Noob from Northumberland

[Berto]

Hey everyone, I'm Berto, I live in Northumberland and I've been told I'm too old to play with toy guns by the wife, so naturally, I'm looking to start playing with toy guns. 😉

 

I've not been to a skirmish yet but I have plans for the new year to drag a few mates along. Tried paintball loads of times but the guns spoilt it for me, not really real enough if you know what I mean.

 

I've recently been given a couple of gas guns which has kick started my interest in airsoft. I had various springers as a kid which were mostly for target shooting but also the odd battle in the back garden with my dad and uncle quickly followed by a telling off for all 3 of us from my mum, (but this was 20 odd yrs ago so I'm not up to date with AEG rifles etc).

 

I've been looking a loads of guns etc and have read the getting started guides etc so my goal is to get some good boots, face mask, gloves and goggles, and some camo gear and head off to my nearest site before really investing in hardware but I have seen a nice ICS G33 in the sale (I like the g36 look, m4's not so much and I like the fact it takes m4 mags) and was wondering if anyone would suggest it for a beginner: http://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/ics-plastic-g33-compact-assault-rifle-airsoft-gun-aeg-sale-

I'd hate to miss out on a bargain and with battery, charger spare mags, front grip, painting etc I'd be looking at £250ish and if that is a set up that will last for a while then I'm happy with that.

 

Also batteries and chargers are new to me, could anyone point me in the direction of a website that explains what's what? I've looked and as I understand it, Li-po batteries are good but need different chargers?

 

I think I understand the law about RIF and Ukara so I would need the gun painting 2 tone, but would I be breaking the law to strip and repaint the gun?

 

Sorry for all the questions and I'd really appreciate any help/advice anyone can offers

 

Cheers

 

Berto

[Guest PT247]

can you not hire until you get your UKARA sorted?

[Berto]

I probably could but I'd hate to miss out on a bargain if it's a gun that will last

[Guest PT247]

just seems a shame to buy a gun, pay for it to be 2-toned and then have to spend time and effort removing the paint once it is delivered. with 2-tone at FS it'll cost around £160 in their sale, am sure once the sale ends you'd be able to get hold of one for a similar price still if you shop around. ICS have their own gearboxes which can mean upgrading or repairs could be more complicated.

[Josh95]

Hey mate I have a ICS G33.

Its a great gun from what ive used of it thus far, it has nice range and came out the box at exactly 300fps.

The only issue I have with the gun is semi auto, there first 10 or so bb's in a mag seem to come out full auto. this makes it a bit awkward for CQB use. however it might just be in issue with my particular gun.

 

It definitely is a good gun, I know 2 people that use it at my site and they havnt had any problems from what i could see either.

In my opinion you should get a ukara first before buying a gun, unless you dont mind spending the money for a silly coloured one.

 

I use a 7.something lipo battery and use a "smart charger".

 

technically repainting a RIF is deemed as "manufacturing a RIF" which is illegal however who cares.... if u want to risk having a dodgy paint job lol its up to you

[Berto]

Ah man, I guess I can wait until I get on the Ukara list then.

Thanks for the advice guys

 

Iv spotted quite a few abbreviations on the forum, is there a list anywhere explaining what the all mean? Eg RIS?

[Josh95]

RIS, means rail interface systems. Its basically the rails usually found on the hand-guard to place various attachments such as flash-lights of fore-grips.

other notable abbreviations are FPS (Feet per second) ROF (Rate of fire)

[Berto]

Cheers Josh

[Esoterick]

Ah man, I guess I can wait until I get on the Ukara list then.

Thanks for the advice guys

 

Iv spotted quite a few abbreviations on the forum, is there a list anywhere explaining what the all mean? Eg RIS?

 

There is a list somewhere but I couldn't find it, maybe you will have better luck

[Chock]

Welcome aboard.

 

To answer your painting question, no, you would not be breaking the law if you painted a two toned weapon black, because to own something which looks like a Realistic Imitation Firearm (RIF), what you need is a legitimate defence for doing so should it ever come to the CPS or the Police questioning you about the matter, and since you want a RIF for airsofting, that is absolutely a legitimate reason. In short, the Act of Parliament which pertains to owning a RIF, is the Violent Crimes Reduction Act of 2006, the clue is in its name, it's intended to prevent violent crimes from occurring, so if you simply put your RIF in the boot of your car when it's in a rifle bag, drive to a skirmish site, play with it there, and then sling it back in your boot and drive home, you are in no way being a dick with the thing, nor committing any sort of violent crime, so nobody will care about it in legal terms, because they won't even know it exists providing you use it responsibly for its intended purpose.

