Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

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

      Part II

      Military

      Rifles & Actions

      Military Rifles & Actions

       Enfield Rifles

       French Military Turnbolts

       German Model 88 Commission Rifle

       German Model 98/40

       Greek Model 1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer

       Italian Carcano Rifles

       Japanese Arisaka Rifles

       Krag-Jorgensens: U.S., Danish and Norwegian

       Lee-Enfield Rifles

       Mauser Miscellany