I hate to get roasted but I can feel the flame coming. I never got Springfields. I even had one once. It was a MK II that looked like it just came from the arsenal. Cost me $100. I don't think I even shot it before a collector friend saw it and wanted it and gave me my $100. Give me an original, the Mauser 98.
I can't speak for you, but I think I understand. I grew up in Wisconsin, but spent 5 years in Britain, some of the people that I knew in Britain would go on about how cricket was superior to baseball and how rugby was superior to American football, I would nod and be diplomatic and say, "you know, if I had grown up watching and playing this or that, I would feel the same way." In my formative years, I read about custom 1903's and wanted someday to own one. Now I have a bunch and will always want more.
I actually have more Mausers than 03''s. To inlet a 1903 action into a stock requires a lot more work than a Mauser 98, to me that is part of the charm, though I can certainly understand someone feeling the opposite way. Whenever I get a 1903, the first thing that I do is to take it apart and look at the inletting. I think if circumstances ould have been different, I might be voicing the same opinions as you, that being said, I am glad that the circumstances have been different. I love my 1903's