 

Even so, when it comes to buying or owning a RIF, there is certainly confusion over the matter among many; for example, lots of people will tell you: 'oh you need a UKARA licence to own or buy a RIF', which is not only factually incorrect, but also incorrect in terms of understanding what the UKARA Scheme is. There is no such thing as a licence for an airsoft weapon, so by definition, nor is there any such thing as a UKARA Licence. What there is, is the UKARA Scheme, which was devised by a collection of airsoft gun retailers to allow them to check if any potential customer for an airsoft weapon was a legitimate airsoft player, so that they could cover their asses from prosecution if they sold a RIF to someone who then chose to use it for nefarious purposes.

 

The UKARA Scheme came about in 2006 when the Violent Crimes Reduction Act was being passed through Parliament. Contrary to popular belief among many airsofters however, the VCR Act is not specifically about airsoft weapons, it covers a number of potentially antisocial and criminal activities, such as carrying knives, drinking alcohol in the street, etc, with the possession of realistic looking weapons merely being a small section of the Act (Sections 36-37). Thus UKARA is in fact a trade association which came about as a response to the VCR Act, and which maintains a database of players who have regularly attended any airsoft skirmish sites which take part in the UKARA Scheme (almost all of them do), in order to cover them from potential prosecution under the VCR Act for having supplied a RIF to someone who had no intention of owning it for a legitimate reason. If retailers had not come up with that scheme, it would effectively put an end to much of their business, and for a while, the VCR Act did indeed put some websites which sold airsoft weapons out of business.

 

So whilst the Government does not officially approve of the UKARA Scheme as a means to track the ownership of RIFs, it does unofficially give it the nod of approval and does mention it in passing in the official guidelines to understanding the VCR Act which is passed out to magistrates and the like. As a result of all that, most airsofters find it convenient to have a UKARA registration number (which you can get after having attended three airsoft skirmishes over a period of two months), but there certainly is no legal requirement to have a UKARA registration number if you own a RIF, it merely makes it easier to prove that you do go airsofting should the need arise (i.e., if the Rozzers pulled you over and said 'what's that in the bag on your back seat?'). UKARA is of course also useful when ordering a RIF online (since that is its primary reason for being), because it is easy for an airsoft site to check your UKARA registration number when you quote it to them at the time of buying something. It's also useful to ask overseas websites to note your UKARA number on any parcel they send to you which contains a RIF, since HM Revenue and Customs also have access to the UKARA database and can check the legitimacy of any RIF coming into the country via that list and cross referencing it with any UKARA number on a parcel.

 

With all that clarified, what actually would be a better option, and indeed as others have stated, would be to simply use a rental gun for three skirmishes and then go for the RIF instead of having to paint over some two tone paint job. Yes it might be a bummer to miss out on a bargain, but there are sales all the time on airsoft sites, so I wouldn't sweat it too much over missing out on a bargain. I'm willing to bet that you could find that exact gun cheaper from a website in the European Union and have it posted to you with your UKARA number on the parcel anyway, and even if you couldn't, you just watch, in those two lean months after Christmas when everyone is still paying for Christmas past, all those airsoft websites will be falling over themselves to discount stuff in order to drum up some business.

[Berto]

Cheers Chock that certainly clears a few things up, looks like rental and patience are what I need.

[Berto]

How long have you had you G33 josh? Would you recommend it for a beginner? I like the look if the gun but everyone recommends G&G for a good starter gun, so would this be a better option http://www.landwarriorairsoft.com/airsoft-weapons-c38/electric-rifles-c45/cm18-mod1-dst-p2973 once I've sorted my Ukara?

[Josh95]

I have had my G33 for about 4 months and skirmished it I think 3 times, I havnt had any issues with it.

If you want to buy an M4 style gun I think G&G are probably the better option over ICS, however If you like the look of the G33 then its a safe choice too. My G33 cost me about £200 but that was from an onsite shop.

 

If you want to upgrade your gun internally then G&G might be the better option because ICS have unique gearboxes, really its down to you. The G33 is a great gun out of the box I seem to outrange most guys not sure why but I do, the G&G's are great too.

[Berto]

So do a lot of people upgrade guns? I've seen the for sale section and loads of guns are sold with tons of extras (most of which is gibberish to me at the moment)

 

I think my ideal load out would be an angled fore grip, red dot scope/acog and a folding stock for storage and cqb and possibly cantered iron sights with a decent range but reliability would be top of the list. Would the G33 or the g&g be a safer bet?

[Berto]

Does anyone know of any airsoft shops in the newcastle/Northumberland area?

 

Happy new year btw

[Josh95]

So do a lot of people upgrade guns? I've seen the for sale section and loads of guns are sold with tons of extras (most of which is gibberish to me at the moment)

 

I think my ideal load out would be an angled fore grip, red dot scope/acog and a folding stock for storage and cqb and possibly cantered iron sights with a decent range but reliability would be top of the list. Would the G33 or the g&g be a safer bet?

Both guns have enough rail space to do all of that, the CM doesn't have a folding stock where as the G33 does.

I don't want to upgrade my guns internally but some people like to