Now have three 98s, two FNs and a Heym. The most I paid for any of them is just under $800. Two have the C-ring, for those who obsess over that. One is sort of a Franken-rifle I’ve futzed with a good bit, but the others arrived pretty much ready to hunt. Point being, you don’t have to settle for kinda-sorta Mausers (or M70s) if you are willing to look around a bit, and you don’t have to pay through the nose either. Was pretty interested in the Montanas until the trouble reports started popping.
One thing you can pretty well count on with a 98 in original factory form is, it will feed, extract, and eject as designed, until someone starts fiddling anyway. So far, the same can be said for the Hawkeyes I’ve owned, but that’s a much smaller sample. Only one left, a .223, and it’s definitely a keeper.
