I also have a 3-digit 1st model 1916 edition, 256 Newton. I admire the imagination and the engineering that went into this rifle and am a big fan of Charles Newton. As mentioned, some of the firearms bearing the Newton name were NOT safe to fire. Multiple problems (including the timing of WW I and the loss of Mauser actions) led to bankruptcy for the original Charles Newton business. Some rifles were assembled by the new owners with miscellaneous parts and sold anyway, so provenance is very desirable.
The association of Newton and Savage is notable. Some of the Newton cartridges (22 High Power, 250 Savage/250-3000) were popularized by Savage chambering them in the M-99. Other ideas that saw the light of limited production in Newton rifles included a belt-less 30 caliber round, the 30 Newton, which is about like the current 30-338 Magnum. I have heard of, but never seen, the 35 Newton (think 358 Norma, kind of) and a 40 Newton. The availability of modern powders, especially the slower burners such as 4350 and 4831, gives present-day shooters the velocity and power that was only imagined in the 1916-1928 era. The cartridges were modern for their time and are unfortunately very scarce, as are the rifles. Second cautionary note: the recipes for reloads that I found in P O Ackley's books are OVER MAX. Ken Waters, from Rifle and Handloader magazine fame, presented safe 256 Newton data for the Pet Loads book in about 1989.
Bruce Jennings wrote a well-documented book, Charles Newton, The Father of High Velocity. I am fortunate to have several of those limited edition books. (I guess the modern equivalent of CN would be Roy Weatherby?) Original Newton rifles are very desirable and often carry a hefty price tag.
