MOST rifle shooters think that the .30-calibre magnums are a fairly recent development. Actually, the Big Thirty era began well over 100 years ago with a cartridge called the .30 Newton.
The .30 magnums didn’t gain widespread popularity until after the end of World War II, when the .300 Weatherby Magnum appeared, but the first large-capacity .30 magnum, the .30 Newton, was in use before 1914.
Charles Newton is credited with starting the .30 magnum trend, as well as many other modern trends in rifle and cartridge design. He was a New York lawyer, gun designer, ballistician and promoter. He designed the .22 High Power for use in the Savage Model 99 in 1912 and the .250-3000 for Savage in 1915. His most popular cartridge was the .256 Newton, a 6.5mm based on a slightly shortened .30-06 case.
He also developed a .35 Newton — the .30 Newton case necked up to .35 calibre.
He claimed it drove a 250gn bullet at 2975fps, a velocity similar to the modern .358 Norma Magnum. There was also a .22 Newton based on the 7x57mm Mauser case necked down to take
