check out a 221 fireball, anybody i know who took one out into the field after using mine had one the next year, super accurate, and deadly beyond its size,20 inch barrel would be perfect fit for a fireball,Lil-gun powder or the new CFE-Blk makes the fireball shine, my standard load of 15.4 grs.Lil-gun pushes a 40 gr. v-max to 3400 fps barrel life is forever!
While I love the .221, the OP wants to build on a Fullsize standard 98 action:
"Just looking for some idears. Have a VZ 24 98 Mauser action that fits nicely in this Mannlicher stock. It is a very light/petite and old stock weighing 1.67# with a narrow barrel channel, probably best a #1 contour with a shank. The #2 contour Douglas would shave too much wood... No dogleg--straight buttstock, with metal buttplate--which is why I like it. Have Parker Hale LW bottom for it.
The barrel would end up 20"
Was seriously pondering a 6x57 but I don't need another deer rifle. So a 22 cal maybe..."
The .221 doesn't lend itself to use in that action, unless you find one of the pretty rare FN target models with a .223" size bolt face.
Which is why I built mine on a Rem 700.
