Whether or not the pre-64 action is the "ultimate" evolution of the mauser is somewhat open to question but it is pretty good. Gas handling is relatively poor but the classics are not that great either. The best gas handling actions are the Remington 700 and the Savage 110 and it's variants IMO.
I actually think craftsmanship is the one area where the pre-64 actions suffer a bit. They are not consistently good. Occasionally one sees a real dog.
There are features of the M70 which are, arguably, improvements over the 98 and others which are not.
The elimination of the slot through the left, or upper, locking lug is an improvement. It would be hard to argue that a slotted lug is better than a solid one! On the other hand, the ejector system of the 98 was rugged and simple. The spring was lightly stressed and robust. In the unlikely event that one failed (I've never seen it), it was easily replaced. Likewise, the bolt stop was rugged and functional. The M70 ejector is a small knife blade affair which lies below the stock line and is actuated by a tiny coil spring. Both the ejector and it's spring will gum up and fail to function as they should.
The M70 bolt stop is also located below the stock line. This makes for a sleekly contoured receiver but requires a good deal of wood removal in the inletting. Again, the actuating spring is a small coil spring with plunger on pre-64s and a bent wire spring on classics. There is a small but significant difference in function depending upon the vintage of the action. The pre-war and early post-war actions have the bolt stop fitted so that the impact of the bolt hitting the stop is transferred to the receiver via a step in the stop ( say that a few times quickly!) which contacts a corresponding surface at the rear of the bolt stop slot. In later versions and the new models, the force is absorbed entirely by the bolt stop pin which doubles as the trigger pivot pit. I have seen these bent and even broken off.
Both the M70 and the mauser feature a bolt sleeve lock which prevents the bolt sleeve from rotating when the bolt is open. That on the Mauser is, again, simple and robust. A sizeable pluger is tensioned by a stout spring and engages a generous notch cut in the rear of the bolt body. The M70 utilizes a tiny little latch actuated by the obligatory tiny spring and engaging (sometimes) a small notch. The M70 is well served by the grinding of a notch to positively hold the cocking piece in the cocked position as a kind of a redundant sleeve lock.
A notch like this is used by most actions today. The bolt sleeve lock is really only made necessary by the 3 position safeties which allow the bolt to be opened when the cocking piece is held back from the bolt body by the safety.
The inner ring which serves as a barrel abutment in the Mauser ( the so-called C-ring) probably strengthens the barrel/ receiver joint but it is plainly an unnecessary feature since most actions do without it. The coned breech of the M70 is an unnecessary complication which accomplishes nothing. It certainly does nothing for safety and neither does it help feeding.
I like the M70s and have some. I think they are by far the best effort of the US gun industry and a really nice action to work with. For a down and dirty, guaranteed to work no matter what rifle though, I'd go with a Mauser.
The new classics eliminated the best features of the Pre-64s and added nothing. Well, not quite nothing. They did give us the nifty little gas block thingy which also does a great job of keeping the left lug from being battered by the bolt stop (today's best bolt stop is that of the Ruger 77 for those who might be interested in my opinion. The spring cushion feature is clever and it's simple). Regards, Bill
. Is that (arguably) a fair statement. I realize I could be opening up a big can of worms here, but, what say you.
