More on InterOrdnance

Though this will have to be quick. I found this message board thread on InterOrdnance (and other "parts kit" vendors), which indicates that, at best, the people who sell "parts kits" aren't all that reliable. (I wouldn't know, I've never bought one.) But this post was the one that got my attention:

(Subject)ppsh 41 (Author)grandpawoo (Date)8/11/03

I can't believe that so many of you are bitching about the condition of your Inter Ordnance ppsh 41 kits. The real issue is that Inter Ordnance sold us a ppsh 41 parts kit that does NOT meet BATF requirements. How do I know, you might ask? Well on 08/07/03 Agent Brooks Jacobsen of the BATF and his partner showed up at my door step with orders to confiscate it. After showing me all the paper work from BATF as to why they are taking them (none of which made any sense), I was given the option of signing a "Notice of Abandonment of Property" or going to jail. BATF now owns my parts kit and said they would be destroying it (as if all those torch cuts weren't enough), and those cuts aren't enough. Each Inter Ordnance ppsh 41 kit has at least 4 cuts. BATF requires 3 cuts through the receiver. You might note that none of these 4 cuts are through the main receiver. They are through the cooling jacket, barrel (sometimes) and upper receiver. None of these cuts count. Oh, by the way, it gets better. BATF is in the process of inditing (sic) Inter Ordnance for selling illegal firearms and neither Inter Ordnance nor BATF will reimburse you when your ppsh 41 is taken from you. One last thing. How did BATF get my name and address? They went to Inter Ordnance with a warrant and told them to hand over a copy of all sales invoices for ppsh 41 sales. When agent Jacabsen arrived, the first document he handed me was a copy of the Inter Ordnance invoice. I am one very unhappy former ppsh 41 owner and you need to be very careful.

Then there's this one:

(Subject)ATF and Law Suit (Author)gunwriter (Date)8/26/03

I too got a call from the ATF (at my parents house)... not pleasant... and I ordered the kit for a friend... He wanted some parts and I sold the others off at a gun show ... I may or may not have the torch cut receiver parts... but I think I threw them out. Unfortunately all my firearms related stuff is in storage while I'm stationed overseas...

I'm not too happy with Inter Ordnance... and as for the ATF -- how does a receiver chopped into junk constitute an illegal weapon?

Sounds like InterOrdnance is a very shady business, but did they sell machineguns? Only if you accept the premise that a receiver chopped up with a saw or a torch - just not to the BATFE's exacting specifications - is a "machinegun." For those of you wondering, this is a PPSh 41, the original Soviet "burp-gun":