Had this old Westernfield Mauser 30-06 in my gun safe for a few years, finally thought I would do something with it. The bore has always been bright and without any pitting. Took the rifle apart, blasted it, Dura-coated in a mix of matte black and gloss black, full length bedding the stock with marine-tex and then sanded the stock and refinished. I then put an old Redfield wideview accurange 3X9 with Redfield mounts and rings. I think it turned out pretty good.

I have some loads worked up using 150gr. Sierra Gameking and some IMR 4064 and H-4831SC. Will be taking it to the range tomarrow and see what happens.

rifle looks good but the pics with the cell phone suck!

Looks good! Is that a military Mauser or an FN Mauser?

I really am not sure, I'm not a Mauser expert...but I do believe this may be a military Mauser. I believe on the left side of the receiver in front of the ejection port there is a small eagle with it's wings spread out. This Westernfield rifle which I think was sold at Montgomery Wards a good many years ago has a marking on the barrel that states it was made in West Germany.

I'm sure there are others on this site that are more knowledgeable than I about these particular Mausers.

Thanks for the nice comments, I hope it shoots good!

Looks like a grade A hunting rifle to me. Congratulations!

Chance,

There has been more than one thread about these rifles in the last few years.... They seem to pop up occaisionally... If you look on the bottom of the barrel just in front of the action, you will see that it was made by F.W. Heym. Also, if you compare it to a standard M-98, you will find these are about 1/4" shorter between the action screws. Actually they are the same as the Turkish Mauser, I believe. And, of course, you will note the lever release floorplate which was not available on ANY military action that I'm aware of...
But then, I am no means a expert on Mauser rifles...

If one has a keen interest in Mauser rifles, I have found two books that are well worth the cost. Mauser Bolt Rifles by Ludwig Olsen and Original Mauser Sporting Rifles by Jon Speed. I have both, but a quick perusal, revealed nothing on the Wards M-720B or the F.W. Heym connection to them.

I have owned two Western Field M-720-B rifles, both in .30-06. The first, had the front of the magazine sawed at the corners and bent forward to give room for the .30-06 Cartridge. I had it bent back, tig welded and refinished then rebarreled the rifle to 7x57. (No longer own this rifle...)

The 2nd one, is currently residing in my gunsmith's shop and is in line to be rebarreled to .376 Steyr. For a short time I had had it rebarreled to .358 Win, but couldn't get it to feed to my satisfaction... So, as the saying goes: "Back to the drawing board...!"

I do hope the above commentary is of some use to you...

GH

This is my Heym/Western Field M720B. They are intermediate length actions originally intended for 7X57 I have been given to understand. Those I have seen are very nice rifles.

I thought about converting this rifle to .376 Steyr as well (also an intermediate length cartridge), but I got on to the .375 Ruger instead.

jim

I've owned several of those FW Heym / westernfield mausers and I think they are one of the better values on the used rifle market. Most folks have no idea what they are and although they aren't in the same league as a BRNO 21/22 they are certainly an excellent example of a post war commercial mauser. They are certainly better suited for the x57 cartridges than the standard length FN commercial actions.

Westernfield opted to go with the 30.06 and .270 for chamberings so they opened up the mag box by cutting the front and bending it out. The hinged floorplate is a pretty straightforward conversion of a standard button release military piece (I'm guessing these were Turk milsurp bottoms)


The ones I have owned fed very nicely.

The stocks are usually some sort of light colored (french?) walnut and they have skip checkering with a very Weatherbyesque profile. My current westernfield 720b is chambered in 30.06, but I have plans to convert it to something sexier in *x57.


Weagle

Nice vintage rifles.

I'd like to find one of these at a reasonable price, anyone have any leads?

I need some $ for an Alberta mule deer expedition, so I want to sell my rifle pictured above.

I also have some high speed low drag after market parts: Talley steel bases and Blackburn trigger...

jim