The .224 Weatherby Magnum is a sporting cartridge

Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

 that was developed in 1963 by Roy Weatherby

Roy Weatherby

Roy E. Weatherby was the founder and owner of Weatherby, Inc., an American rifle, shotgun and cartridge manufacturing company set up in 1945. Weatherby created an entire line of custom cartridges, and was one of the people responsible for the industry interest in high-speed cartridges...

 after about 10 years of development. It is a proprietary cartridge with no major firearms manufacturers chambering rifles for it other than Weatherby

Weatherby

Weatherby, Inc. is an American gun manufacturer founded in 1945 by Roy Weatherby. The company is best known for its high-powered magnum cartridges, such as the .257 Weatherby Magnum and the .460 Weatherby Magnum...

. It was originally called the .224 Weatherby Varmintmaster when it was introduced alongside the Weatherby Varmintmaster rifle, but the rifle was discontinued in 1994 and the cartridge was renamed.

Design

The cartridge design began years earlier but its introduction was delayed, at least in part, because of the unavailability of a suitable action

Firearm action

In firearms terminology, an action is the physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term is also used to describe the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. Actions are generally categorized by the type of mechanism used...

. An earlier high-velocity .22 caliber round from Weatherby called the .220 Weatherby Rocket was based on the .220 Swift though it was unsuccessful and never manufactured.

Performance

Performance is similar to the popular .22-250 and the lesser used .225 Winchester

.225 Winchester

The .225 Winchester cartridge was created in 1964 by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Based upon the .219 Donaldson Wasp cartridge, it is a semi-rimmed cartridge, which was an oddity for a cartridge introduced at the time...

 putting it in between the .220 Swift

.220 Swift

The .220 Swift is a semi-rimmed rifle cartridge developed by Winchester and introduced in 1935. It was the first factory loaded rifle cartridge with a muzzle velocity of over...

 and .223 Remington

.223 Remington

The .223 Remington is a sporting cartridge with almost the same external dimensions as the 5.56×45mm NATO military cartridge. The name is commonly pronounced either two-two-three or two-twenty-three. It is loaded with a diameter, jacketed bullet, with weights ranging from , though the most common...

 cartridges. Possibly because of the similar performance and popularity of the .22-250, this round has never gotten a very large following. Costs for ammunition and rifles for this round also tend to be much more expensive.

Performance for 55 grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

 bullet (BC

Ballistic coefficient

In ballistics, the ballistic coefficient of a body is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight. It is inversely proportional to the negative acceleration—a high number indicates a low negative acceleration. BC is a function of mass, diameter, and drag coefficient...

 of 0.235)

	Muzzle	100 Yds	200 Yds	300 Yds	400 Yds	500 Yds
Trajectory	-	2.8	3.7	0
Energy (ft·lbf)	1627	1244	944	705	516	370
Velocity (ft/s)	3650	3192	2780	2403	2056	1741

Sporting Use

.22 caliber rifles are legal in some areas for big game up to the size of deer or larger. Convention holds the .224 Weatherby and similar cartridges are better suited to long-range varminting. Similar statements are made concerning other "big" 22 caliber cartridges like the 220 Swift and .223 WSSM

.223 WSSM

The .223 WSSM is a .224 caliber rifle cartridge created by Winchester and Browning based on a shortened version of the Winchester Short Magnum case.- History :...

.

Currently many states in the United States do allow 22 caliber rifles on big game, but the majority require a minimum of 6mm. Well known firearms author P.O. Ackley believed that fast 22 caliber cartridges were suitable for medium-large game. Craig Boddington

Craig Boddington

Craig Boddington is a professional hunter, author and Marine.- Biography :Born in Kansas in 1953, as a teenager, when not involved with hunting and shooting, he spent a lot of time pursuing Boy Scout activities. At 17 years of age he became the youngest person to become Activities Director at his...

 has said that such cartridges are suitable for smaller deer. Bullets suited for hunting big-game are available from major manufacturers such as Nosler

Nosler

The name Nosler applies to a number of companies involved in the manufacture of ammunition and handloading components, specializing in high performance hollow point and soft point hunting bullets. Current companies include Nosler, Inc., Nosler Custom, and Nosler Reloading...

 and Barnes.

See also

• 5 mm caliber
  5 mm caliber
  This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the to caliber range.*Length refers to the cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the cartridge.All measurements are in mm .-Rimfire cartridges:...
  
  , other cartridges of 5–6 mm (.200–.236 in) caliber.
• List of rifle cartridges

External links

• Weatherby official site