Barrage Leisure Pursuits-Ashbourne

HawkerHunter

FAO ALL AIRSOFTERS!!!

Unfortunatly the insurance agent will not be attending Barrage tomorrow Sun 03/12/2006, but I will be passing on all information to him on Monday morning. I will meet you guys up there in the upstairs lounge between 1pm and 1:30pm. We will need to sit down and YOU will need to sell my partner AIRSOFT. Im really hoping that this all pulls off, and the very best of luck to you all for being the ones to make it happen. Remember that even though these are no longer classed as fire arms that they are hated by insurance companies and the authorities alike. Airsoft in order to start/survive in Ireland must be a well organised and professional SPORT. You need a governing body, insurance scheme etc. Make it look professional and not that its some 12 yr old after bringing a BB gun home from Spain.

Best of luck and see you tomorrow,

HawkerHunter

PS Puddehill Activity Centre, come off at the finglas M50 juntion head up the new M2 till the end, turn left at the roundabout, 4 miles up the road turn right for DULEEK/DROGHEDA and take the next right, its sign posted. Cant miss it, theres a nasty bend in the road up the hill and theres a Hawker Hunter fighter jet in the field, thats the give away!

Dave!

Glad I didn't go today! There's a feckin hurricane blowing!

Let us know how it goes fellas

[--SC(+)PE--]

I to am very eager to hear what the story is!

johnser

Well, about 10 of us managed to brave the weather and make it out to Barrage today.

Ruairi gave us the guided tour of the location, except for the Paint Ball arenas (due to the weather) and I dont think that anyone complained.

We answered all the questions and gave suggestions. The long and the short of it all will be Insurance is still being sorted and there is no yes or no as to whether Airsoft will be given the go ahead. Ruairi is confident that it should go ahead.

Initially it was agreed that most of the rules from Paintball cross over to Airsoft, mainly just the safety stuff like full face masks etc.

All in all it was a very enjoyable meeting, with a serious selection of hardware on show from M4's, M203, M15's, SG1, Glocks, M9's, FAMAS, AUG's and a SAW.

Will give a more detailed break down tomorrow, as I'm too tired now. I'm sure some of the others will chip in.

It was also proposed that we approch the Irish Shooting Ass to gain offical recognition for Airsoft like the PaintBall guys.

John

IronWolf

Full face masks?

Spitfire666

IronWolf wrote:

Full face masks?

AGREED

Skatedude

full face masks arnt a problem, renember that we are trying to get this started and safety will be one of the main points, They will be treating it like paintball for the moment and you would be nuts not to wear a full facemask during a paintball skirmish,over time the conditions may change as the insurance and organisers become more familier with airsoft .

But its sounds good so far, cheers to those who put the effort into getting this off the ground and to those who made it out today despite the weather,
Hopefully i wont be working next time and i can help out.

johnser

Yes full face masks. As I said the proposal is with the Insurance Company and basically what they say goes. Initially its been pitched to the Insurance Underwriters as a form of Paint Ball and will operate under similar rules until a time when AirSoft can operate under its own rules. The guys will look into forming an official governing body which will handle rules and set standards, but that is a long time away, and hense the logic to operate (initially) under similar rules to paint ball.

There are fundenental differences in the way Insurance is handled between the UK and Ireland and without going to finite detail this means that if we get the go ahead to play, there may well be differences between rules in the UK and Ireland (like full face masks).

To be honest, this is still very early days and all up in the air, and my points above are just my takes on situation and not to be considered gospel.

If we have to play with a full face mask, I have no problem with this. If you do have a problem, drive up to Predator and play there.

When Airsoft is established in Ireland we may well be able to debate the rules, but until then, we will take anything we can.

Just to finish, it was great talking to everyone today, and some very valid points were made. It was nice to put some faces to the names.

John

Spitfire666

i do understand why its just sad that we DO have to start out as they see fit for now.

