A sting if I ever heard one. ATF sent a scrawny agent to all the local machine shops in town under Eric Holder’s “under the radar” scheme. It was during the craze when everyone was finishing 80% lowers. He asked if I would finish it for him or if he could “rent” my machines and he had a lot of business if I would. I told him to leave. A week or two later. Agents showed up and said they wanted to look around because they heard I was making guns. I told them to leave immediately and if they don’t have a warrant I will have the sheriff remove them for trespassing. Turns out they too showed up to every shop in town and people actually let them wander through their shops without a warrant because “they have nothing to hide.”
This has actually happened: First BATF agents wander around and plant something illegal, like a full auto sear etc.
Next group of agents “find it.”