Airsoft the Law and You

Since officially opening up our Airsoft section last year we are often asked why so many of the guns we stock are Red, Blue or Green especially by those used to Airguns. Here at Drapers Gun Centre we want to expand into all different forms of shooting while making sure our current customer base can also enjoy all that it brings along with us, to help with this we've listed a few common questions we often get asked about our Airsoft section.

How are Airsoft Guns Powered?

Unlike Airguns, Airsoft guns are powered through a few different means. While there is the standard Spring, CO2 and Compressed Air like Airguns, many Airsoft guns are powered by Green Gas, or Red Gas in the colder months, this works much like CO2 but is usually filled in the bottom of the magazine in a similar fashion to a standard butane lighter. Another common method of powering Airsoft Guns is AEG or Airsoft Electric Guns these run off of Battery Power commonly 7.4v Lipos, these batteries are fixed to the gun with either a Tamiya or Deans connection (It is important to know which batteries your rifle takes before purchasing an AEG as many higher end guns will not be supplied with their own).

Why Two-Tone?

According to the Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006 (VCRA) any Realistic Imitation Firearm can only be sold to those with the appropriate licence such as a UKARA licence but don’t worry for those of you that are not planning on getting a UKARA or wish to buy your own airsoft guns before getting a UKARA any Imitation Firearm that has at least 51% of it coloured a “Non-Gun” colour (aka transparent, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright blue, bright green, bright pink, or bright purple). Here at Drapers Gun Centre we offer a wide range of Two Tone or Non UKARA Airsoft Guns from Pistols to Rifles, and for those of you wanting to get into skirmishing don’t be afraid Two Tone does not always mean back garden plinking with many of our offerings being available in both Two Tone and Real Steel colours.

What is a UKARA Licence?

A UKARA Licence is The United Kingdom Airsoft Retailers Association, it was formed in response to the 2006 Violent Crime Reduction bill to enable a safe method of selling Realistic Imitation Firearms (RiF's) to the UK Airsoft player market by confirming the eligibility of purchasers. Player registration is free, to become a registered airsoft player you are required to take part in Three games at the same UKARA registered game site over a minimum of two months, e.g. the third game being 56 days or more after the first.

You must be over 18 years of age, live within the UK and able to provide identification such as Passport, Drivers Licence or Bank Statement.

Is there a power limit?

Unlike Airguns, Airsoft guns measure their power in FPS and Joules rather than Foot Pounds. Their legality can change from skirmish site to skirmish site and while the limit for an automatic is 1.3 Joules and 2.5 for everything else each skirmish site will set their own limits. Most sites will limit AEGs to 150 FPS , DMRs to 300 FPS , Snipers to 500 FPS but this can vary.

We hope this week's post has been able to answer a few of the more common questions that we get here at Drapers Gun Centre but if you do have a question about Airsoft that wasn’t covered don’t hesitate to phone up or ask one of our friendly staff members in store.

BSA Ultra CLX 160 Commemorative Edition Release At Drapers Gun Centre

Set to be released on the 22nd of November 2021. BSA have once again celebrated their long and illustrious history with the brand new BSA Ultra CLX 160 Commemorative Edition, Now available for reservation at Drapers Gun Centre Nottingham Retailing at £999.

Working with BSA now for some years it often becomes easy to forget the once humble beginnings of this now monumental company. Starting all the way back in 1854 an association of fourteen Master Gunmakers was formed in Birmingham, England to regulate output, fair prices, and quality of arms manufactured for government contracts. These fourteen members became the founding shareholders of the Birmingham Small Arms Company Ltd when it was formed in 1861. Now 160 years on from that date, BSA have commemorated this achievement with the launch of a very special anniversary edition PCP air rifle. The Ultra CLX 160 (side lever action).

BSA have taken their new Ultra CLX PCP, launched earlier this year, and added some very special and unique features. Only 160 units produced in both .22 calibre and .177 calibre for sale to the UK market. The special features included are as follows:

Ultra CLX with Sidelever action including 160th year anniversary marking.
Minelli ‘Black Pepper’ Laminate Commemorative stock, with special 160 years logo laser engraved on the bottom of the pistol grip. A feature which will never be repeated.
Colour coded safety catches matched to the rifle calibre to compliment the magazines.
Commemorative certificate of authenticity with the rifle's unique serial number hand signed by BSA’s present managing director.
A special 160th year souvenir fabric patch only available to those who purchase this special package.
Supplied with commemorative collector’s edition packaging, hard synthetic carry case, BSA 3-9x50 scope, BSA moderator and tin of BSA premium pellets.

BSA Guns have decided upon the side lever action as an innovative way of enhancing this one-off edition. We decided to take what we had delivered on the Defiant, and incorporate that into a traditional Carbine/rifle PCP. The result is a smooth robust action which ergonomically fits and functions perfectly on this unique BSA sporter.

The prestige Minelli stock is made from their ‘Black Pepper’ laminate, a favourite with BSA and its customers. On this commemorative model a specially engraved anniversary marking has been laser engraved onto the stock, and will also appear etched on the gun's action, making no mistake this is a very special BSA collector’s edition.

