Dennis,
The Browning Safari actions aren't always true Mauser 98's, as some have push-feed instead of claw extractors.
The true 98-style FN's are very good, as are Brnos and some others. Mark X's are also very good, but unless they're Whitworths they're not usually as finely finished as FN's. The best bargains are often Mark X's; as a matter of fact I picked up a complete Mark X .300 Winchester Magnum a month or so ago in a local store for $299! That's unsual, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but the price was too good to pass up. Often, however, you can find JC Higgins rifles with FN actions for $400 or so. Both my 6.5x55 and .338 are built on FN actions from JC Higgins rifles.
Once in a while you can also find relatively cheap custom rifles with military 98 actions that have been correctly sporterized. My 7mm Remington Magnum is such a rifle, well-built on a 1909 Argentine action. It looks like the rifle was never quite finished, for who knows what reason, since the nice classic-style stock isn't checkered, and the military trigger hadn't been replaced. There are no markings to indicate who made it, or even the barrel, but it shoots very well. I got it off the Campfire Classifieds for $400, about what many here would pay for a Remington 700 donor action.
