Help sourcing a Pulse Rifle in the UK

[Tyger Cheex]

Put simply, where the hell do I start?

I'm not really in a financial position to buy one of these outright (unless someone wants to make me an offer I cant refuse) but I figured I could slowly build up the various bits and bobs I need to make one and have a go myself.

In the UK it's quite tricky to buy replica weapons that actually look like their real counterparts unless you can prove you belong to various organisations (film studio, re-enactment group, air-soft club etc) and importing a completed PR from outside the UK is seemingly impossible. Actually, my dad owns a gun licence... (shot guns) does anyone know if this could be used to my advantage?

There are quite a few "ready to go" rifles outside of the UK but as above, I would struggle to get them in tot he UK, so basically I'm not sure where to start. I'm not really that interested in a resin cast one either, I'd like to go the route of something as accurate as funds permit.

In the UK play.com are listing a "hero" PR but at £900 it's a little out of my price range and I suspect it's just a re-sell of the one that has been discussed extensively on thise boards here:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=62252

Any info/links/advice anyone has that can help would be much appreciated, I fancy doing a Colonial Marine costume after the completion of my Ghostbuster but if I can't get a Pulse Rifle there's not much point doing the rest of the costume because for me, the weapon is the costume!

Anyone in the UK that has one... I hate you!

 

[Raffles]

In the UK it's quite tricky to buy replica weapons that actually look like their real counterparts unless you can prove you belong to various organisations (film studio, re-enactment group, air-soft club etc) and importing a completed PR from outside the UK is seemingly impossible. Actually, my dad owns a gun licence... (shot guns) does anyone know if this could be used to my advantage?

Unfortunately not, whilst he is qualified to own a real weapon British law won't let him have a replica of any kind. (I know, dumb isn't it).
your best bet is to get a hold of a resin or fiberglass bodykit and add that to the relevant resin parts but to be honest no one (including the government) really know if sci-fi stuff counts as replica firearms. If you're a big company like MR or the like you can do what you want seemingly, they sell SW weapons and the like from forbidden planet stores in the UK with no repercussions but anyone trying to import a prop gun from abroad could face legal action.
The base gun for the pulse rifle is a Thompson M1A1 and the airsoft versions seem to be the best choice but deacts could be used.
Anything brightly coloured doesn't count so maybe that's a route you could go down but as far as I know there was a coloured thompson available till recently but it is out of production.
To be honest the guys on aliens legacy forum probably know all about these issues and I'm sure there's a whole lot of guys on here that'll be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[Tyger Cheex]

Unfortunately not, whilst he is qualified to own a real weapon British law won't let him have a replica of any kind. (I know, dumb isn't it).
your best bet is to get a hold of a resin or fiberglass bodykit and add that to the relevant resin parts but to be honest no one (including the government) really know if sci-fi stuff counts as replica firearms. If you're a big company like MR or the like you can do what you want seemingly, they sell SW weapons and the like from forbidden planet stores in the UK with no repercussions but anyone trying to import a prop gun from abroad could face legal action.
The base gun for the pulse rifle is a Thompson M1A1 and the airsoft versions seem to be the best choice but deacts could be used.
Anything brightly coloured doesn't count so maybe that's a route you could go down but as far as I know there was a coloured thompson available till recently but it is out of production.
To be honest the guys on aliens legacy forum probably know all about these issues and I'm sure there's a whole lot of guys on here that'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Thanks for the reply Raffles, I know the base of the Pulse Rifle is the Tommy gun (A mate of mine recently put together a WWII Captain America costume and was able to pick up a bright green plastic replica for about £50 which he gave a more "pleasing" coat of paint), I guess that's an avenue worth looking in to... I was looking at the "wolf armouries" kit but apart from the fact that it's £350 for the conversion kit and the website not being very detailed with it's description, I'm a little put off by the "requires a great degree of skill to fit" comment they have on the site!

I'll head over to the Alien Legacy forums to see what they have to say, thanks for the heads up! :thumbsup

 

[Ttaskmaster]

I hate you, too

I suspect the 'hero' PR listed is the HCG version.


