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An American to Match Mauser: The Charles Newton Story WvZ

You may have seen this proverb: Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. One of the most gifted gun and cartridge designers of the 20th century put that notion to the test.

His name was Charles Newton. Born in Delavan, New York on January 8, 1870, he worked on his father’s farm until finishing school at age 16. He taught school for two years, and then applied his quick mind to studying law. He was admitted to the state bar at age 26, but his heart was not in the courtroom or library. After a 6-year stint in the New York National Guard, Newton devoted his spare time to firearms, and to high-performance cartridges using the then-new smokeless powders. His early association with Fred Adolph may have prompted Newton to abandon law for the uncertain fortunes he faced as an inventor and entrepreneur.

Adolph was an accomplished German riflesmith who immigrated to the U.S. in 1908. Six years later, he issued a catalog from a shop he’d established in Genoa, New York. It listed a wide range of sporting rifles, shotguns and combination guns. Some Adolph probably imported; but others he built. The rifles were chambered for a variety of potent cartridges, among them at least 10 designed by Charles Newton. The best known of these included the 22 High Power, fashioned in 1905 from the 25-35 case. Kicking a 70-grain, .228-inch bullet out at 2800 fps, the "Imp" earned a bigger-than-life reputation on game as formidable as tigers.

In 1912 the talented Newton became perhaps the first man to experiment seriously with the 25-06. He called it the 25 Newton Special. Another of his cartridges, the 7mm Special, foreshadowed the 280 Remington by half a century—as did the 7x64 Brenneke developed across the Atlantic at roughly the same time. Also in 1912, Newton developed for Savage a short rimless 25. It followed the 22 High Power as a new offering for the Model 99 lever-action rifle. Newton’s stubby 25 became known as the 250-3000, because Savage pointed out in ads that it launched an 87-grain bullet at 3000 fps—a rocket in those days. Legend has it that for big game, Newton himself preferred a 100-grain bullet in the 250 at a more modest 2800 fps.

The prolific designer came up with a 22 Long Range pistol cartridge by shortening and necking down the 28-30 Stevens. The bullet was the same .228-inch jacketed spitzer loaded in the 22 High Power. He fashioned his 22 Newton from the 7x57 case, driving a 90-grain bullet at 3100 fps from a barrel with 1-in-8 twist. The 22 Special, formed from 30-40 Krag brass, launched a 68-grain bullet at nearly 3300 fps.

Charles Newton had a passion for single-shot rifles. He experimented with big-rimmed cases like the 405 Winchester, necking it down to 7mm and even 25 caliber. He designed 30, 8mm and 35 Express cartridges from the 3 ¼-inch Sharps hull, a 40 Express from the 40-110 3 ¼-inch Winchester and a 45 Express from the 45-125 3 ¼-inch Winchester. With Fred Adolph, Newton formed the 30 Adolph Express using a rimless case with the capacity of the 404 Jeffery. This round performed like a modern short magnum; it was also called the 30 Newton. Less well known are the 35 Newton and various other rimless and rebated cartridges inspired by the 404 case, which appeared around 1910. The parent case for some later Newton rounds was the 11.2x72 Schuler, a cartridge that postdated World War I.

Experimental Newton cartridges included a rimless 280 and 33, neither of which got past token production. The 276 and 400 Newton are even less common. The 276, fashioned after the experimental military cartridge Britain abandoned just before World War I, apparently did not see commercial manufacture. Newton’s tool-room crew built a handful of rifles for the 400 Newton and probably made cases by necking up 35s.

The most significant of Newton’s many cartridge designs at that time was arguably a 6.5mm-06. Despite its .264-inch bullets, it appeared as the 256 Newton. There were two reasons for pursuing an alternative to the 25-06. First, 25-06 chambers cut by gunsmiths of the day varied in dimension. Tight chambers boosted pressures, and not all rifles that accommodated the 30-06 case would bottle those pressures. Newton did not want to be linked to rifles that came apart. Secondly, though no commercial U.S. ammunition featured 6.5mm bullets then (and wouldn’t until the 264 Winchester Magnum appeared in 1959), Mauser routinely bored and rifled 6.5mm barrels. That was important because Charles Newton had bigger ambitions, in which Mauser would play a role.

