Help please.

[Ajcman92]

I am currently speaking to young male who would like to start airsoft. Our legal age to play is 16 at our site. I am giving him advice about guns and the "law" of our site. An AEG is 350fps at the most, and 500fps for a Bolt action rifle.

He is complaining saying that a gun at 330 fps is to low power for him.

Now forgive me if im wrong (I've been airsofting for 6 years) and 330 FPS for an AEG is the perfect fps for any AEG.

Any information you can give on the rules of airsofting in the UK. Including importing from Russia to get a gun, for cheap. Would be much appreciated. Im not sure what sources on the internet to trust and not to trust.

Thanks Adam

[leroyinmotion]

Re: Help please.

I take my son with me on days so know what this is like, 350fps is top line for a full automatic aeg some sites allow semi at 400fps but i believe it has to be based on a real world dmr so tend to be long and heavier some sites may differ 500fps for single shots would be right ie bolt action types a well made aeg with good hop set up will be great at 330 cheap guns from abroad does have its pitfalls customs ect.. ive fell into that myself more than once,also to have his own he will have to qualify for ukara or some sort of defence in order to have one also a good understanding of the law to be passed onto him so he wont get arrested for brandishing it in public after to much white lightening one night wouldnt hurt,this is a quick run through some better informed fellows on here will keep you right in a short while im sure they will be along to help

[Smintheus]

Re: Help please.

The 350 FPS is standard for UK sites - I've never seen one which allows higher than 350 for fully automatic weapons.

A few things which might help :

1. FPS is not an accurate measure of "power" or "range". Many TM guns for example fire at under 300 FPS muzzle velocity, yet outrange tons of higher-FPS guns on the field.

2. If he's been watching airsoft videos from the US, he may have an incorrect idea of FPS limits - many American sites allow higher FPS guns at the cost of a "minimum engagement distance".

3. As I understand it, there is no current legal limit on airsoft guns beyond the 12 ft.lb limitation imposed on air rifles. However, I believe there is a general consensus among insurers to regulate to 350 FPS on automatic weapons as guided by a non-legally binding advisory report done recently.

4. Most of the laws in the UK are based around the appearance, rather than the power, of a rifle. If a rifle looks like a firearm (I.E is all black/a gun colour) as opposed to being "two-toned" (half a bright colour) then it is a -crime- to sell, import, or manufacture it. So if you just bought a gun from Russia and it was intercepted at customs, it would be destroyed. Airsofters get around this via a "defence". There is an exemption in the above law that means you're effectively allowed to break it if you're a registered skirmisher. There are a variety of ways to prove this, the most popular being UKARA, however, none of them are available to under 18s. An over 18 would need to acquire the defence (Ukara requirements are play 3 games outside of more than a two month period between 1st and 3rd) and then buy/import it himself.

5. Finally, when importing RIFs from abroad, they may arrive firing 400+ FPS. Customs do not check FPS, and will not destroy it based on muzzle FPS, however, most sites will chronograph (check the muzzle velocity) and not allow "hot" guns to be used. To knowingly take a "hot" gun (firing over the limits) to a site and cheat/avoid their chronograph, or use it as a site which does not chrono all players, is despicable and should be punished with death :D.