Why do not riflemen,reloaders, collectors, even gun historians forget their history? There is so much interest
in new cartridges, wildcats, and others...
Where is the recognition of one of the greatest cartridge
designers of all time...acknowleged by the Dean, P.O. Ackley, recommended by Phil Sharpe with acknowledgements by
Fred Barnes who used his cartridges?!
Little is known that the perhaps most renowned of US of A
cartridges , the .30-06,owed its design to Chas Newton who was said to be instrumental in its design who worked in
Springfield Armory at that time...
And, of course the famed .250-3000, the first 3,000 fps ctg
on the market, the .22 Savage High Power, the .25-05 designer... Waite, Technical Editor 1971 American Rifleman,
and others...
But you may say...outdated...wait a minute...I get over 3300
fps with a 180 gr. bullet in the .30 Newton with a .30-06
case length...exceeds the .300 WinMag & my .300 Weatherby
with a short fat case.....30-06 length too...no need to neck
down a 50BMG case!
Also, the .270 Winchester was developed in response to the
popularity of the .256 Newton...a .30-06 case necked to .264" or 6.5mm...so Winchester necked down a .30-06 case to .277" (couldn't use the same diameter as the .256 Newton that was actually a 6.5mm or .264") BUT the .256 was favored vs. the .270 or the .257 Roberts by experienced
riflemen...the 6.5 130 gr. bullet has better sectional density than the .270 Winchester (.277) and I've gotten
3100 fps with this bullet..compare to .270 Win, with a 130
gr.
My point being...I don't think that just because we are in a more modern age, that the genius of yesteryear should be forgotten or dismissed. All modern is just not all that good, even a lot of junk!

As a good example, put the 3300 fps+ velocity of a .30 Newton
with 180 gr. bullets against the .300 WinMag, Ultra Mag,
.300 Dakota, .300 Weatherby Mag & others...
It was designed around 1914 & hadn'come in its own until
modern,slow burning powders were available to take advantage
of its potential.

My .256 Newton with its hardly any recoil & 3100 fps with 130 gr. bullets has dead dropped distant Antelope...great
accuracy. Why would I ever want an odd (ugh) .270 Winchester?

Today, its a lot of hype & manufacturer's BS (in capital
letters) Where did the fat new cartidges come from? Wasn't it benchrest guys first who deveoped the PPC types?
Then copied (basically) into the "short magnums"?

I prefer to think, the early experimenters, like Chas Newton
who was a pure enthusiast was honest in his efforts...and
failed in his own company's efforts...was a greater contributer than all the hyped ads by the major arms companies today...he had a conscience & failed...but left a
genuine legacy...today's "Madison Avenue" advertising by the major arms companies are really a shame...but they don't know any better...in pursuit of profit...anything goes. Any today's gunner, as keen a hunter or shooter as he may be...is simply not knowledgeable to know better.
Years ago, when hunting & shooting was of more common knowledge...enthusiasts did a lot to dictate to manufactuers. A recent example was when Winchester's bean counters changed the venerable (pre -64 Model 70) into a more easily made model...at least gunners reacted & the older pre '64 model 70 features were brought back! An example of manufacturers conceding..they have to sell rifles after all. Plus the floor plate latch was copied from the elder statesman Newton, also Newton had a 3 position safety...and the slender newish stock is oh so much like the old Newton designs! At least they are smart enough to copy good design!!!
Yep, Memorial Day (I like the old appellation!)
In Good Memory ...Best Wishes, Tom

OK who all has a rifle chambered for a Newton? Lets see a raise of hands here.

I dont, but sure wish I did.

How difficult is it to get or make cases for the 30 Newton?

Hi: Reference to the development of the .30-06:
From: 1976 Shooters Bible (no. 67) Bicentennial Edition
p. 80: Quote: "Charles newton probably had a lot to do
with one of the most famous cartrdiges of all time, the
.30-06. Newton was employed at Springfield Armory
during the redesign of the .30-03 cartridge into the
.30-06. Knowledgeable men who had contact with Newton
such as A.O Neidner, have said that Newton had quite a
bit to do with the .30-06. Certainly, the .30-06 had
a sharp shoulder and a short neck by the standards of
the time. These design features were typical of most
Newton designs." author: Robert H. Reagan, article:
"Charles Newton, Designer". Also, it is noteworthy that
the .30-06 was the only 'standard' or non-proprietary
cartridge that he chambered his rifles for. I have no
doubt he was instrumental in the .30-06 development.
Back then (maybe now too) when a gov't body developed
something, like the said .30-06, credit was to the
armory, like Springfield & did not credit individuals.
He also developed the .22 Hi Power, the .250-3000
Savage, the .25-06 and experimented with hundreds of
wildcats...from the Book: "Charles Newton Father of
High Velocity": p. 102: "The average wildcatter or
experimenter may in the course of a lifetime develop 3
or 4 or a half dozen wildcat ctgs and have guns to take
them. But Newton had hundreds of them...he was a
genius." I apologize for not getting back sooner, I
was off the internet for awhile (hunting Chukars).
best regards ,Tom

