Newbie

[Gingercolt]

Kinda new to airsoft, got some guns and a face mask but want a new one. I have found the one I really like but can't find somewhere to sell me it, any ideas?

[SeniorSpaz87]

Alright then,

I see you went with the popular G&G M4 option, which is fine. What is your issue with it, and what would you like to get? If sites are refusing to sell whatever it is to you, then it's probably because you don't have a UKARA registration (just speculating). You need to be registered into the UKARA database in order to purchase RIFs. Is this the case?

[Airsoft_Mr B]

A new gun or a new face mask? And what is this thing you're after?

[Chock]

I'm guessing you mean that the place won't sell you an airsoft weapon because it is a RIF (Realistic Imitation Firearm), i.e. it is black or some other realistic looking colour and could be mistaken for a real gun, so they want some confirmation that you are going to use it for a legitimate purpose. So, unless you can provide them with evidence that you are either using it for airsoft skirmishing at a registered airsoft skirmish site which has third part insurance, or for an historical e-enactment, or for use in a museum, or for use in a TV, film or theatre production, or you are using it in the service of the Queen, these being the only excuses allowed for it to be legal for them to sell it to you, then it would be illegal for them to sell it to you. And by law, they need to make such a check to ensure this is the case.

 

There is no getting around that, they could be closed down as a business, sent to jail and fined if they sold you one without confirming that information, so you can understand why they would not want to do so. Most airsoft enthusiasts therefore join the United Kingsom Airsoft Retailer's Association (UKARA) list of registered airsoft players, which then gives them a registration number they can quote when ordering RIFs from websites, to allow the retailer to check that they are genuinely playing airsoft at a skirmish site which has third party insurance for that activity, thus making it legal for them to sell it to that person. Gaining such a UKARA registration number requires you to have attended three skirmishes over a period of at least two months, after which, you fill out a form and send it off, whereupon you get your UKARA number sent to you via email.

 

The UKARA site, if you want information about that:

 

http://www.ukara.org.uk/

 

The only other way you can purchase an airsoft weapon in the UK, is if it has been 'two toned', i.e. it has at least 51 percent of it in an unrealistic colour, such as orange, blue, red, yellow, pink, green etc, or is made from a transparent plastic material. Any airsoft weapon which complies with that two tone colouration (either by having been painted that way, or molded in coloured material) is exempt from the need for the retailer to check what it will be used for, but you will need to be eighteen years of age to buy it, so they will ask you to confirm that by ticking a box on the order (some sites will check the legitimacy of this, by seeing who any credit card you use to make the payment is registered to, some apparently don't bother to check, since if you tick the box and aren't eighteen, then it is you and not them who would be breaking the law). Some online retailers will offer to paint guns in those colours so that you can legally purchase them; a service for which they will probably charge you about twenty quid (some places do so for free), some online retailers will specialise in selling guns which are that colour already, so the cost of buying those is the price you see on the product page.

 

What many people therefore do, is attend the required three skirmishes for a UKARA application to be made, and use the skirmish site's own hire guns for those three skirmishes, thereafter purchasing a RIF by using their newly acquired UKARA registration number. So if you want to do that, get down to a skirmish site, ask them about UKARA and play three games over more than one month. If on the other hand, you prefer to buy a two tone weapon, then you can go ahead and do that right now providing you are eighteen years of age or over.

 

But be aware that many of the very cheap two tone airsoft guns you can find for sale online are not very good, so do some research into the one you fancy buying before going ahead. Expect to pay just over one hundred quid for something which is decent, but just because something is that price, does not mean it definitely will be worth having, so look at some reviews of the product (and not the ones on the site selling it, look at some independent reviews). If in doubt about whether something is worth buying, ask on here and most people will be happy to tell you whether or not it is a good choice or a piece of crap.

[Gingercolt]

Thanks for replying!

I never made myself clear, that was my fault. I am looking for a new mask, I have attached a photo of the one I like

Thank you in advance for the help

[Adam3088]

From the tiny picture it's a bit hard to see (cant expand it for some reason) but that looks like an ops-core mandible, don't think there's an airsoft version. They cost a good few hundred dollars.

 

Edit: Cant even find them for sale now, thought I did before but may well be wrong.

[Lozart]

Yep, OPS Core Mandible. This is probably the closest you'll get: http://www.mtekweaponsystems.com/supply/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=40 but they ain't cheap!