I ran across this thread while searching for information about .220 Swift based wildcats and would like to add some information if anyone is still interested.
Allen the modified .220 Swift cases/cartridges and the bench rest gun marked .219 DW was probably a .219 that was modified to what is sometimes referred to as a .220 Donaldson Ace. I have several of Harvey Donaldson's articles and his book "Yours Truly" and cannot find any evidence that this was something he developed, although he did a lot of experimentation so it is possible. CH4D does have loading and forming dies for this cartridge and they are the only ones that list it. I have a print from them showing a shortened .220 Swift case with 32 degree shoulders. The case length from head to shoulder is 1.363" which is the same as the Wasp, however the Swift case is 0.022" larger diameter so there is an increase of around 16 to 17% case capacity.
The .25 or .250 Donaldson Ace was a cartridge Donaldson developed in the early 50s. It is a .25 Cal based on the .250-3000 Savage case. Sam Clark Jr. set a 300 yard world record with this cartridge in 1954.
The .224 Donaldson Ace was Donaldson's last effort. It was based on the .225 Winchester. It was shortened to 1.375 from head to shoulder so was bit larger than the .219 Wasp and gave excellent accuracy with 3,700 fps with 30 gr. IMR 4064. The overall diameter of the case was very slightly more than the Wasp but the head to shoulder and smaller head thickness gave it about 10% more case capacity. This is in comparison to the original length Wasp at 1.75" not the later longer 1.813" case.
There was a full writeup on the .224 DA in the Nov/Dec. 1972 Rifle magazine which I have a copy. Sadly, Donaldson passed away in Nov of that year and apparently along with him any promotion of the cartridge went with him as you hardly see any information about this cartridge.
Dan
Last edited by mddan; 05/12/14.