As always we at Drapers Gun Centre are looking forward to joining in with the celebrations of BSA’s 160 years of exceptional service, with their new commemorative rifle, here in Nottingham and we are always looking forward to what game changing innovations they bring to the table in the future.

Hear what BSA have to say for themselves

BSA Ultra CLX 160 Commemorative Edition .22 Last One in Stock

The Daystate Red Wolf Heritage Release

As we all know on the 2nd April 2021 at 11am Daystate released what we have all been waiting for... details of their new Limited Edition - The Daystate Red Wolf Heritage. Of course we were eager to get involved and got as many as we could on order for our customers at Drapers Airgun Centre.

What Daystate has got to say regarding this new Limited Edition -

The Daystate Red Wolf Heritage provides a highly collectible limited edition air rifle to satisfy Daystate connoisseurs and serious airgun shooters alike.

Pioneering PCP airgun manufacture at Daystate has chosen its advance second generation GCU 2.0 Red Wolf as the base and in time honoured Daystate fashion the Red Wolf Heritage is a limited edition with only 250 models to be released worldwide.

Beautifully styled, the Red Wolf Heritage melds a bronze and carbon fibre finish with matching laminate woodwork. The new Red Wolf Heritage serves to remind shooters that besides leading the airgun world technologically, Daystate also creates some of the finest looking rifles in more classical format. With its flowing lines the Red Wolf has been praised worldwide as one of the most beautiful air rifles of all time. But a Daystate air rifle’s beauty is never just skin deep.

Inside the Heritage air rifle’s luxurious exterior beats a digitally regulated heart that bears testament to Daystate’s 15 years mastery of building electronically controlled air rifles.

The limited edition Daystate Heritage incorporates the very latest updates applied to the Red Wolf in its 3 year production. Such as critically acclaimed art barrel and MCT technology. The Red Wolf Heritage is guaranteed to deliver match-like accuracy out to the most extreme ranges.

The Daystate Heritage – Welcome to the Family.

Upon speaking with a good friend of ours at Drapers Airguns Mr Lee Perryman who is a Daystate ASP Team Shooter he quoted the following after being one of the first people to ever see and shoot the new Daystate Red Wolf Heritage.

"Well it’s that time again when the gossip and rumour mill start to grind, about a new release of a limited edition rifle from Daystate!
As a member of the Daystate ASP team and living quite close to the Daystate factory, I received a call from Tony Belas asking if he could come over to one of my permissions and bring something with him. The Daystate outdoor range being closed due to Covid 19 and with limited options available he wanted to film the latest Limited edition which had just been finished.
On arrival at my farm, Tony handed me a rifle bag, eagerly I opened it to find the new Red Wolf Heritage! I had seen a computer render of the rifle a few months before but this looked way more exciting and everything you could expect from a Daystate limited edition!
So not only did I get to get the first glimpse of the new LE, I got to shoot and video it, which is a real novelty for something so secret."

Here are links to Lee Perryman's YouTube Channel and Instagram pages which are worth a follow especially if you are a fan of Daystate, Pulsar and Spartan products.

Below we've got the specification of the Daystate Red Wolf Heritage. It is being released in .177 and .22 (links attached here to purchase on our website). Here at Draper's Airgun Centre we have 5 of each calibre and is on a first come first serve basis at £2749.99 (scope not included).

Overall Length: 99.0 cm (39 ins)
Barrel Length: 43 cm (17 ins)
Cylinder Capacity: 480 cc
Weight (Unscoped): 3.5 kg (7.5lbs)
Loading: Magazine and Single Shot Tray
Cocking: Side Lever action - reversible
Magazine: 10-13 Shot
Fill Pressure: Up to 250 BAR (3,625 psi)
Power / Shots Per Charge 0.22: 475 shots 12 ft/lbs
Power / Shots Per Charge 0.177: 420 shots 12 ft/lbs
Trigger: Electronic release. Adjustable for weight and length of stage.
Safety: Manual, cross bar, lever open deactivation.
Stock: Ambidextrous Laminate
Standard features include; Bronze 0dB Silencer, custom Gun box, Charging adaptor. Certificate of authenticity.

BSA Ultra CLX Release at Drapers Airguns

Released on the 5^th March 2021, BSA revealed their latest Airgun – a brand new air rifle to celebrate the fact they are 160 years old this year. Quite aptly they have named the gun the CLX – which if you look at it in Roman Numerals, that is exactly what it is.

Here at Drapers Airguns in Nottingham we were one of the first to know of this Airgun release from BSA, and we were able to get our hands on ten of the First Edition Ultra CLX Packs and have plenty of the standard CLX Airguns coming into stock. But more on these later.

BSA, Birmingham Small Arms, have been situated in Birmingham since 1861 where the design, development and manufacturing takes place on the famous Armoury Road headquarters. They have taken advantage of the latest cutting-edge technologies to develop an extraordinary compact PCP air rifle and we certainly agree it is rather fantastic. Studying the gun everything has changed, bar the trigger guard, cold hammer forged barrel and bolt, but there is no mistaking the gun’s heritage.

