Krag-Newton?

[reincarnated]

Not Isaac. This one has one of Charley's barrels and the barrel is stamped "30 Newton".

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=507746726

Charles Newton was an early builder of high velocity and high power rifles, 1910 to the late 1920s. He came up with this one in 1913. Back in the late 50s, there was a wildcat called the .30/338, or the .338 Winchester Magnum necked down to .30, a popular conversion for the 03A3 then available from the DCM for less than $20. Another name for the same cartridge was the .30 Belted Newton. If you ground off the belt, it had the same dimensions as the .30 Newton cartridge. Not a pipsqueak cartridge. The factory load (by Western) advertised a 180 grain bullet at 2860 fps. The cartridge was loaded by Western Cartridge Company until about 1938.

Shooting a Krag chambered for .30 Newton is not a good idea. It might be possible to chamber a Krag for the cartridge, but it is simply too large to work in the magazine.

If you look carefully at the barrel, it is stamped "Buffalo Newton". Charles Newton formed four Newton rifle companies. The first one appeared in 1914, with the rifles built in Germany. Bad timing. WW1 cut off the supply and the company failed. The other 3 were formed sequentially after WW1. All failed, one after another. The last one was called "Buffalo Newton" IIRC because the plant was in Buffalo, NY. When the Buffalo Newton company failed, there were some completed rifles on hand and a lot of parts. The guys who bought the stuff at the bankruptcy sale assembled some of the parts into rifles (I have one) and sold the remaining parts, including barrels, just as parts.

I think someone laid hands on one of the barrels, cut off the breech or chamber end, threaded the newly-cut end to fit a Krag and ran a Krag reamer into the barrel. My Buffalo Newton has an entirely different barrel profile at the breech. My barrel has Newton ratchet rifling, not conventional lands & grooves.

[butlersrangers]

'reincarnated' - I have a Fig-Newton in my hand right now!

The Newton Rifles are intriguing and from a Classic Era in Gun-Smithing and design. Thanks for sharing.

[madsenshooter]

I don't think I'd care to shoot that one, except with my own loads. Even then, with the short barrel, it'd be a waste of powder.

[reincarnated]

I thought the minimum bid of $999 was a bit much. Perhaps they forgot to divide by 5.

My understanding of the steel used to make Buffalo Newton barrels is that it was Midvale nickle steel, the same stuff used for 1917 Enfield receivers and barrels and also used for contemporary Winchester barrels. The barrels of some collectible Winchesters are stamped "MNS".

If my hypothetical bid of $200 was accepted, I would make a chamber cast. If that proved OK, I would try it with 30-30 level loads and not go much higher.

I have shot my Buffalo Newton .30-06 rifle, but only with the modern version of the "300 meter" load; 38 grains of 3031 and a 168 grain bullet. The sole redeeming feature is the Newton double set trigger. I would like to have that trigger on a .30-06 target rifle built on a 1917 Enfield action.