"Mausers" takes in a bunch of territory, and a lot of the naysayers have, I think, based their opinions on sporterized specimines that may or may not have been cunningly crafted. Unlike push feeds, 98s have to be properly tuned to the case or case "family" they're expected to function with, so stuffing something out of that range into one willy-nilly might not work out. I've never had an issue with a commercial version, but once bought a nice sportized 7x57 that had lost the magazine block somewhere, causing the follower to tilt. Easy fix once I found it, but ones that need rail or extractor work would be out of my skill zone.
The floppy bolt travel bothers some, but is a consequence of needing sure function under battlefield conditions, and brisk manipulation of the bolt goes a long way towards minimizing the impression of looseness.
I love 'em, have two commercial ones now, and still think they're the best overall hunting rifle action, if not target or competition one. There are some real bargains to be had now, and if one sticks to commercial versions or carefully checks out conversions, it's hard to get stuck.
