Mauser rifle parts or complete

[Mauserbill]

Hello
I have been trying to sell a really nice Mauser K98 with turret mounts and Pecar scope for some time, and have realized that the parts put on sale individually would be collectively worth more than the complete rifle, strange but it seems true, and you don't have to bother with RFD transfers just scrap the pressure parts, have a look on eBay and look at some of the prices being asked for and presumably received for obviously the non pressure parts of a rifle, now I know why there are so many reports of cars being stolen and ending up in chop shops it seems that the parts industry is very profitable. Any forum members had any similar experiences ?
I am not saying that I would do this as it would be a lamentable decision to scrap a fully functioning firearm even worse than de-activation, its just a very interesting observation on the present state of affairs.

[PeterN]

That has been the case in the USA. All matching Arisaka rifles were being parted out on Ebay so the seller could get a better price than selling the complete rifles. They then dispose of the barreled action. Someone then gets a barreled action and looks on Ebay to get the parts to assemble a complete rifle, though of course, it will never be matching again. Easier to sell bolts and actions in the USA than here. The genuine collectors in the USA are dismayed by this practice but can do nothing about it. The people doing it only care about dollars and not history. I wish they would stop doing it. I would always keep a rifle complete and original and never part out for money.
Regards
Peter.

[Pippin89]

Its often the way with cars yes. Far more money in parts than the complete cars.