bobinNH did a great job of detailing the technical differences in the 98 & 70 actions. Like him, I've used 70s almost exclusively for many years. However, one might conclude that the 70s are lacking when it comes to hard use in rough conditions. Looking at a few (all pre-64s) that were used in about as rough of hunting environments as you might find for many, many years and and they look pretty impressive when it comes to reliability.
Here are a few that come to mind. Wally Johnson, the Ivory Hunter and PH for many, many years, used a pre-war (1938) .375 as his primary rifle for many, many years, mostly in Mozambique. I've spoken to his son Walt many times over the past couple years about the rifle and the conditions it was used in and Walt never recalls a hitch in its operation, even in the terrible dirt and dust is was used in. He repeatedly would say to me "they were good rifles." (the pre-64s)
Then there was Morris Talifson and Bill Pinnell, the brown bear men on Kodiak Island. They bought their .375s in 1949 and 1950 and used them until they retired in the 90s. I hunted Kodiak this fall and it is some rough country. I've talked to a good number of the men who worked for them over the years, including some who know guns, and again, they never remembered a single hitch in those conditions. The close-up pictures of those 2 rifles show incredibly worn and beat up rifles.
The same can be said of Hal Waugh, another of Alaska's great brown bear guides. His old 70, originally a .300 H&H was rebarrelled to .375 Weatherby. Again, sterling performance for many, many years in really rough environment.
Then I spoke to Middleton Tompkins, the great big bore target shooter who won 6 national titles, all using old 70 actioned rifles. I asked him how many rounds he put thru some of those actions. He said he didn't really know for sure, but thought it could be as many as 50,000. What about parts breakage: 1 extractor collar. That's it. While target shooting isn't in rough conditions, thats a lot of shooting for one action.
My son works for one of Alaska's most well known brown bear outfitters. While in Kodiak this fall, I met and spoke at length with one of the outfitter's guides. This man has hunted a lot, including Africa. His rifle of choice: a M70. We talked recently about action design and despite being a model 70 man, I suggested that the 98 is quite the action. He told me what many experienced users feel, which is that the smooth slickness of the 70 is why he prefers them over the 98 when the heat is on.
So my point is, while technically speaking, the 98 MIGHT have some very slight advantage in a couple of action details, experience with the old 70s over a lot of years says that they have a remarkable record of reliability. No wonder so many users are so fond of them.
