I'll have to hope I can get hold of an M14 gearbox from somewhere and pray to God it fits.
Action Hobbys do them for £40 ![]()
Hope thats all clear. Double check the law before doing work like this, and triple check before posting on the net in open forums about what you are thinking of doing/currently making.
That's buggered quite a few up, not just me. Oh well, best to close this thread then I suppose.


























When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
As most of us here can prove a deffence why can't we make them?
Steve.D

As most of us here can prove a deffence why can't we make them?
Steve.D
Indeed, we don't need to close this thread, just as long as everyone is being sensible about it.
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.


















I think, I heard somewhere that for it to be classed as legal body-parts upgrades/facelifts (like buying real wood grips or metal recievers) that 50% or more of the whole gun should look the same if not very similar.
For example, me turning my FA-MAS into my Vickers .303, Old 'Uns M14 into a 50 Cal, etc... would not be classed as legal after Oct 1st, but we got got ours complete and resembling the weapon before the bill was passed. If I made another Vickers out of another FA-MAS I would now be breaking the law, and would have to prove my entitlement to use the specific defense if caught doing so.
So, if you don't have proof or can't provide proof to exempt yourself from prosecution via the specific defense, don't attempt to make one airsoft weapon into another as seen in these threads!
Hope thats all clear. Double check the law before doing work like this, and triple check before posting on the net in open forums about what you are thinking of doing/currently making.
Speak for yourself
, as an organiser of airsoft games proving my defence as a regular skirmisher shouldn't be too hard. UKARAs database is not the ten commandments nor the only method of proving your defence , just an easy way .
I think, I heard somewhere that for it to be classed as legal body-parts upgrades/facelifts (like buying real wood grips or metal recievers) that 50% or more of the whole gun should look the same if not very similar.
For example, me turning my FA-MAS into my Vickers .303, Old 'Uns M14 into a 50 Cal, etc... would not be classed as legal after Oct 1st, but we got got ours complete and resembling the weapon before the bill was passed. If I made another Vickers out of another FA-MAS I would now be breaking the law, and would have to prove my entitlement to use the specific defense if caught doing so.
So, if you don't have proof or can't provide proof to exempt yourself from prosecution via the specific defense, don't attempt to make one airsoft weapon into another as seen in these threads!
Hope that's all clear. Double check the law before doing work like this, and triple check before posting on the net in open forums about what you are thinking of doing/currently making.
Speak for yourself
, as an organiser of airsoft games proving my defence as a regular skirmisher shouldn't be too hard. UKARAs database is not the ten commandments nor the only method of proving your defence , just an easy way .
would not be classed as legal after Oct 1st
But it would now be illegal to do a build like the ones we did, now that Oct 1st has passed. We arn't breaking any law, as ours were built before Oct 1st. i was just using our MGs as an example., that's all
Hehe, I'm not saying that neither you nor I can prove defence, because I believe you can. ![]()
But what I'm trying to point out is that it is now illegal to do so [build effigies of real-steal weaponry]!
Where as we built ours before it became an offence to do so; if anyone trys to do so now, they would have to take the VCRA into consideration.
UKARAs database is not the ten commandments nor the only method of proving your defence , just an easy way .
Indeed, I quite agree. Though I printed out the form and have gained the rights to get it stamped off and is, I myself am not currently registered with UKARA as I still haven't sent it off, and don't currently see the need for myself to at the moment.
Sorry if you took offence to being used as an example. Just trying to put some perspective on it to help any others. ![]()
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.


















UKARAs database is not the ten commandments nor the only method of proving your defence
I couldn`t agree more ![]()
This thread has taken an interesting turn.
The best definition i've heard so far, is that Manufacture is creating an Airsoft gun where one did not exist before.

















When we were a Kingdom it was run by a King
When we were an Empire it was run by an Empress
Now we're a country we're run by a..........
Yes, absolutely take your point McVickers. What we are doing (selling & importing RIFs, making looky-like guns etc) is against the law thanks to the VCRA. Just a very few are exempted from it's repercussions so we each need to be very sure of where a personal defence lies (over 18, member of airsoft site, reenactor, UKARA card holder or other documentary evidence blah blah).
As Kermit points out, airsofter's defence is very fragile, so we (forum users in this case) need to be whiter than white publicly and privately. It's not a personal tussle with the police, or worse the courts, that's the issue - it's the whole airsoft community at risk.


