In 2006, Kent Reeve won the Long Range Championship with a single shot Mauser action.
http://www.nra.org/Article.aspx?id=6760. From what I have heard it was a 300 Win Mag, single-shot Interarms target-model action. No magazine well opening or thumb cut.
The M98 has a longer lock time than a M70 or a M700. Kent stated somewhere that he had to concentrate on a good followthrough.
Don't we all.
Kent is an exceptional shot.
A speedy firing pin is fine but lots of practice is better.