Hi: I have 3 original Newton Rifles...all have been restored, 1 needed a new barrel so that was done, copying the original as the outside contour. Two rifles are in .30
Newton, the other is in .256 Newton.
The rifles come up occasionally on the internet selling
sites, "gunbroker.com, gunsamerica.com, auctionarms.com" on
any or all of these sites from time to time. There was an
all original .256 Newton Rifle on Gunsamerica.com, recently.
The Speer Reloading Manual #4 fo Wildcat Cartridges ,
published in 1959..latest data...says "An Interesting Cartridge is the .30 Newton and one in a good many ways is superior to the .300 Magnum." Yes, indeed, it is! The case
looks smaller when put up against the .300 Winchester mag.
..it is shorter...but the .30 Newton has a larger diameter
when you get to the shoulder, where the .300 WinMag tapers
slimmer. Its so much like a fat body .30-06, like its Big
Brother! Same design elements. I've been trying to get
Steve Hornady of Hornadt to make a run of new .30 Newton Brass..they make so much "junk case types"..but he's been polite, thats all. I'll continue to work on him a bit!
Only about 4200 first model Newtons were made and perhaps
1200 2nd models. However, the .30 Newton was appreciated by
such revered luminaries of the gun world as Phil Sharpe &
Fred Barnes. Its a superior cartridge...the latest (1959)
Speer Manual lists a velocity of 3,005 fps with a 180 gr.
bullet...I get 3300 fps over my chrongraph using a more
suitable powder..thats not bad, eh? Beats my .300 Weatherby
I apologize for not getting back sooner, I was off the internet for awhile. Making cases is a real chore! I used
the reccomended parent cartridge..the 8X68S German case...
it involves: 1. annealing 2. lots of neck shortening 3.
forming in a .30 Newton sizer die (RCBS has them)4. outside neck trimming (too thick brass squeezed there!)5. inside
neck reaming too. 6. then fireform in a .30 Newton chamber. Quick & easy method: size down .338 WinMag cases, fireform in chamber. Don't worry about the belt of
the .338...it squished flattish & the belt centers the case near perfect in the Newton chamber (.30 Newton is beltless) I know guys who have done this & have had no problems...also a brass case maker who says it should be fine. Slightly less case capacity. But I did it the hard way!
Best Regards, Tom

Charles Newton was educated as an attorney, but became perhaps one of the greatest gun enthusiasts, wildcatters,
and cartidge designers of all time. Brief History: A great
gunsmith of the day, Mr. Fred Adolf, of Genoa, New York
(upstate N.Y. in the FingerLakes Region) got Chas Newton
interested. Fred Adolf was a German immigrant gunsmith who built for the then Pres. Teddy Roosevelt a double rifle to
take to Africa on his famous Safaris...he also hand built
drilling type rifles (3 barrels) of his own design. He got
Chas Newton interested in the .30 Newton ctg., it was first called the .30 Adolf, in respect of the gunsmith, then name revised to .30 Newton, when they stopped using Berdan Primers...Anyway, Chas Newton got financial backing (from a
Buffalo N.Y. Brewer) & started his own company...the timing couldn't have been worse...as soon as he was getting started, WW1 (1914) came along...he couldn't get brass, powder for his proprietary cartridges due to the war, just about did him in. Then after the war in 1918, there was a post war depression & a lot of people just couldn't afford his (as P.O. Ackley has said in his manual "The Very Fine Newton Rifles". So it was bad times for Newton, and briefly his company went under. But he was also an authority of the day & wrote for many gun magazines, probably the forerunner of American Rifleman (not sure) but he used to debate with riflement of the day...he had the latest innovations...the late Townsend Whelan praised Newton
Bullets, saying he had to get more of them...he developed the copper jacket (previously were cupr-nickle & fouled badly). Also had a heat resistant bullet (that worked well! that used a paper wrap over the lead before it was copper jacketed) Had designed "protected point" bullets...so the ballistic tip types aren't exactly new either! Although Newton used a kind of nail in center of
bullet extending to just touch the bullet tip. He was on the leading edge of technology from his experimenting, and
was one of the leading authorities of the day, debating a lot of experts & riflement of the day. He was a gadfly to the major companies, since he was on the cutting edge of
technology & new devlopments, he often chided & critisied the companies for not getting with it. This was in print in the most highly circulate magazines & publications...
It did not sit well with the major manufacturers, as like today, they want to make money & the bean counter mentality
discards improvements if it doesn't fit in. So, he was liked and appreciated by enthusiasts, and noteworthy men like Townsend Whelan, Fred Barnes, etc.
His rifles were really appreciated by Westerners where distance hunting is quite usual..Phil Sharpe remarked Fred Barnes was shooting one of those (.30 Newtons) with his 200
gr. bullet in the Red desert of Wyoming and that baby really reached out! But when Newton's company was on the ropes, so to speak, and he wanted Marlin to go in with him..
he offended the major manufacturers for years...so didn't get any help from his previous harping against them to produce better products. So, it went briefly...
His .256 Newton cartridge....the Dean of cartridge design...
P.O. Ackley called it "One of the finest cartridges in its class" I use it on Pronghorn Antelope. its basiically a .30-06 necked down to .264" or 6.5mm with a sharper shoulder angle than the .30-06...a truly fine cartridge.
Best Regards, Tom

