Has somebody got a picture of it, i have searched the web, but u havent found a picture.

Was it a good cartridge or was it one that should never have been released?

My recollection is that it was the Swift case with the double-radius Weatherby shoulder treatment. Considering that Weatherby chambered only a very few and in later years came out with his .224 Weatherby, it would seem that he didn't consider it much of a success.

Notes: These loads were maximum in a Weatherby rifle with a 26-inch barrel, and a one-in-14-inch twist. Due to its extremely long freebore, these loads may be excessive in other rifles. This data is intended only to indicate the potential performance of the cartridge. Owners of rifles in .220 Rocket are advised to use starting loads shown in various handloading manuals for the .220 Swift and work up only if pressure signs indicate it is safe to do so. This load data was developed in Hornady .220 Swift cases after they had been fireformed to the .220 Rocket. CCI-200 primers were used in all loads with extruded powders and CCI-250 primers were used with Ball and spherical powders.

55 Sierra SP Norma MRP 50.0 4,016
55 Sierra SP Alliant RL-19 48.0 4,007
55 Sierra SP IMR IMR-4350 46.5 3,992
55 Sierra SP Hodgdon H-414 45.0 3,933
55 Sierra SP IMR IMR-4320 43.0 3,887
55 Sierra SP IMR IMR-4064 42.0 3,914
55 Sierra SP Norma N-202 42.0 3,934
50 Hornady SP Norma N-204 46.0 4,217
50 Hornady SP Hodgdon H-414 45.0 4,223
50 Hornady SP IMR IMR-4320 49.0 4,191
50 Hornady SP IMR IMR-4064 43.0 4,175
50 Hornady SP Norma N-202 43.0 4,187
50 Hornady SP IMR IMR-4895 41.0 4,166
45 Speer SP IMR IMR-4064 43.0 4,277
40 Sierra HP IMR IMR-4064 43.5 4,323

Data is from loaddata and is not mine.
Many folks (myself included) that even the 220 Swift was too much of a good thing.

The weatherby also suffered from expensive components in weatherby brass. Also a lot of folks didn't care for the freebore.

The Rocket was a pure wildcat using the 220 Swift brass. The only wildcat WBY ever chambered a rifle for.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i239/ray928/lookalikes001.jpg

Rocket on the right. 220 Swift on left. 220 Arrow & 220 Swift Ackley in middle

Ray

quote:

The Rocket was a pure wildcat using the 220 Swift brass. The only wildcat WBY ever chambered a rifle for.

except for the 338-06?...

fine looks on the cartridge. To bad they didnt use it more.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:except for the 338-06?...

vapo

I didn't know that. Are we talking Weatherby as in Roy or the modern Weatherby?

While on the subject. Is the 338-06 now considered a factory rather than a wildcat cartridge? And all the other Qual-Cart and A Square cartridges?

Ray

My best guess now...Weatherby was first to chamber a production rifle to 338-06....it might have been registered with SAAMI by A-square prior to that....

Weatherby has (as far as I know) always been weatherby...After Roy died his son (I think Ed) took over and then IIRC another son took over.....

But it has always been Weatherby. Even the Vanguards are stamped Weatherby.....so I'm not sure what the distinction is.

That said it's my understanding that Weatherby was first to produce factory rifles for the 338-06....am I wrong here?

vapo

I'm not a big follower of Weatherby and just assumed that they had been eaten up by some big corporation in East Lagushia or Who-Knows-Where. Good to see that at least a couple of firearms manufacturers are still headquartered in the good old U. S. of A.

Ray

quote:

Originally posted by Cheechako:
The Rocket was a pure wildcat using the 220 Swift brass. The only wildcat WBY ever chambered a rifle for.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i239/ray928/lookalikes001.jpg

Rocket on the right. 220 Swift on left. 220 Arrow & 220 Swift Ackley in middle

Ray

Seems to me that ALL of Roy Weatherby's rounds were wildcats in the beginning, before SAAMI approved them as factory rounds and Norma started making the ammo, just as were several other current factory loads such as the .22/250, the .35 Whelen, the .25/'06, the .257 Roberts, etc.

I had almost forgotten that I still have a .220 rocket. The biggest improvement over the swift was you didn't get near as much case stretching with the rocket.

Stonecreek: I don't think the 220Wby had a double radius shoulder but the 224 Wby.did. I think they we all made on FN actions and were not made after he moved to the big store on Firerstone Blvd in So.Gate, California, I could be wrong.