I read a couple of good reviews back when they came out. Seems that Europeans aren't married to the idea that rifle technology stopped with the 108 year old Mauser '98. Mauser has been coming out with newer and different models since day one.
The straight pull 96 was reviewed and had good accuracy. The straight pull was said to be extremely fast for follow up shots. The main downside of the old straight pulls (like the Schmidt and Rubin) is that the action used to be less strong and that is why they fell by the wayside of history. As cartridges got more powerful and developed more pressure, the standard bolt action made more sense.
Evidently Mauser adressed this and the reviewer seemed to think that this was not an issue.
This rifle is no longer in production, I think. I think I remember them as closeouts listed by JG sales in shotgun news fro around 400 bucks dealer cost.This was about 3 or 4 years ago. Commercial Mausers are elegant and high quality german and Belgian made guns. All of the ones I have shot and inspected display the kind of manufacturing you have comne to expect from European arms.
That being said, I have never shot one, nor seen anyone at the range with one.