goes against the the defense that was hard won and completely undermines the airsoft industry's ability to prove it can self regulate by selling RIFs to anyone and is a wonderful piece of ammunition for any pollical group who feel the need to go after airsoft.

Sweet, I'll wait until you've got some then! 🤙

Yes I've got some arriving hopefully in a couple of weeks.  I did have some 22tpa on a boat coming from China but the ship go round the long way 😞

I have a few parts to order from yourself soon, do you know if you'll be getting any SHS high torque short motors any time soon?

hehe I like that, apparently it's the best kind 🙂

In public?  It is.  Sorry to bang on about it, but this is a far bigger concern for us than obtaining a RIF.
 
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/19
 
19 Carrying firearm in a public place.
A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse (the proof whereof lies on him) he has with him in a public place [...] an imitation firearm.
 
Realistic or otherwise.  See this conviction for possession of a £4 bright orange springer pistol which even the prosecution described as a toy. The Sheriff set the bar for "reasonable excuse" very low, for example "children playing cowboys and Indians", which would presumably cover our infantile antics, but the proof whereof lies with us.
 
Whether having a RIF/IF inside your car counts as having it in a public place is less obviously clear, but coppers think that it is. PACE 1984 Section 1 makes a distinction between a vehicle that's in a public place versus the grounds of a dwelling, which implies that the vehicle itself does not create a private place in public.
 
In this case, for example, a chap (who comes across as a prize wanker) was arrested and charged for having a baton in his car.  I can't find details of how the case went - some commenters suggest that he was acquitted - but the process is enough of a punishment.
 
tl;dr version - yes, it's illegal, and we have to prove otherwise.  I keep details of the site to hand, and ideally booking emails, when travelling to or from it.