Hi Superpig,

I would suppose that the " best" of the 98' s were original German manufacturer, (except for some mid to late second world war production models). After the german model 98' s I would think the Czech' s were next in quality. And some of the Yugo 98' s weren' t bad. (I own one of the Yugo 98 built for Egypt...actually called a model 48....it was built after the war on equipment originally installed by the Germans for the war effort. It has some stamped parts and the magazine rails were designed to feed " pointed" (spire or spitzer) bullets. It will not feed round nose bullets unless the feed rails are altered. I intend to keep it in it' s original condition and will not customize it! )

If I were to build a custom rifle on an original military 98.....it would probably be either German or Czech! One other current option is a barreled action from CZ. They even currently manuafacturer it in a true " Magnum" size if you so desire!

Good luck with your project!