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