I only hope that we do EVENTUALY get to alter rules such as this further down the line as apposed to them getting set in stone because its how it started. I wouldnt mind full face masks if they were required but i do prefere the realism of not having one as you get a mix of half face, balaclavas, and netting being used by the diff people on the teams.

nonex

some info for insurance companies and the authorities alike

Airsoft weapons (BB guns)

The term airsoft weapon can be applied to any air or gas powered weapon designed to discharge a projectile at muzzle energies greater than 0.08 joules, but less than 1 joule. The 1 joule limit is based on advice from the

Government’s Forensic Science Service, which itself is based on the judgement in the case of Moore v Gooderham ((1960) 1 W.L.R. 1308 - see link below). In that case it was held that an air pistol with a muzzle energy of I ft lb (about 1.35 joules) was capable of inflicting a penetrating injury and could be considered lethally barrelled, thereby meeting the definition of firearm given in Section 57 of the Firearms Act 1968. This prompted the Forensic Science Service to advise that any air or gas powered weapon with a muzzle energy greater than 1 joule should be considered to be a firearm.

Typically, airsoft guns (often referred to as BB guns) are designed to discharge a 6mm plastic pellet at a muzzle energy so low (typically between 0.2 and 0.8 joules) as to render them incapable of inflicting any injury more serious than a superficial bruise. They do not meet the legal definition of a firearm and are not considered to be subject to the provisions of the firearms legislation except in the instances given above for toys.

CrazyRabbit

It was a good day despite the poor weather. The Puddenhill complex is amazing & will be even better when finished. Although I don't fancy walking to it from the N2. It's a long walk, so perhaps in future we can organise a mini-bus or something similar. Pricewise it'll probably similar to the cost of a ticket for the 103 bus anyway.

It was nice to meet so many from the board, although I'll admit I haven't linked all the forum names with the real names & faces yet

As Johnser stated, there was a great selection of weapons on show. I'm sure we surprised a few of the guests as they walked into the function room and seen about a dozen people walking around with a bunch of guns. Shame about all the pesky kids that hung around asking 4 million questions. Even bigger shame that we couldn't use them for target practice. (I'm only joking Sparks..calm down )

Some of main points raised where:
1. Initially, we will follow the establised safety rules for paintball. This includes full face masks.
2. We should contact the Irish Shooting Association to gain offical recognition for Airsoft.
3. That we should form a proper Airsoft Organisation to promote the sport and set the rules.
4. A mock village will be setup next year at Puddenhill.
5. Gardai (maybe) & the Rangers (confirmed) will use the site (mock village) for training. Hopefully they can be convinced to use Airsoft instead of Paintball as it is more realistic. We could setup skirmishes against them....and see how bad we/they get beaten.
6. Only bio degradable bb's will be allowed.
7. If this takes off, airsoft guns & equipment will become available for rental, and bb's will be available on-site for purchase.
8. Puddenhill has 2 restaurants, 3 bars, showers, changing rooms, indoor karting, pool tables & very friendly staff.
9. Insurance will probably be somewhere between 30 and 50 euro per years.
10. There is no woodsball at the site. Speedball only. (just letting you know what Paintball activities are availble. Obviously different for airsoft)
11. There is a safe zone with a building divided in two. It's a permanent & solid structure, so is affords complete safety once inside.
12. Meeting up at Busarus was kinda scary when I seen all these guys with long hair & trenchcoats who kinda reminded me of the people you see on America's Most Wanted.
13. Irish weather sucks.
14. Meath County Council don't like the hawhunter aircraft...apparantely it's causing accidents as motorists slow down to take a look as they pass it
15 . Oisin volunteered to be a live test dummy equivilent of a chronograph. Shoot him and he'll tell you how much it hurt, thus allowing a rough approximation of the fps the bb was travelling.

[--SC(+)PE--]

Thanks for the info's. So do ya get the impression that its a good site for airsofting?

10. There is no woodsball at the site. Speedball only

This point just kinda worries me a little

Anyone able to give a rough guess when they think itl be sorted and ripe for skirmishing ?