A gun licence won't cut it, I'm afraid.
You are building a Realistic Imitation Firearm, so exemption comes only from one of those 3 defences under the VRCA.

You also cannot legally alter De-Act weapons, either... and you'd need to for a PR build. It may be possible to have this done by a certified gunsmith, in accordance with the rules and regs, but your build thereafter would still fall under VRCA... and it'll cost a bomb!!

Becoming an Airsofter is usually the cheapest and easiest route. You can still buy non RIF parts while you go through the UKARA process.
I personally advise shelling out for the best you can afford, even if you're gradually buying parts as and when you have money. I'm taking that option myself, although it's only cost me £500 so far.


OK... As for build options, it depends on what you want it to do.

- The typical build is an Airsoft Thompson M1A1 (NOT the M1928 version) with a G&P conversion kit. Shoots BBs, counter counts down, grenade launcher racks (but doesn't cycle grenades), bolt moves, stock is adjustable.

- There's a fully functional Airsoft build, which cycles and ejects the grenades (that actually shoot BBs) as well.

- The FX version uses Airsoft components as well (other types work too), but has Light & Sound functionality instead.

- Hero generally refers to a PR build with fully working everything, made from real weapons. Not available to us in the UK


There are various custom parts that enhance or replace components of the standard conversion kit (such as strong sling loops, sturdier stock, better locking mechanisms etc).

I'm doing a 'fully functional' non-Airsoft prop version, myself. I'm using a mix of broken Airsofts, real firearm components and a range of custom parts made by Guardian Matsuo. A few features will be custom one-off additions.


Check out the Aliens Legacy board:
www.alienslegacy.com

Everyone who I'd regard as THE authorities on PR building is on that forum - DATA, Matt Noble, Matsuo and SD Studios are some of the big players.
PVB also has a great tutorial on building the G&P kit.

Start by using the Search function and checking through the Archives, though. Most of what you'd need is already detailed there.


Hope that helps some,
Woody.

 

[Tyger Cheex]

Excellent, thanks very much to both of you...

Looks like the G&P Kit is currently sold out anyway and I found PVB's tutorial like you suggested so that's going to be a great help too!

 

[LDR]

It is legal however to buy model/airsoft parts....even if you arent a member of a re-enactment or airsoft in the UK. Including PFC parts.

Ive been working on a PR for a while so PM me if you want any details. Its based on PFC models, and i need to add the replicant electronics for counter and sounds...if caps arent being used.

LDR

 

[Predian]

Pulse rifle kits do turn up on ebay from time to time. Very popular though and different degrees of accuracy. I also tried getting the Thomson BB for customising but UK websites are always sold out and there aren't any shop like that local to me any more.

 

[Tyger Cheex]

Predian, thanks for that but I thought this thread had sunk to the depths and been forgotten.

I managed to get "sorted" and bought a matsu kit off a fellow RPF member a number of months ago.

Here it is when I bought it:

and here it as as it stands now:

Thanks anyway!

 

[LDR]

Looks great!

Can you give us a low down on the parts? Is the SPAS cage a real one? Looks like it from the pics.

 

[AgentJay]

That looks like a great kit im trying to find one in UK of a Noisy cricket from MIB and its difficult and i cant access Junkyard yet got to wait 42 days!!

 

[Tyger Cheex]

Looks great!

Can you give us a low down on the parts? Is the SPAS cage a real one? Looks like it from the pics.

Thanks!!

To be honest I know very little about it's origins other than it's a "matsucorp" replica and I bought it from a guy on the RPF.

This is the "for sale" thread I bought it from!

None of the parts are real but from what I understand they were "cold cast" from real parts, I had to get a couple of bits modified to make putting it together easier and I had to get a local machine shop to knock up a special spacer that holds the SPAS cage to the Thompson. (Matsu was very helpful when it came to answering my questions! I was able to contact him via the Alien Legacy forums!)

The shrouds are alu-resin (Resin with Aluminium dust in it) and they have that lovely cold metal feel to them!

That looks like a great kit im trying to find one in UK of a Noisy cricket from MIB and its difficult and i cant access Junkyard yet got to wait 42 days!!

There was a noisy cricket in the Junkyard recently... $200 but sadly it looks like it's sold!