Charles Newton necked down the .30-06 Springfield cartridge in 1912 to accept the 117-grain .25-35 Winchester bullet, but the resulting .256 Newton cartridge didn't get traction. Newton's early modification encouraged commercial release of a shortened case (from 63 to 49mm) as the .250-3000 Savage in 1915.  Frankford Arsenal developed an experimental .25-06 during World War I; and distribution of surplus United States military equipment through the Civilian Marksmanship Program following the war encouraged independent gunsmiths to experiment with the cartridge.  A. O. Niedner of Dowagiac, Michigan introduced rifles for the .25 Niedner in 1920.  Niedner Arms Corporation retained the 17° 30 .30-06 shoulder chambering .25 caliber barrels rifled with one twist in .  Similar cartridges were identified as the .25 Hi-Power, .25 Whelen (analogous to .35 Whelen), or .25-100-3000 (to indicate the ability to achieve 3,000 feet-per-second with a 100-grain bullet rather than the 87-grain bullet used in the .250-3000 Savage).  Greater case capacity offered minimal velocity improvement over the .250-3000 Savage case with contemporary smokeless powders.  Availability of DuPont's Improved Military Rifle (IMR) powders encouraged commercial release of the .257 Roberts using the 57mm-long Mauser case in 1934.  Release of IMR 4350 in 1940 and availability of surplus 4831 powder salvaged from Oerlikon 20mm cannon cartridges after World War II greatly improved performance of the full-length .25-06 case.