Airsoft lethality thresholds

[Deva]

Some of you may have already seen this, but it looks like limits are being defined/put out as a guideline (I didn't find it very clear myself) as to the lethality of airsoft guns.

 

Here is a link to the letter:

http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/uploads/lethality_UKARA.pdf

 

Essentially the findings say, if your weapon is over the energy threshold, then it will be considered as a firearm, and then dealt with under the firearms act. Anything under remains the same under the VCRA.

 

To not be classed as a firearm you must be firing..

 

1.3 joules or less for full-auto weapons, this means:

 

373fps or less on a 0.2g BB,

347fps or less on a 0.23g BB,

336fps or less on a 0.25g BB,

315fps or less on a 0.28g BB,

304fps or less on a 0.30g BB,

278fps or less on a 0.36g BB,

263fps or less on a 0.40g BB,

254fps or less on a 0.43g BB.

 

 

2.5 joules for semi-auto/single shot weapons, this means:

 

519fps or less on a 0.2g BB,

484fps or less on a 0.23g BB,

464fps or less on a 0.25g BB,

438fps or less on a 0.28g BB,

423fps or less on a 0.30g BB,

386fps or less on a 0.36g BB,

367fps or less on a 0.40g BB,

354fps or less on a 0.43g BB.

 

 

FPS values calculated by yours truly

[TPI]

To be honest i see it as lethal if its pointed at me or someone/thing that has the capability of thought that doe's not have the required protection on but also anything over 500FPS im gonna come kick your behind lol

[Mister CK]

To be honest, this means nothing changes really...I dont know of any site with limits higher than those stated...

 

It however does mean bad news for sites like actionhobbies, who are selling guns at 380fps, will either need to be a Registered Firearms dealer, or downgrade their guns before sale.

[Deva]

Well if it starts being properly enforced, then it could also mean that if you are found in possesion of something too hot, you'll get done for possesion of a firearm without a license (or whatever the specific crime may be). I doubt that's a short prison sentance, I heard talk of 5 years?

[M_P]

Could be problems for gbbr users....

I don't think it'll change much though as said above- most sites have limits below those anyway

[lemon191]

the only issue i see is buying guns from international sellers as alot of what they sell is well over those limits. i cant see police testing guns at sites much if at all but customs may well send them off for tests so could cause issues for imports if they dont get down graded.

 

another question is are shops going to up the price of the weapons or take the hit themselves ?

[Mister CK]

Sites should properly enforce those limits, then there wont be a problem. Shops also need to play their part in it and chrono guns as they are sold.

 

If you choose to upgrade a gun, and dont know what you are doing, and upgrade it beyond a legal limit, that is self inflicted.

 

Yes. this could effect GBBR users.

 

Edit: Why will it cost the shops anything?

[lemon191]

Sites should properly enforce those limits, then there wont be a problem. Shops also need to play their part in it and chrono guns as they are sold.

 

If you choose to upgrade a gun, and dont know what you are doing, and upgrade it beyond a legal limit, that is self inflicted.

 

Yes. this could effect GBBR users.

 

Edit: Why will it cost the shops anything?

down grading weapons over the limit that before they would have been able to send out as it is

[Tomson]

down grading weapons over the limit that before they would have been able to send out as it is

 

Most shops offer a free 'down-grade' option anyway... so I dont think it would matter much??

[Finius]

The accepted FPS tolerances have been set at 370 full auto, 520 sniper rifle according to a letter that was sent round various places today.

 

I've spoken to a few places about this so far. Most sites will NOT be expecting to put up their limits for safety and insurance reasons. What this does mean though, is that site-rules about fps limits can be relaxed, if your site used to have a strict "not one single shot over 350" rule, they can now maybe say "okay, so one shot out of three was over by two fps, you can use your gun" etc.

[lil airsofter]

if there is a clampdown on these limits thereis going to be a lot of demand for taiwaneese and japaneese stuff, which tends to be lower power. but it also means 500fps semi conversions are legal. (:

[M_P]

as far as I know semi auto at 500fps has never been illegal..... its just sites dont allow it

[lil airsofter]

well now they can and i have heard some say if this happened they would push their limits.

