Real Steel to Airsoft Conversion

[Auf]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post so apologies in advance for being completely clueless. 

Airsoft has never really been my greatest interest to be honest; i like popping down to my local sites half a dozen times a year to play with friends who are 'Really into it all', but I've never gone enough times to justify going out and buying a gun, and partly because it seems like a bit of a waste when i can rent something decent for £10. I have both my Section 1 & 2 Licence (I do practical shotgun and un-trad skeet shooting) so i'm really into my firearms. The last time i went to my local site i had a chat to a bloke who mentioned someone who had used a Kriss Vector Upper from the states in his AEG, which got me thinking:

How would i go about Converting a real Glock lower & slide for a HPA or Green Gas build.

I tNow by trade i'm an engineer, so i love making things, and building stuff like this is my passion, and i can justify to myself starting the project as something to hang in my safe, and take to the field when i go (mainly as a conversation starter as i love hearing the devotion some people put into their kit). The problem the legal jargon ?. So my question really is has anyone done this before, any experience about chatting to customs / police about importing a firearm? I know full well how strict the police are with section 5 firearms and is likely more hassle than it's realistically worth, Import duties Tax, postage etc and especially with the current climate. Although it'd be nice to know, maybe a project to do in the background whilst i'm busy with work and other projects?

Nevertheless thank you for reading my rambling. 

All the best guys & gals.    

TL;DR : Looking to Import a Glock Lower & Upper from the states to use in an airsoft build, anyone have any advice.

 

[E21A]

TL;DR answer, doubt you’d get real steel gun parts into the country. 

 

[Nick G]

I think you may have an issue with proving that your spangle new airsoft gun couldn't be converted back into a firearm . And as @E21A pointed out importing the parts in the first place could be a problem.

If you have the engineering skills could you not machine the parts up from scratch ? you would still be manufacturing a RIF though.

 

[Wo1f]

You’d never get them into the country and converting any firearm part with a serial number or anything pressure bearing is highly illegal. You can’t even mill out a deact to fit a gearbox.

You can get steel slides and the lowers on Airsoft guns are as near as makes no difference anyway. Don’t see why you’d want to do this 

 

[Guest]

I put real steel receivers on my gas blow-back Vector ?.

As @Wo1f said, any part with a serial number, or anything deactivated, is a massive no-no.

You'll never get it imported legally.

AFAIK you can legally buy firearms parts that don’t have serial numbers, but in my experience you won’t get a RFD to sell them to you, it’s not worth their while.

And then, even if you get around all of that, one tiny little bit of real or imitation firearm trouble and the law will take away your FAC’s quicker than you can blink.

There is only one official Glock section5 dealer in the country as far as I know, and as I know them, I also know they won’t entertain selling any parts of any description to anyone without a section5 certificate.

Just buy steel slides and perfect copy Airsoft frames, you’ll be golden

rdb

 

[jcheeseright]

Also, Airsoft internals won't fit into a Glock, no way no how.  

Airsoft Glocks aren't the same size or striker fired for a start! 

 

[Auf]

Thanks for the responses. 

Yes, many of the issues arise of importing them in the first place and conveying my idea to FFL's in the states, i guess you could make from scratch but naturally it's a very complex set of laws and restrictions, as many of you know. I did have a look at some 80% lowers (Glocks, 1911s Armalites etc) but frankly (like rdb said) i don't want to be putting my FAC in jeopardy, and 80% lowers don't really exists under legislation here in the uk so i'd need a good lawyer before i start digging into this. It's very iffy at the moment, and seems like it's more opinion than anything else at the moment (as with anything that's highly restricted). I know i'm not really a proper Airsofter but in my opinion, anyone with a remote interest in firearms whether that be Airsofting or Clay shooting (and everything in between) is part of a community, that is unfortunately on the decline in the UK. I do know some of the twits wielding powder give you lot a hard time, but in a time where your sport is equally under attack as ours, i feel like the majority of us have a lot of respect for you. The sooner some of us stop sending flak your way, i hope the more lobbying power we can have as a collective.

(Sorry for getting a bit sidetracked toward the end i might make a thread on this topic itself, as it seems like an interesting subject on it's own)

If i can find anymore information on the subject i'll add it to the thread, as it seems to be quite a complex issue, with no real cases to go by. 

Anyways i'd like to thank you all for giving up your free time to give your input on my question, and welcoming me onto the site, it's truly appreciated. 

- Auf

 

[proffrink]

Guarder already make a nice TM Glock lower with all the trades and in a decent quality plastic. That will work fine and look the same as the real thing to almost anyone You can even choose between the Austrian or American trades.