12. Meeting up at Busarus was kinda scary when I seen all these guys with long hair & trenchcoats who kinda reminded me of the people you see on America's Most Wanted.

lol wish i was their to see that sight,


dammit 500 post's and i still havnt shot Oisin

johnser

Yes, all in all it was an interesting day. Barrage are 100% interested in hosting Airsoft, but there are many mountains to climb before it can all start.

So far its all hinging on Insurance. When that is sorted, all the other cogs will fall into place quite quickly and skirmishes could be organised in no time.

What will also be good, is it will probably be the first "official" AirSoft game in the South.

Good points made by CrazyRabbit and sum'd it up nicely.

Its a handy site to get to, a lot better than trying to get to Wicklow to some of the other PaintBall sites.

The important part is the ball is officially rolling and we are a lot closer to the all important first game of AirSoft.

And the camo on the Hunter was doing its job well on Sunday, as I couldnt spot the plane at all.

John

CrazyRabbit

[--SC(+)PE--] wrote:

Quote:10. There is no woodsball at the site. Speedball only

This point just kinda worries me a little

You can bring you own trees. Otherwise, we can collect a few along the way and stick them on the roof of the bus.

[--SC(+)PE--]

Cool!
Cant wait till the first game it'l be lol , We'll all be Noobs together

N.O.I.P.

We'll all be Noobs together

Dont bet on it man, some of the guys who were there yesterday have been doing this for quite a few years, I fully expected to get shot so often I'll suffer withdrawal symptoms whenever BBs aren't flying towards my head

[--SC(+)PE--]

meh , its all good as long as its soon

ditpaintball

The inflatable speedballs will only be for the paintballing i would imagaine. They are too expensive ( from €5000 on wards) to allow anything to happen to them if anything else other than paintball gear is near them. Plus, i dont think it would apeal to you guys, sprinting in and around illuminious yellow 5ft cans.

No woodsball means that it is not like your regular paintball venue which would be in a forest hence the name woodsball. It is more of an urban set up, bridges, forts, planes etc. Urban Paintball, Santry is a close match to it in terms of enviroment wise.

[--SC(+)PE--]

No woodsball means that it is not like your regular paintball venue which would be in a forest hence the name woodsball. It is more of an urban set up, bridges, forts, planes etc

Ah that sounds good

KutjeBef

Sorry couldn't be there, lads.
Weather was too bad to drive the bike.
Especially after driving back from the north de night before.

Glad it went ok.

o1s1n

CrazyRabbit wrote:

15 . Oisin volunteered to be a live test dummy equivilent of a chronograph. Shoot him and he'll tell you how much it hurt, thus allowing a rough approximation of the fps the bb was travelling.

Hey!:mad:

Just got an email from Hawkerhunter thanking everyone who turned out. Appreciated due to the bad weather and that. Would have posted sooner but had to reinstall windows over the weekend so I'm only back online now. (couldnt find my damn DSL drivers)

Some nice hardware being passed around alright. Cant wait to be on the receiving end of it

Dave!

CrazyRabbit wrote:

6. Only bio degradable bb's will be allowed.

Damn.

Anyone actually own any of these at the moment? Will the site be buying them in for the first skirmish or will I have to place another feckin order to Asia?

If ye lot are planning on buying a load in bulk, then count me in on that por favor!

It's looking promising lads Gonna have to get a face mask methinks.

o1s1n

he's gonna order a load in

o1s1n

*he* being Hawker Hunter!

Spitfire666

No woodsball means that it is not like your regular paintball venue which would be in a forest hence the name woodsball. It is more of an urban set up, bridges, forts, planes etc. Urban Paintball, Santry is a close match to it in terms of enviroment wise.


The bridges forts and urban setting sounds great but if its like urban paintball in santry it will be terrible, that site is too open and is an awful place even for paintballing. it was used as an off-roading coarse before they built two forts on the site.