That Herters J9 looks a lot like an Interarms MKX because it IS an Interarms MKX.
As a functional sporting action, the Mauser 98 is far from overrated. It is simple, rugged, and reliable as a stone. Although the design is over 110 years old, it is strong enough to handle cartridges far larger than those for which it was designed.
I have been gunsmithing professionally for nearly 35 years and was a reasonably knowledgeable amatuer before that. In that time, I have never seen a mauser with a broken firing pin but, if I had, I would have been able to strip the bolt and replace it without any tools. I have seen one broken extractor on an old, rusted mauser which didn't look like it should even fire. The chamber was so rough, the owner regularly used a chunk of wood to beat the bolt open to extract the shell. I've never seen a broken bolt stop or ejector.
Having said all this, Mule Deer is right; it doesn't make economic sense to build a rifle on a military action. You have to want to do it to pay for the modifications or you have to do it because you like to and can.
The Model 70 Winchester is related to the mauser in that they both have two locking lugs up front. That's it.
On a tenuously related subject, I have a copy of Advanced Gunsmithing by Wayne Vickery who was a gunsmith in Boise in the thirties and forties. Now, Vickery was a customer of my grandfather's automotive shop in Boise, Idaho so they were well acquainted. In 1941, when he was 15, my father got his first high powered rifle. This was a '93 Mauser which was re-barreled with a new Remington barrel chambered in 7x57. In addition, Vickery altered the bolt handle and installed a Lyman receiver sight. The total cost, according to the note Dad made in the book, was $25.00. GD
