I suggest something in 8mm as its a real hard hitter. Its a bit expensive, but then any rifle(except rimfire and .223 etc) is expensive to shoot.
the Swedish mausers are very well crafted, and are flat shooters, and there seem to be many of them around.
the Nazi mausers are probably the most expensive overall.
some of the South American ones are really cool, with their great cresting and pedigree(some are FN, some are made by Mauser)
I like the Yugo and Czech ones, as they are a bit shorter(like you spoke about). I don't like those huge long rifles as much, just personal preference, no judgement.
I also prefer the "later" ones, hehe, if you can call it that. WW1 and later kinda thing.
I would like 3 - 5 of them. A Yugo M48, a Czech wartime one(or another Yugo, wartime FN made), a Swede with the fancy sights and a Columbian or Brazilian, maybe an FN made one, in 30-06. And a good Wermacht one too. I do have my M48, and I want a good Swede one time too.
Keep in mind that they come in 6.5x55 Swedish, 7mm Spanish, .308, 30-06 and 8mm Mauser. Oh, some of the older ones come in oddball stuff, 9.3 etc, but I don't know much about that stuff.
Just get one tho

they are fun!
Try to get one with a matching bolt and receiver, as the action will be smoother and slicker that way.