There is no question that there are actions that are more cost effective, and have individual points of superiority compared to the Mauser.
However, consider that the Mauser was designed to be the safest, strongest, most reliable action, given the technology 100+ years ago - in other words, the BEST. Not that cost was not a consideration, it always is - but not the primary one.
Most modern actions, are still modeled on the Mauser prototype of dual opposed forward locking lugs, but designed to be CHEAPER TO BUILD. For specialized purposes such as benchrest, other actions have long ago supplanted the Mauser, but it is remarkable that for the highest grade sporting rifles, the most expensive custom actions are the Granite Mountain, Satterlee, etc. - basically blue-printed Mausers.
