Not to mention the occasional "Cowboy" who doesn't know the difference between Parker and a Stevens.

I have found a couple of guns cut to illegal lengths in the past and managed to salvage the action and other parts by a quick trip to the nearest pond or river....

Sometimes that's just not possible in a public sale, and any public transportation of the action with the barrels could turn into a legal nightmare if one were to suffer a fender-bender.