Early in his career as a cartridge designer, Newton dreamed of producing his own rifles. In 1914 he formed the Newton Arms Company in Buffalo, New York. While a factory was being built there, Newton traveled to Germany to contract for a supply of rifles from the likes of Mauser and J.P. Sauer &Sohn. His intent was to restock these rifles and rebarrel them to 256 Newton and 30 Adolph Express. In the August 27, 1914, issue of Arms And The Man magazine, Newton advertised high-quality Mauser rifles. A concurrent flier hawked 256 Newton barrels "of the best Krupp steel" with raised, matted ribs and sight slots—for $17. In March 1915, the first Newton rifles appeared in a company catalog. Built on 98 Mauser actions, they wore barrels chambered in 256, 30 and 35 Newton, plus graceful hunting-style stocks designed by Fred Adolph and noted California gunsmith Ludwig Wundhammer (namesake of the "Wundhammer swell" found on the grips of many European stocks even now). They came in three grades:

Grade A: DWM Mauser in 30, 8mm or 35 Express for $42.50; or in 33 or 40 for $62.50.

Grade B: DWM Mauser in 256, 30, 8mm or 35 Express for $55; or in 33 or 40 for $75 (double set trigger $2.50 extra).

Grade C: Sauer Mauser with double set trigger, half-octagon barrel, matted rib in 30, 8mm or 35 Express for $60; or in 33 or 40 for $80.

Some early catalog listings made no sense. For example, the only 8mm Newton in the literature was a huge rimmed round not suited to the 98 Mauser action. A Grade D rifle in 256 featured an antiquated Model 88 Mauser action and was priced at $37.50, a departure from the lettering sequence. There was also a Grade C with a full-length stock that has never been documented.

Charles Newton’s biggest problem in this venture was the war. His timing could hardly have been worse! The first two dozen Mauser rifles were to arrive on August 15, 1914. Germany went to war August 14. Apparently one shipment of Mausers did arrive at the Buffalo plant before hostilities ended commerce. His enterprise at a standstill, Charles Newton turned to the Marlin Firearms Company for barrels chambered in 256 Newton and threaded for 1903 Springfields. He planned to sell them for $12.50 as replacements to hunters who wanted something other than a 30-06. He also contracted for Springfield sporting-style stocks, but these after-market items moved slowly at the time, mainly because Springfields weren’t commercially available during the war. Newton’s efforts to find a manufacturer of completed rifles failed because all plants capable of rifle production were up to their gizzards in lucrative government contracts. Charles Newton had to sit on his hands.

He didn’t stop thinking, however. By 1916 he had incorporated desirable features of the Mauser and Springfield designs into a rifle whose only non-original part (claimed Newton) was the mainspring. He hired lengendary barrel-maker Harry Pope to oversee barrel production, and pointed out in the 14th Newton catalog that Pope had helped him develop the segmented rifling in Newton barrels. Segmented Newton rifling comprised five grooves, cut with a tool whose radius was a trifle smaller than that of the bore.

The first of Charles Newton’s new rifles went on sale January 1, 1917, and got favorable press. Once more, though, the timing was wrong. The U.S. entered the war on April 6, and the government took immediate control of all cartridge production. Though Newton was loading his own ammo, he depended on Remington for cases. Without cases, there was no ammunition—and no market for Newton rifles. Charles Newton scrambled to get the tooling to make all cartridge components from scratch. By January 1918, ammo was coming off the line. Unfortunately, the banks that had carried the firm sent it into receivership, and by the end of the year, the Newton Arms Company was no more. In total, about 2400 rifles had been produced; another 1600 were completed by Bert Holmes, who acquired all company assets. Only about a quarter of these passed inspection, however, and Holmes sold more than 1000 rifles for $5 each before abandoning efforts to run the plant himself.

In April 1919, New York machinery dealers Lamberg, Schwartz and Land formed the Newton Arms Corporation. Their plan was to market as genuine Newton rifles several bin-loads of poor-quality rifles they had bought from Bert Holmes. Charles Newton immediately filed suit. Though the case was not heard until June 1920, Newton won it on every count. A month later the Newton Arms Corporation went bankrupt. Meanwhile, Charles had marshaled his assets for another try at establishing a gun company. On April 19, 1919, he launched the Chas. Newton Rifle Corporation. His plan was to equip a new factory with surplus tooling from Eddystone Arsenal. He’d already cataloged an imported Mauser rifle with Newton improvements and in Newton chamberings, listing it for $66. He offered 30-06 and 256 Newton ammunition at $9.50 per 100. You could buy 100 30 Newton rounds for $11, 100 35s for $12.

