HPA airsoft users in the United Kingdom are in a quandary. The Policing and Crime Act that was introduced last year limiting the selective fire RIFs to 1.3joules/370fps and game sites limiting FPS to 350fps to ensure airsoft players play within the law’s limits, players and sites will be hesitant to use HPA-powered airsoft guns as they can be made to fire beyond the limits. The implication for this is that HPA-powered airsoft guns will always be suspected of violating the Act and classed as Section 5 firearms.

With HPA airsoft here to stay, it is a matter of working towards a technical solution to make HPA-powered airsoft guns to be compliant.  The United Kingdom Airsoft Players’ Union (UKAPU) are working to help HPA airsoft users and in this regard, have been in discussions with PolarStar Airsoft for a PSI regulator that can ensure that they will be compliant.

In a press release, UKAPU are enjoining their members as well as other airsoft players in the UK to answer a survey to find out the PSI settings that they usually set for HPA airsoft guns:

Hello members,

Ever since the introduction of the amended Policing and Crime Bill last year there has been a cloud hanging over HPA RIF users in the UK. Specifically that most full auto capable HPA airsoft replicas could be ‘readily converted’ to exceed the 1.3J airsoft threshold, or could be regarded as ‘capable of’ more than 1.3J in their stock form.

UKAPU have been actively pursuing a resolution for HPA users and as part of this ongoing effort, Vice Chairman Tim Haines, has been involved in discussions with Polarstar to address the aforementioned issue and as a result we are conducting a poll on behalf of Polarstar.

How does this help HPA users? Polarstar are producing a modular regulator, which will allow UK HPA owners to build compliant HPA powered RIFs. Polarstar will be producing piston regulator assemblies for multiple PSI settings, which we hope, will give us the means to ensure that selective fire HPA RIFS can be safely operated under the 1.3J legal limit.

We urge all of our members to share this poll; the greater the number of responses, the better the data.

The survey is available on Google Docs and you can click the image below to go to the survey. It is best that the survey is shared fast so that PolarStar Airsoft and perhaps other companies in the HPA airsoft business can immediately get to work to build that much needed PCA-compliant regulator.

(The Survey Form. Click on it to answer)