Parting a perfectly good working shotguns

[justsurvivingincalifornia]

I just found out something disturbing. People are parting out perfectly good Remington 870 shotguns and selling their parts on Ebay. The parties selling the parts off told me that they could get more for the parts that selling the whole gun. At first I found it hard to believe but after looking at a few listings, on Ebay, I know the truth.

Is it just me that feels that it’s sacrilegious to cannibalize a working complete shotgun or what?

I think this is going on with other shotguns as well. Not sure what else is being parted out in other guns:banghead: .

[Preacherman]

Would this have anything to do with eBay's refusal to allow sellers to list firearms for sale? Perhaps, by selling the gun in parts, they can get around this prohibition.

[Chawbaccer]

It is illegal to sell the receivers on Ebay, but sometimes I see them snuck in.
If somebody can make money by selling parts, good for them, and good for me for having a source of parts that are new or like new.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Selling gun parts is a highly profitable business. An individual can sell parts at rates much higher than one can a complete, in good condition, but used firearm. The reason is because people need parts to repair their broken guns and are willing to pay a bit more for a good condition part rather than having to buy a whole new gun. Also, people need a source for affordable repair parts, as new parts from the factory can be quite high in cost.

While it seems sacriligious in nature, the practice in reality is actually good for both the seller and the buyer, as one makes a profit from an otherwise low or no profit firearm, while the buyer gets his firearm repaired for significantly less than factory repair parts would cost.

This is capitalism and free market at it's finest. Supply and demand meeting to the benefit of both.

As far as the recevier leftover when someone sells off the rest of the parts, there'll be someone with a bad receiver or a "parts kit" that will want that receiver too. Much better than the shotgun languishing in the rack somewhere unused and unsold.

[Dave McCracken]

Frankenstein,my overpublicized and well used parts 870, started life with me in just that fashion.

I'm not thrilled that folks are parting out 870s, but recognize the realities of supply and demand.

[JohnBT]

I even thought about parting out a gun for about a minute. I paid $450 for a nice Win SX-1 and then ran across a couple of sites selling barrels. My 28" MOD barrel would go for $195, so I can see why some people are tempted to part out a perfectly good gun and make some money. The stock should bring a few dollars (although not the $350-$750 a high-grade skeet or trap stock would) and I imagine the trigger, being a stage 3, would be worth a fair amount since a stage 3 conversion runs $210. Then there's the bolt, receiver, gas tube, etc.

Nah, not me.

John

[STiTkacik]

Would this have anything to do with eBay's refusal to allow sellers to list firearms for sale? Perhaps, by selling the gun in parts, they can get around this prohibition.

Yep. I think you may be right.