A beautifully balanced and designed gun, it really does elevate the BSA brand. The newly designed Monoblock chassis is purpose built, reducing internal components thus improving reliability and efficiency and will enhance your shooting to a thrilling new level. A superbly accurate gun for ratting, range shooting, hide hunting and much more.

Similar to the BSA Ultra, it is shorter in length and ideal for someone who is in the market for a more compact airgun with a manageable weight, perfect for shooting even in some of the tightest spaces. Teamwork between Minelli in Italy and BSA has produced an ambidextrous original-looking Minelli crafted stock incorporating a stippled pattern giving the fore stock a nice feel. The First Editions are made in Walnut and the standard in Beech. Studs have been fitted on both the front and rear for easy fit of a bipod or sling as well as a rubberised butt pad for ultimate comfort.

The BSA CLX introduces BSA’s brand new anti-double load 12 shot magazine systems which comes with a shot countdown indicator. No more double loads! Efficiency is greatly increased, as well as air capacity, and you could achieve an increase in shot count of 50%. Also a newly designed fully adjustable trigger – length, laterally and radially. Plus – again brand new – the rotary safety catch design with a red dot immediately perceptible when you’re live.

This is the new generation BSA airgun that customers will want!

The BSA CLX is being released in both .177 and .22

Length – 82cm / 32inch

Weight – 2.6kg / 5.7lbs (gun only)

Magazine capacity – 12

Shot count - .177 60 shots

.22 72 shots

Maximum Muzzle Velocity - .177 700ft/s

.22 570 ft/s

The First Edition is a limited run of two hundred units that BSA have produced. At Drapers Airguns, as with other dealers, we were limited to five in each of .177 and .22 which have unfortunately now sold out within three days of release! The First Edition includes a Walnut Minelli stock, a BSA Essentials 3-9x50 WR Scope, BSA Silencer and a hard synthetic carry case.

Arrival date for the BSA CLX will be from the first week of April 2021 to Drapers Airgun Centre, Nottingham.

You can buy the BSA Ultra CLX beech airgun only by following this link or Drapers are offering its own custom package!

We’re looking forward to seeing more airgun releases from BSA later this year. As always, Drapers Airguns will be the first to let you know, as well as stocking them on the shelves in our store in Nottingham from their release date.

Ultra CLX First Edition – BSA Guns Link to BSA's Ultra CLX First Edition page.

Ultra CLX – BSA Guns Link to BSA's Ultra CLX page.

You can browse all of Drapers Airguns BSA products in stock here.

Airgun Servicing & Repairs at Drapers in Nottingham

Welcome to Drapers Airgun Centre of Nottingham, one of the largest airgun showrooms in the UK with a comprehensive and extensive air rifle and air pistol repair centre. Like a car you use regularly, an airgun needs servicing and attention from time to time. This helps to safeguard the performance and the long life of your gun as well as maintaining the warranty. We have a whole room now dedicated to doing repairs from when we extended in 2020 at Drapers Airgun Centre – no job is too small or too much of a problem. We aim to try and do most repairs in house, but some may rarely have to go back to the manufacturer.

All types of airguns can be serviced and most can be repaired. Pre-charged Pneumatic, Spring-powered and CO2 powered.

Repairs and Servicing Room at Drapers Airgun Centre Nottingham

Fixed price airgun servicing costs are shown below, please ring us on 0115 9702525 if you require any further information. Repairs are priced depending on the complexity of the problem, and availability of parts. The amount of different scenarios we encounter is endless so if you can contact us with a description of your gun’s fault, we are happy to discuss this and if possible offer a guide to costing.

Pricing for a Full Service:

Spring Powered Guns from £55

Gas-Ram Powered Guns from £75

Non-Regulated PCPs from £55

Regulated PCPs from £75

CO2 Powered Guns from £55

We offer:

Spring replacement is from £30 additional to the service cost

Pistol gliding from £60

Regulator fitting from £100 plus the price of the parts

Zeroing in a scope £8 (if you purchase the scope from us we will do this for free)

Chronographing an airgun £8

We can also repair FAC / Firearms rated airguns – please bring your Firearms Certificate when bringing along and collecting your repair.

If your gun is over 12ft/lb muzzle energy we cannot return it to you until this has been rectified to under the legal limit. This does incur a charge.

When you bring your gun in for repair or service, you will be given a receipt. We will contact you when the gun is ready for collection and payment. We would advise you to bring the receipt and your ID when you come to the shop to collect.

After four weeks of our advising you the gun is ready, if no collection has been made, we will contact you again. If after a further two weeks you have not contacted us or collected the gun, it will become the property of Drapers Airgun Centre.

You can also post your airgun – we suggest using Parcelforce and we can then post back your airgun once it is repaired at a charge of £15.

PAYMENT

We accept cash and all major credit and debit cards.

So for all your airgun repairs please call or email Drapers Airgun Centre of Nottingham on 0115 9702525 or sales@drapers-airguns.co.uk.