The .224 Weatherby Magnum is one great cartridge for
long range varmint hunting. Anyone that has used another
Weatherby rifle will be an fan of the .224 Weatherby Magnum as it is
a real magnum and the only commonly available varmint cartridge with
a belted case design – a design usually reserved for larger
cartridges. This is a proprietary cartridge with performance similar
to the .22-250 Remington. The .224 Weatherby is for sure an
excellent choice for the varmint hunter that prefers using Weatherby
rifles.
From .224 Weatherby Magnum. (2008, December 29). In Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:23, March 7. 2009. from
en.wikipedia.org/
"The .224 Weatherby Magnum was developed in 1963 by Roy Weatherby
after about 10 years of development. It is a proprietary cartridge
cartridge with no major firearms manufacturers chambering rifles for
it other than Weatherby.
The cartridge design began years earlier but its introduction was
delayed, at least in part, because of the unavailabilitiy of a
suitable action. 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 is similar to the popular .22-250 and the lesser used
.225 Winchester putting it in between the .220 Swift and .223
Remington 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.
.22 caliber rifles are legal in some areas for big game up to the
size of deer or larger. However, this cartridge is better suited to
long-range varminting."
