By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
ATF agents took two inert RPGs they had seized from Patrick “Tate” Adamiak’s home, inserted an RPG training device and a bunch of additional parts, fired a few 7.62x39mm rounds and classified them as Destructive Devices. Were it not for these charges, Adamiak would be a free man.
However, the agents never said in their reports or courtroom testimony that the RPG training device will fire rounds on its own—without an RPG even in the room. Also, agents never mentioned that the ATF itself classifies the RPG training device as a firearm, because it can shoot rifle rounds regardless of whether it’s attached to an RPG.
In a letter sent to someone not involved in Adamiak’s case, The ATF explained the RPG training devices.
“The sub-caliber RPG-7 training devices previously evaluated, like the ones you mention, typically contain a barrel chambered in 7.62x39mm, possess a firing mechanism including a striker, sear, and trigger device. Its intended use is as a subcaliber insert training device for the RPG-7 anti-armor projector. However, the design of the device also allows it to be fired without the use of an RPG-7,” the ATF said in the letter.
The ATF also never mentioned that the entire device—an RPG and the 7.62x39mm training device—were sold to the public on GunBroker.
“This one’s been modified a little to color within the lines of the National Firearms Act of 1934. First, it can’t load or fire a live PG-7V or other rocket-propelled grenade round, only the subcaliber device. Second, ATF interprets a subcaliber device as a ‘firearm,’ not any specific kind of firearm, but installing it in an RPG-7V, even one that’s been modified so that it cannot fire live rounds, creates a ‘short-barreled rifle,’” a Loadout Room story states.
This offer was not an experiment as to whether ATF would approve the sale. The entire device had been approved by ATF’s Firearm Technology Branch, and the seller had the ATF approval letter, which they included in the kit.
The “Rocket launcher training kit” came with the following items:
- Aluminum hard case, with wheels
- RPG-7 Rocket Launcher
- Optical Sight with soft case
- Bipod assembly
- Sling
- PG-7 7.62x39mm Subcaliber Firearm
- 7.62mm BoreSnake bore cleaner
- 15 rounds of 7.62x39mm Spotter/Tracer Ammunition
- 30 rounds of 7.62x39mm Tracer Ammunition
- Letter from the ATF which states the launcher is not a destructive device
This shoots large holes into the ATF’s case against Adamiak.
First, the RPG training device will fire rifle rounds on its own, even without an RPG. Second, the ATF classified the device and an RPG as legal for civilian sales. Third, the kit even came with an ATF letter saying it was legal and “not a destructive device.”
To be clear, Adamiak would be a free man were it not for the Destructive Device charges ATF filed against him for his inert RPGs. They added years to his sentence.
It should be noted that Adamiak purchased his inert RPGs in California, and he flew home to the East Coast with them aboard commercial airlines, which had no problem with the inert RPGs.
Questionable testing
The government’s case against Adamiak was led by two Assistant U.S. Attorneys, but their main witness, ATF Firearm Enforcement Officer Jeffrey R. Bodell, became the real reason why a jury found Adamiak guilty, and a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Bodell works out of a small ATF office in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He is assigned to ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division since he was hired in November 2020. Adamiak’s case was the first time Bodell had ever testified in court.
Bodell’s lengthy report details how he took parts off of a live RPG in order to make Adamiak’s inert RPGs, which he labeled as Exhibit 30, fire an AK round.
“To demonstrate the functionality of Exhibit 30, I elected to test fire the Exhibit. I utilized a trigger assembly, firing pin, and firing pin spring from an RPG-7 from the NFC and installed these components in Exhibit 30,” he wrote.
This was necessary because Adamiak’s RPGs were missing firing pins, firing pin springs, main spring, main spring rod and hammer. Additionally, they had a large .39-inch holed bored into the high-pressure chamber area of the exhaust tube, right were the operator’s head would be.
One of the government’s witnesses even said if fired, the hole “would remove your head.”
By using the RPG training device, Bodell wrote in his report, he was able to fire three rifle rounds from each of Adamiak’s RPGs.
“Exhibit 30 is a weapon which may be readily converted to expel a projectile the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel of which has a bore of more than one half inch in diameter. Consequently, Exhibit 30 is a ‘destructive device’ as defined,” Bodell wrote in his report.
However, Bodell never mentioned that his RPG training device could fire rifle rounds if he stuck it in a roll of paper towels or a sewer pipe. He also never admitted that the RPG training device could fire live rounds completely on its own.
This was not lost on Adamiak.
“Unfortunately, the ATF decided to take my inert RPGs to their lab, completely rebuild them with components off of their own real RPG, and demonstrate that they would work by shooting a .30 cal. training round in a self-contained firing mechanism. They essentially inserted a bolt action rifle into the tube that looks like a rocket, fired one shot, and then said it’s a Destructive Device,” Adamiak said Monday.
Both RPGs were displayed openly in Adamiak’s home for nearly a decade. He never even considered them to be illegal. His former trial attorneys actually told Adamiak that they were glad he was charged with the RPGs because it was such a ridiculous claim that it would damage the ATF’s credibility and no reasonable jury would convict him for the “toys.”
The public now knows that ATF’s RPG training device can fire live rifle rounds completely on its own, without an RPG, and that the device itself—and an RPG—are legal for civilian sales. The kit even came with an ATF letter stating it was “not a destructive device.”
The question then becomes why Adamiak is still in prison for the next 17 years. In other words, why was Adamiak charged for legal inert devices that are sold for cash with no ID needed at nearly every large gun show?
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