[Airsoft-Ed]

423fps or less on a 0.30g BB,

 

My KJW has "Max 1.9 Joules" written on it and I'm sure that'll fire over 423fps with a .3

 

Unless I've misunderstood something.

[M_P]

i think thats the limit you should have it firing at- ie. you should restrict it

[Airsoft-Ed]

That would make sense, but how'd you restrict a gas sniper? It's not like you can get a NPAS for it or anything...

[M_P]

Can't you get adjustable bolts?

[Airsoft-Ed]

Not anymore, they stopped making them, probably because you could up the FPS to 800 with it, or something crazy like that.

 

But yeah, they're like gold dust now, I've heard people say they've sold them for more than they bought the gun it came with.

 

Edit:

 

Also, wasn't there something about rifles over 500fps being classed as air rifles or something? I remember reading a thread, which I think was on here, where someone had bought a sniper that was over 500fps and they hadn't needed UKARA because the shop said it was an air rifle.

 

So, is there anything regarding that to be added here? 'Cos for some reason, it's perfectly legal to own an air rifle if you're over 18 and they can actually kill people, regardless of how real they look.

 

It really makes me sick actually, just because we shoot at people intentionally, with guns that look real, we must be terrorists in the making and have to have legislation rammed so far down our throats that we practically sh*t it every time we do anything.

[Rock-climby-Dave]

few quick things from myself to add here:

I got this a few days ago as a retailer, I'm yet to give it a proper look at.

373fps from anything capable of fully automatic fire (legally defined as more than 6 shots per continuous pull of the trigger)

2.5J on bolties or semi locked things.

 

Sites will not change their limits because the legally enforced limit is now set.

at F&O we have a limit of 328fps+5% rounded to 350fps DEAD.

anyone arguing that 'oh I'm only 1 fps over at 351' is given a very sarcastic 'no, you're 23fps over, now take that gun away before I shove it where the sun don't shine'

 

This won't effect your gameplay, only the guns you can buy and you won't really notice a price increase of more than £5-10 per AEG that chrono's over.

[G-Force]

These FPS limits are roughly the same as most site's rules anyway so it's not really going to have very much of an effect. However a full auto gun firing over 373 FPS on 0.2g BB's hardly seems like a firearm to me but it dosn't matter because anyone using a gun with that sort of FPS limit during a game would be a right ****

[Airsoft-Ed]

What happened to make them suddenly decide to come out with this? When has anyone ever been killed by an airsoft gun?

 

I think it ought to be down to the player getting shot at to decide what they can take, not the rather aptly named FFS. It would be impossible to launch a BB from an airsoft gun that would be capable of killing someone in one shot without it having a massive pressure behind it that would deem it impractical for use in the sport. This is just beyond ridiculous.

 

Just to clarify though, if the limit for a .2 on semi is 519fps, does that mean that a gun producing that performance, given a .3, would fire it at 423fps? Is velocity and weight relative? That's to say, will the reduced velocity produced as a result of the added weight of heavier ammo still result in the same joule output?

 

Edit: I wonder why they didn't just decide to reinforce the minimum engagement range rules? The entire sport operates on a commonsense principle, if you're going to tear someone a new arsehole, don't shoot them from up close. Simples. Everyone thinks the same and acts on it, so why do we need lawful rules put in place to reinforce what we already think, in a less workable way? It's like they're trying to provoke us so that when we kick off they can just forcibly ban the whole thing altogether.

 

Also, when my brother first got his Ares L85 it was firing, and still is in fact, at 370fps and he was allowed to use it, they just said he was restricted to semi only and a minimum engagement distance of 20m until the spring wore in to a more reasonable fps.

[Rock-climby-Dave]

same joule output, which is what does the damage is the energy, rather than the speed.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Ok, so there's basically no change at all then? It'll be interesting to see how this fans out over the next year.

[Cerbo Knight]

I'm quite relieved about this, instead of forcing us all to airsoft with a blanket 1J rule like Ireland which frankly I expected, this has actually had a little bit of thought put into this.

 

 

Not that it changes anything for me, except when my Tanaka has it's bolt open all the way it's horribly illegal.

[Leinad]

What should a player do If they already own a gun firing above 373 fps on full auto?

 

(no local shops to have it downgraded by)