There is no best only different. First the Springfield 1903 and 1903A3. The forst 1903s made by Springfield are basically a 98 Mauser action modified with some ideas that the US Army Wanted and no one else did. These are the magazine cut off, Replaceable firing pin tips and a knob to recock the rifle in case of a misfire. The first 800,000 or so Springfields were what were known as single heat treat rifles. They were not soft steel the problem was is that in the rush to make a lot of them some were over heated and became brittle and some 69 of them blew up over the years. Springfield came up with a double heat treat that made the rifle strong and not subject to being brittle. Then in the 1930s they switche the steel to a nickel steel that was strong but also made the bolt not as smooth to operate (feels a little sticky). Things I like about the Springfield are that they are very accurate and have good sights (the good sights probably contribute to their good accuracy). The things I do not like about the Springfield are the short butt stock on all of them and the two part firing pin.
I have owned all of the mauser military rifles ever made ( at last count I have owned or own around 250 of them). The early Modle 91, 93, 94, 95, and 96s are all small ring actions and the bolts cock on closing. These rifles are good guns and with the ammo they were designed for are all perfectly safe to shoot. Some of these rifles were works of art as far as fit and finish go and shoot extreamly well if they are not warn out. Unfortunately most of the good ones are in collectors hands and the stuff mostly out for sale (except for some sweadish Model 96s) are not so good. Then we get to the 98 Mauser. These come in nuberous calibers, stocks, fittings and grades of manufacture. If you get a pre war rifle (either WW1 or WWII) you will have much better fit and finish that one that was made during the war. Again a lot of these rifles saw hard use and have been remade several times with varying degrees of skill. To day (and even in the old days) the most sean caliber is 8X57 JS Mauser. This is an excellent round and was used by Germany and many other European and others around the world. The 98 Mauser comes usually with a V notch rear sight and a inverted V (barleycorn) front sight that are non-adjustable for windage except for drifting the front sight in its dove tail. These rather rudmintary sights make shooting these rifles really well somewhat more difficult. I think the 98 action is much better than the Springfield modified Mauser action as most of the mods were detrimental to the original.
Things I like about the 98 is that they are strong durable and accurate. The thing I don't like is the stock desigh on most of them are perfect for aggravating felt recoil at least to me.
