Yes- I have googled it and all I can find is head spacing is off. The bolt is not matching to the gun as I got the firearms without a bolt. When the bolt is cocked it moves easily.

Is this a head spacing issue or something else?

Mauser 98 action is cock on open.  You're cocking it.

Unless it's exceedingly hard to open, then there's likely nothing wrong.  As stated, Mauser actions cock on opening, so lifting the bolt handle after firing the rifle will be harder than lifting the bolt handle while the bolt is already cocked.

I had one with a bent firing pin that was difficult to open.

Is the bolt mismatched or matching?  Sometimes mismatched bolts will have a stacking of tolerances which can give you problems though I'm not sure it would do what your describing.  When cocked can you put the safety on.  Have you pulled the bolt apart and cleaned it well?  As said before check for a bent firing pin.

Try oil on the bolt cam surface. Amazing the number of people who forget to put a drop or two on the camway

The bolt has been stripped, cleaned and oiled as directed via manual. It is a mismatched bolt though. I can assure you that there's something wrong. It's VERY difficult to open and sometimes nearly impossible.

The firing pin may be slightly bent after examining it but not sure how severe it has to be in order to interfere with the operating mechanism.

I'm not sure about a 98 but the bolt on a 96 can go back together wrong resulting in hard function and not firing. Got me a 96 for $75 because someone didn't pay attention and only had it 2/3 of the way in. The safety won't work if it's not assembled correctly.

Unscrew and remove the entire back portion of the bolt (the entire firing pin assembly) and try to close bolt without it. If it still closes with lots of resistance, check if the shell extractor ring rotates smoothly in the bolt groove. Come back and post your findings.

Upon separating/unscrewing the entire firing pin assembly the bolt housing opens and closes with ease.

Pic of firing pin?

Neg I don't have that stuff set up to copy URL.

It appears that the firing pin itself my be bent slightly.

OK, now we know there's no issue with headspace being too tight. Next step: Remove firing pin, spring, safety and spring retainer (the cocking piece) from firing pin assembly, screw the rest (the shroud) back into the bolt and try closing again. If it now refuses to close easily, remove the little spring loaded plunger that's protruding from the shroud by turning the little arm on the plunger sideways with a tiny screwdriver until the pin clears the slot, allowing the plunger and spring to come out. Try the same thing as before but without the plunger. If it now closes easily inspect the plunger hole in the shroud for dirt and debris. Scrape clean with a nail or screw driver, clean thoroughly with brake or carb cleaner and reinstall plunger and spring to see if the problem has been resolved.

If the plunger wasn't the culprit, reassemble the entire bolt assembly but don't install the firing pin spring. If it now puts up a fight again upon closing the bolt, your firing pin may be bent. If it still closes without excessive force, your firing pin spring may be a faulty replacement which is wound too tightly, allowing the windings to touch each other and the spring to become solid under full compression.

Please report results.

sounds like someone knows what he's doing.

There was carbon buildup and after scraping clean I reassembled the bolt and tested the action. Upon dry firing the bolt will not open. EDIT: I got the bolt out, disassembled it then reassembled it without the firing pin spring and the bolt was still difficult to open after dry firing it.

How did you manage to dry fire it without the firing pin spring? Without the spring, nothing is moving inside the bolt when you pull the trigger. When the bolt is assembled without the firing pin spring but still removed from the rifle, you should be able to to push the firing pin back and forth. You can push or pull on the cocking piece to pull the firing pin all way back or push it forward so it sticks out of the bolt head. That would tell you if it moves freely or if the pin is severely bent.

Just another thought, when you screwed the shroud onto the bolt, did you turn it enough to the point where the shroud almost touches the root of the bolt handle? You'll have to manually push the plunger back the first time it hits the bolt handle to get one more turn out of it.

The bolt moves freely when the firing pin spring is removed from bolt. Earlier I was putting pressure on the cocking piece. Yes I turned shroud all the way as directed in manual. So this rules out a bent firing pin?

Mismatched bolt may have a bad spring. Order a new one and see if that is the culprit. If not and you don't want the spring, return it.
I would also try a new firing pin just in case.

I'm going back to your first post: You basically said the bolt opens only with with lots of force after dry firing but opens easily after it has been cocked. Please take a look at the angled cam surface at the rear end of the bolt and the respective angled front portion of the belly ridge of the cocking piece. These two angled cam surfaces glide on each other during cocking, resulting in the rearward motion of the cocking piece while compressing the firing spring at the same time. The cam surfaces need to be very smooth and shiny or otherwise friction will make it difficult to open the bolt against spring pressure.