Nothing came of the Eddystone deal, unfortunately, and the only rifles marketed by the Chas. Newton Rifle Corporation were commercial Mausers. They had butterknife bolt handles, double set triggers, triple leaf sights—fine rifles by most standards. Some had parabolic rifling, and a few featured a cloverleaf of muzzle grooves to vent gas evenly and prevent bullet tipping. The Newton stocks added appeal, and about 1000 orders came in. But alas, Germany’s overheated postwar economy could not supply that many rifles under the terms of the contract. Evidently only about 100 of these 1922 Mausers arrived in the States, and oddly enough, a handful remained in stock as late as 1928, even after the Chas. Newton Rifle Corporation had ceased operations.

Not to be deterred, Newton began anew in 1923, with Arthur Dayton and Dayton Evans, two men who had helped him bankroll his 1919 venture. The Buffalo Newton Rifle Corporation got off the ground in Buffalo, New York, but soon moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where the first "Buffalo Newton" rifles were boxed up in 1924. They featured four-groove nickel-steel barrels in 30-06 and four Newton chamberings: 256, 280, 30 and 35. Actions of chrome-vanadium steel boasted interrupted-thread locking lugs. Stocks were of checkered walnut with a ¼-inch castoff. They had a crossbolt behind the magazine well to absorb recoil—but no recoil lug at the front of the action! Consequently, many stocks on Buffalo Newton rifles split. Western Cartridge Company, which had begun supplying Newton ammunition in 1921, continued. A challenge for company control by John Meeker, whose lending group supported Newton, was unsuccessful, but not before Meeker had acquired parts for 260 Newton rifles, which he assembled in New Jersey and sold under his own name.

Money had again become scarce for Charles Newton. After borrowing on his life insurance, he pleaded with Marlin to build his rifles under contract. Marlin’s Frank Kenna demurred. So did one of Newton’s friends, despite Newton’s insistence that the company was on the brink of success, and that, given a production rate of 1000 rifles a month, it could build rifles for $8 each. At the time, Buffalo Newtons were retailing for $60.

The Buffalo Newton Rifle Corporation folded in 1929 after manufacturing about 1500 rifles.

Charles Newton could not have known, early that year, what lay in store for American businesses in October. He applied himself to another action design and came up with the "New Newton Straight Pull Rifle." Its two-lug bolt and Springfield cocking piece suggested bolt-rifle ancestry; but Newton had also borrowed from the straight-pull Lee Navy and even the Winchester lever-action designs. In fact, partly no doubt to appeal to the legions of lever-action shooters afield, Newton renamed the rifle the "Leverbolt." Again, he asked Frank Kenna for assistance. If Marlin would produce the rifle, said Newton, he’d split the profits down the middle. Kenna, a shrewd businessman, required proof of demand. Charles Newton responded with a flyer that asked sportsmen for a $25 down payment on a new Leverbolt rifle. The remaining $35 would be due when the rifle was delivered. Sadly, this offer failed to generate the 500 orders Frank Kenna had said he would need to sign a production contract. Then Wall Street collapsed, taking with it Newton’s dreams, and those of a nation.

Charles Newton died at his home in New Haven on March 9, 1932, at the age of 62.

If shooters these days remember Charles Newton at all, it is probably for developing the 250 Savage. Few have seen the scarce Newton rifles, or the angular Newton cartridges that in profile look much younger than they are—cartridges that, given appropriate powders, would have matched the performance of the most efficient short magnums half a century later. Hunters now are familiar with the three-position safety on Winchester Model 70s, but may not be aware that Charles Newton put a similar safety on his rifles 20 years before the Model 70 appeared. Newton’s multiple interrupted-thread locking lugs predated the Weatherby Mark V rifle by 30 years. The 25-06 cartridge is generally credited to Neidner, but in all likelihood, Newton fired it first. This lawyer-turned-inventor also designed loading tools and fashioned a partition-style bullet in 1915. While most bullet jackets were of cupro-nickel, he employed almost pure copper, as is done today on many controlled-expansion bullets. Newton sought to improve bullet performance by inserting a central wire and insulating the core with paper under the jacket so the lead didn’t soften during bore passage.

All told, Charles Newton accomplished a great deal in less than 30 years. Sadly, his brilliance as an architect of rifles and cartridges, and his perseverance in bringing them to riflemen, earned him few rewards. Luck does not always favor the most deserving.

Note: An authoritative book from which much of this information was gleaned is titled Charles Newton, Father of High Velocity. It’s the work of Newton rifle enthusiast Bruce Jennings, Jr., of Sheridan, Wyoming. Bruce was also gracious in sharing his thoughts and post-publication findings on this remarkable American pioneer. My own book, America’s Great Gunmakers (Stoeger Publications), has a chapter on Charles Newton as well.

– Wayne van Zwoll