�From: 1976 Shooters Bible (no. 67) Bicentennial Edition p. 80: Quote: "Charles Newton probably had a lot to do with one of the most famous cartridges of all time, the .30-06. Newton was employed at Springfield Armory during the redesign of the .30-03 cartridge into the .30-06.�

Pure fabrication, Not that it matters but the Caliber .30 rimless models 1901, 1903 and the last, Model 1906 with the German �S� type bullet were both designed and manufactured at Frankford Arsenal, not Springfield.

�Knowledgeable men who had contact with Newton such as A.O Neidner (sic), have said that Newton had quite a bit to do with the .30-06�

Now that�s something I like to read, Niedner (notice spelling) stated in his catalog that he refused to work on Newton Rifles.

Hi: You may very well be correct, re. Chas Newton not being
responsible for the .30-06...but I have heard the same
from other sources too.
Niedner, (not sure without looking it up...) I know
Pachymar (the elder) got into Chas Newton's bad graces
as according to Newton, he did not chamber Newton's
cartridges allowing what Newton considered enough neck
clearance, thereby resulting in excessive pressures..
However, the author claiming Chas Newton mostly key in
the development of the 30-06...may have used Spring-
field & meant Frankfort...I don't know..just quoted
from a reputable author. However, is there any better
candidate for instrumental in .30-06 development? If
so, pls let me know, otherwise I'll believe in Chas
Newton. Best Regards, Tom

regarding the comment attributed by Bob Hagel...every rifle
is an individual...true...however there has been dispute as to whether Chas Newton got the factory velocities he claimed, I and many others who shoot his cartridges in both
original & new barreled Newtons have attained his claims
easily. Bob Jourdan, writer in Precision Shooting, has told
me in personal correspondence he has gotten Newton's velocity claims in his .256 Newton easily. So have I in an original Newton & original barrel.
And does anyone out there know that Harry Pope was in charge of Newton's barrel making department & designed the
Newton Rifling, known as Newton/Pope...
Best Regards, Tom

re. the comment that Chas Newton "tried to form a company", and produced rifles on the side, etc is dead wrong.. He did
form a company, did make rifles, & was his life's work...
He was a true, hardworking enthusiast...he developed more &
better cartridges than anyone else & got the accolades of
P.O. Ackley, Phil Sharpe, Townsend Whelan...that should not be dismissed by disparaging comments by those who do not know this Newton History. He deserves more credit.
Ross Seyfried wrote in Rifle Magazine #204 about the .256
Newton, starting off with "What is the most sophisticated, complex, highly featured American Rifle? The answer would
depend greatly on one's point of view, but for the moment we can safely consider the Newton." And then goes on to detail his reasoning... Seyfried's praise is deserved and he is mostly correct in his writing, a few items I would
diagree somewhat with, but then I have had more background
& experience with the Newton Rifles & cartridges...but he is correct on most points, nearly all.
Best Regards, Tom

Tom, do you know Bruce Jennings over in Sheridan? He's written a book on Newton that contains all the old catalogues and Newton's correspondence with his peers.