Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 256 Newton

I have a Newton Rifle headed my way, and I'm hoping to find some folks with some experience around these.
Thanks!
Jeff

Cool stick. Nothing tricky about them. Get the headspace checked and dies are available from Huntington in CA.

What cartridge?

The 1st Model Newton is a fine rifle, but the Buffalo Newton, the style with the reverse set triggers is a very poor design and the set triggers are particularly unsafe.

The 256 Newton uses a slightly shortened 30-06 case necked down to 6.5mm/.264" that falls about equal distance, case capacity and performance wise, between the 6.5x55 and 6.5-06.

It is my favorite long action 6.5mm/.264" bore cartridge. Just before I moved to NE in 1990, I bought a 1st Model Newton in 256 from Norwich, VT, gun dealer Bill DeVaux. It is a low SN, 3xx, and is in excellent original condition. Newton felt that the 130 grain bullet was the bullet weight that gave the best balance of performance in the 256 and I agree, since the 129 grain Hornady SpirePoint has worked well for me. Since I wanted to shoot the 256 with more precision than I could accomplish with open sights, I had a Husqvarna S&W C rebarrel with a stainless 25" #3 Douglas xxx air-gauged barrel back in the early 1990s. I have shot it extensively with a variety of 120, 129, and 140 grain bullets. The only gripe that I have with the 256 Newton is that it is a PITA to form cases. I use Winchester/Olin 25-06 cases, timmed, die-formed, and then fire-formed. An application of Imperial Wax makes the die work easy, but with the trimming and cleaning it takes me about 5 minutes per case. I'm currently working on my 2nd set of 100 cases after the 1st set of 100 went between 12 and 16 loads before the primer pockets started to get loose and I retired the lot.

Jim Foral, who posts on 24HCF as "JIMFORAL", has more Newton and Ross experience then anyone I know or have heard of. You might shoot him a PM and ask for his pet loads.

Tell us more about your new Newton.

Jeff

Uh duh! 256 newton........

Gotta' hand it to him, when Larry speaks, people who listen are likely to learn nothing that adds value.

Jeff

We simply HAVE to have some pictures of this rifle when it comes in!

absorutely

Brass:

http://www.jamisoninternational.com/products/brassproducts/256newton/313126249

Bruce

I would happily pay $1.28 per case to avoid the PITA of making 256 Newton cases.

I'm buying 1 of those crappy Montana rifle barrels with a .264" bore and have a loose Interarms Mark X action, Remington 798 laminated stock, and a 256 Newton finish reamer in the gun room. That sounds like the right parts for a new Newt!

Jeff

Ran 3 25-06 brass through a 6.5-06 die last night. Seemed about like resizing 25-06 brass through a 25-06 die. Thinking I will slum it with those for a bit.

I'd rather reform from 270 or 30-06, even if harder, so the wrong headstamp doesn't invite use in a dangerous chamber after I get hit by a meteor and the wife sells my stuff.

256 fired in 270 or 30-06 probably no big deal. 256 fired in 25-06 bad.

Bruce

I was at first concerned with that happening so tried to load a dummy round with a 140 accubond into the 25-06. I was very happy to learn that it was not possible to load that round into the chamber on my son's custom 25-06. So I am definitely planning on running 25-06 Remington brass through my soon to be completed 6.5-06, er I mean 256 Newton.

OK, Here it is. someone added extra length to the butt and etched ".270 win" onto the wood...I'm hoping it's a mistake, given the similarities of the chambers. I need to slug this barrel to determine the real dimensions. Thanks for all your responses!

1st Model Newton, what SN?

The SNs are found on the bottom of the action and where the bolt handle is attached to the bolt's body.

If you can chamber a 270 round, it has probably been rechambered and rebored. The 270 case is longer then the 256 Newton and the shoulder is farther forward, so there is no way that a 270 will chamber in a 256 Newton chamber.

Nobody has made 256 Newton factory ammo since civilian production resumed after WW2 and the 270 would have been an easy conversion. However, I think that you should slug the barrel to insure that it really is a 270. Whenever I hear a story about a rifle that has been rechambered without the new chambering being marked on the barrel, I think of the Savage 99 that blew up on Bearrr264. Somebody had rechambered a 300 Savage to 308 and when Bearrr264 fired a 180 grain factory load, the case seperated and the escaping gas blew out the cheeks of the stock. I think that he might have killed the 'smith who rechambered it, if he had known who did it.

Too bad that it isn't still a 256 Newton, but somewhere out there is Elmer Keith's 1st Model Newton, #128(?), and that would bring a premium price from Keith fans if it ever shows up on the market.

Jeff

So, I have to get it out of the stock to find the serial #...I'm waiting until I have time to savor the process. What is Elmer Kieth's connection to the Newton?

EK wrote briefly about using a 1st Model Newton in 256 in "Hell I Was There". He cited the SN, I think that it was SN 128, so every time that I run into a 1st Model Newton, I check the SN, 'cause you never know.

Jeff

well, it is in fact a .270 win (found the ser# 1780), slugged the barrel, which measured .276", and closed the bolt on a 270 "go" gauge...good news, it'll be much easier to find brass, and I'm still happy with such a sweet gun for less than the cost of a Remington 700.

It is, in fact, a very nice rifle. I had one recently that had been re-bored from 256 to 30/06. Wish I would have kept it. Good luck and good hunting!

Following up on the Elmer Keith and 256 Newton connection.

EK wrote about his 1st Model Newton in 256 on page 42 of "Hell, I Was There!". He notes that his rifle was SN 129, so anybody with that rifle would have documented proof of a direct tie between the rifle and EK, which I think would be pretty neat!

Jeff

Hello everyone. Visit www.NewtonArmsCompany.com for .256, .30, .35, .40 Newton load data, pictures, notes, historical information and much more. It is an online publication/article avaliable to shooters and historians. Also visit www.SuncoastGunClub.com for step by step .256 Newton case forming!