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In his epoch making Model 1916 rifle, Charles Newton, among other things, provided for a take down system which left action and barrel attached and stock, magazine, floorplate and trigger guard in another segment, also attached.

The hinged floor plate of the Newton rifle, when opened, served as a wrench to unscrew the forward action nut which engaged a threaded bolt inserted in the recoil lug of the rifle. The rear of the action was secured by hooking the specially designed action tang into a metal fixture attached to the stock by a threaded rod inserted through the pistol grip. The barrelled action could be dismounted with scope attached and stored in a case in a matter of seconds.

The rifle is pictured and described in The Mauser Archive, by John Speed, pp. 65-67. It is also the subject of a book, The Newton Rifle, by Lawrence Wales.

The action featured a double "square bridge", a bolt handle suitable for low scope mounting, a three position cocking piece safety mounted on the side of the bolt shroud, interrupted thread locking lugs with seven bearing surfaces, double safety lugs, a Mauser type claw extractor and double set triggers. It was fitted with folding leaf sights and on special order was furnished with a unique Newton cocking piece sight.

It was furnished in calibers .256, .30 and .35 Newton, as well as .30-'06.

The .256 was essentially a 6.5-'06, with ballistics practically identical to the .270 Winchester, and the .30 and .35 Newton approximated the performances of the .300 and .375 H&H Magnums, using cases roughly the size of the 8X68 RWS cartridge, and, like the 8X68, without a belt. Case capacity and performance is virtually the same as that of the .308 and .358 Norma Magnums.

Charles Newton was the inventor of the .22 Savage Highpower, the .250-3000 Savage, and the .300 Savage cartridges, as well as those cartridges bearing his own name.

I presently own Newton rifles in two of the Newton calibers, .256 and .30, as well as in .30-'06. They are all a pleasure to shoot and deadly hunting rifles.

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