GUNS Magazine April 1956

nism was revamped on a leverage principle
and bolt handle refined for better leverage
and camming action. Lacking finances to
produce this "Lever-bolt Rifle," Newton
joined a group of would-be investors around
1930 which sought to again interest the
Marlin Rifle Company in producing the rifle.
Calibers were to be .256, .30, .35 Newton
and .30-06 ~lus the old semi-experimental
.280 Newton (on the .30 Newton case) which
was abandoned by the Buffalo, N. Y. concern
before it was ever produced. Marlin was not
enthusiastic and wanted proof of public
demand in the form of a prepaid order for at
least 500 "Leverbolt" rifles.
In 1931 a catalog was issued which practically
duplicated the "Buffalo Newton"
catalog "C" with the exception of the rifle
drawings which showed the "Leverbolt"
design. A pink sheet titled "Special Notice"
put the future of the "Leverbolt" design in
the hands of the shooting public. The notice
stated that customers could order a rifle in
the caliber of their choice by completing
an enclosed order blank and sending $25 to
the Bank of New Haven who would credit
the customer in their books.
If 500 such orders were received, the rifle
would go into production and would be sent
out to customers C.O.D. for the balance of
$35. If not enough orders were received, the
bank would return the customer's $25 down
payment. The Leverbolt Rifle Company could
never touch the down payment until a shipping
slip had been issued to show that the
rifle was delivered. This little fairy tale
never had a happy ending and the Leverbolt
Rifle Co. of New Haven faded away.
Charles Newton spent his happiest days
around Arcade and Delavan, N. Y., where
he did his earliest experimenting and
dreamed of eliminating the high trajectory
of the then-current low velocity cartridges
with speeds of 3000 feet per second and
more. From those early days to the time of
his death, he never lost his interest in guns.
He even proposed to eliminate shotgun
"leadn as he had eliminated trajectory in
rifles, with 2,000 feet per second shotgun
loads in brass shotshells!
He tried drilling holes in a shotgun muzzle
to compensate for the jump and kick
years before Colonel Cutts invented his
muzzle brake and the various forms of
choke-compensator attachments for shotguns
became standard. He even started to design
an over/under side-break shotgun with
strength to handle his high velocity shotshells
. . . but that, like his cartridge and
bullet experiments, is another story.
For a man who was a failure as a manufacturer,
Charlie Newton was a personal
success. There are some who did not agree
with his ideas, but his many close friends
held him in the highest regard. There still
lives in Buffalo and New Haven a small
circle- of people who knew Charles Newton,
knew him well, as the little lawyer from
Buffalo who ushered in the whole modern era
of high-power cartridge development. His
guns and cartridges are still prized and used
by hunters and lovers of fine rifles, when
they are lucky enough to find one . . . "$75
or make offer . . ." 0 -
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