Unless you are going to use the rifle without a scope an original pattern safety will be a hinderance. When I was building a lot of rifles on M98 actions one of the first orders of business was to fit a low, tw0-postion safety that would clear the ocular bell. Even if your scope has such a large objective that the safety will swing under it manipulation is awkward to say the least.
SS
Exactly! I own and hunt with sporting Mausers going back to 1893, with their open sights or aperture sight. I love them. But if you are going to use a scope, you can
1. mount the scope high, to clear the standard safety, like in German claw mounts.
2. mount a curved flag safety for two positions, and use an old style scope with a small occular bell, like a Paul Jaeger safety.
3. Convert to a Winchester Model 70 style safety.
4. Use a more modern Mauser action with a push safety on the right side, like the FN, Husqvarna, or Zastava ( Parker Hale, Interarms Mark X).
This gets to the question of exactly what is your intended use, cartridge, design style, etc. What era are you trying to recreate? 1893/94? 1906 - 1920s Oberndorf Type A? Type B? American pre-war? British stalking rifle? Slim stock? Side panels? Plain buttstock, or pancake cheekpiece, or Tyrolean cheekpiece? Hogback? Checkering pattern?
Because in 2014, a post-war FN, Brno 47, or Husqvarna action is pretty "old style" and "vintage", at 65+ years.