GUNS Magazine April 1956

Pilot model of original Newton action had small bolt knob
a. tvoical of old rifles, and regular set trieeers of foreien style.
Newton's Special fore-and-aft set triggers on .256 rifle
was fitted on Mausers after his first company failed.
Newton's set triggers were fitted to fair quality New
Haven built rifles which in early specimens had 7 bolt lugs.
His difficulties were reflected in early Newton Company
catalogs which spoke of his products in flowery words but
couldn't promise deliveries except for uncertain future
dates. As a stop-gap measure during the tooling-up period.
Newton offered .256 and .30 Newton barrels with Spring-
field threads priced at $12.50 each, no sights, to owners of
Springfield actions. A sporter stock was also available at
$12.50. This gave the owner a .256 Newton sporting
Springfield for $25.00, less sights. I shot one of these and
it had the segmental type of rifling as near as I can recall.
The only Springfields available for conversion at that
time were of the low number variety. This would not be
bad in the .256 caliber but the thought of standing behind
a .30 Newton on a brittle Springfield action with added
bolt thrust would not appeal to me. A bolt face alteration
would be a requisite, of course. It is interesting to note
the blithe statement that appeared in the Newton catalogs
regarding these barrels. "They (the purchasers) can re-
tain the original barrel and stock," he wrote, "and thus
-
change from .256 or .30 back to .30 caliber military for
target work in a few minutes." This intimated that the
owner had two guns in one, and that barrel changing and
headspacing were a breeze. Barrel vises and action
wrenches are ignored as minor impediments.
Mottos and bombast of Charles Newton's arms company
a generation ago read like modern advertising blurbs.
When the original Newton rifle finally appeared in 1917,
it was a beautiful mechanism. It had smooth lines and
featured the interupted thread type of locking lugs similar
to the 1910 Ross. This buttress thread is theoretically
very strong but only if all surfaces contact simultaneously.
The present day Winchester Model 70 and earlier Model
54 owe much of their general appearance to the original
Newton design. The floorplate release buttons are almost
identical. However, on the Newton rifle the floor plate
could be swung down, rotated at its forward end until
it released the forward action screw. The barrel and action
assembly was released-a very practical take-down system
used now on quality English sporters. German type set
triggers were used with the rear trigger setting the front
to a mere touch for precise shooting. What a pity that only
about 3.000 of these fine rifles are to be considered safe
or acceptable.
Newton's first company was thrown into receivership on
April 20, 1918. Only the first rifles, numbering some 2400.
were made while Newton was with the concern. The re-
ceivers operated until August 1, 1918, and onlyabout 400
of the 1600 rifles they produced were passed by the in-
spectors. These were all original pattern Newtons, manu-
factured in Buffalo, N. Y., under (Continued on page 47)