Ironically, in my 30 years of hunting in Alaska, Western Canada and the Lower 48, the only rifle failure I have had (I have had multiple scope failures) was this past fall when the firing pin on my pre-64 M70 snapped. Of course, it did it while I was on a high country mule deer hunt in Wyoming, not at the range.
RinB recently told me that in all of his overseas hunting, he has only had two rifle failures. One was a Model 70 that had the trigger shoe break off and the other was a 98 Mauser where the extractor snapped.
Having said that, I still have multiple 98's and M70's and use them all the time. Anything made by human hands can and will break, usually at the worst time.
For what it's worth, JB did a story on straight pull rifles recently:
http://gunsmagazine.com/the-straight-dope/
