Hey, guys, I'm not suggesting the 98 is the only rifle worth a damn. There are plenty of non-Mauser derived rifles out there and most of them are pretty good.

But if the question is: "which is the greatest [bolt action] ever made", I think it would be ridiculous, at least IMO, to suggest that rifle would be a Rem 700.

However, if you actually believe that is in fact the case, that the Rem is indeed the 'greatest', I'd then have to ask you to point out the features of that design that make it a better action than the 98.