On a serious note, good skills on the PPSH idea tho
Some day I'll get round to my DP28 ![]()
No longer involved in airsoft.
pardon me if i'm wrong, but how will it be proven that a home made weapon, made purely for your own gratification and use, made with much care and tenderness( adding the odd curse and a hammer at times) in your own home, hasn't been made prior to OCT 1st. I know i didn't time date stamp my 98k.
Now if your mass producing them for all and sundery that would be an issue.
How does anyone know you are speeding/taking drugs/stealing from the neighbour/fiddling your income tax/hiding an unlicensed firearm? (Hypothetical question, not casting aspersions!)
The point is, a society abides by the laws of the land. If you don't then you have accept the risk of being found out and taking the consequences!

pardon me if I'm wrong, but how will it be proven that a home made weapon,... ...hasn't been made prior to OCT 1st?
By the fact that people are posting a topic on here their intentions or current builds after Oct 1st.
These forums obviously show the time and date of when you've posted, and so if someone goes "Hey guys, look at this *insert weapon here* I'm building/going to build", anyone [read: law enforcement/tabloid news] can come on here and see that the law is being broken. Sure - quite a few of us building these guns have adequate cover via specific defense, but some also don't, and either way posting projects like this is just increasing the chance they'll be asked to provide the proof that they are legitimate skirmishers (which is a bad thing if you're not covered).
Indeed, as CW says, it's the risk of being caught that is the issue here. And if people are going to be posting articles/topics on an open forum such as this one saying "Look what gun I am going to make/currently making" when Oct 1st has blatantly passed and gone, then they are treading on thin ice - especially if they have not got adequate protection sorted out "specific defense wise". All we are saying is just make sure you are covered/protected via specific defense before broadcasting any intentions to make a RIF.
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.


















I disagree, I'd say the vast majority of people on here - especially those doing custom builds - will qualify for the defence. Remember, the UKARA scheme is just for buying airsofts from retailers.






Good point! Also don't forget that every post made on this forum is indexed by Google and other major search engines so it's very public.
And quite apart from the more general law breaking issue it also weakens airsofters defence, already fragile. Publicly flouting the law might make the authorities take a second look.
Hence moderators on this and other airsofting forums are harsh and abrupt with posts that explore or suggest non-compliance.

Hence moderators on this and other airsofting forums are harsh and abrupt with posts that explore or suggest non-compliance.
As well they should be. Making out that airsofters who qualify for the defence are doing or planning to do something illegal doesn't help either. It just muddys the waters and adds intrigue where none existed.






Good point! Also don't forget that every post made on this forum is indexed by Google and other major search engines so it's very public.
And quite apart from the more general law breaking issue it also weakens airsofters defence, already fragile. Publicly flouting the law might make the authorities take a second look.
Here here!
We've got to protect what we've already got, not run it into the ground.
On the subject of UKARA, Kavster, I wasn't taking about it. As Old 'Un said, it's a good/easy way of proving your an airsoft skirmisher but not the only way. But bringing a RIF into the UK or building a RIF from scratch is inside the UK is considered the same in the eyes of this government; 'There is now a particular RIF in the UK that wasn't there before'. They don't want RIFs to be about in the hands of Joe Public - fact. Either way you'll have to prove your eligible for the specific defense to the same degree as the other (whether home build or bought in).
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.


















Either way you'll have to prove your eligible for the specific defense to the same degree as the other (whether home build or bought in).
...which was my point. If you qualify for the defence, you're not doing anything illegal by building a RIF.






So that's that sorted then, eh Jeks?
![]()

Does this prohibit altering an existing RIF? Say turning a P90 into a 30Cal or whatever? In which case how does that differ from, say, putting on a new wood kit to your thompson, and at what point does a cosmetic change become illegal?
No longer involved in airsoft.