Whitney Wolverine

[Ramandeep]

The other day while surfing through web I came across an interesting pistol made in the 50s or precisely I would say had a short run of production between 1956-58 and around 13000 were made, around 900 made in nickel finish and rest in blued. It was made in all aluminium frame and was in .22lr with 10 round magazine capacity and instead of a short recoil action as more in pistol it had a simple blow back action. What caught my attention with this particular pistol was it's design which straight away looks a prop gun from a sci-fi flick and that is how it was marketed back in the day. The company got bankrupt with fierce competition from the likes of Ruger and Colt and ceased production but as of 2004 it has been brought back to life by Olympic arms but not in an aluminium frame but a polymer one. The pistol looks also similar to Beretta U22 neos in some way may be they(beretta) were inspired by whitney wolverine. Nevertheless I really found this an interesting weapon hope my fellow members might find it interesting too, I am posting some pics and the youtube link of it's review.

[marksman_dd]

looks like FLASH Gorden's laser pistol

[TC]

Ramandeep,
Nice find. The Wolverine was a unique pistol and in many ways quite ahead of its time in terms of design and concept.
The .22 pistol developed through three (or probably four prototypes) if I correctly remember a long and well-researched article in American Rifleman in the mid 80s.
Its a pity the pistol died an early death


TC

[ckkalyan]

Very interesting, cool, futuristic pistol Ramandeep thanks for sharing! Still looks amazingly futuristic in 2015!

[nagarifle]

wonderful find mate, keep em coming, now where can i get hold on one?lol

[ckkalyan]

The Whitney Wolverine has a new lease of life - a company called Olympic Arms makes them nagarifle.

http://www.olyarms.com/shop/pistols/pis ... itney.html

Revival of the 1950s pistol by Robert L Hillberg. Now with a polymer frame and ventilated rib. The magazine shell is all metal for strength and durability. All mechanical parts are contained inside the frame shell and are easily disassembled without tools. Lightweight and fun to use. Points naturally for most shooters.

Whitney Wolverine specifications:

• 4.625" barrel
  6-groove, 1x16 twist rate
  Uses .22 Long Rifle
  5.25" sight radius
  Blade type front sight
  Dovetail rear sight
  10 round magazine capacity
  Black checkered grips
  Length: 9"
  Height: 5.5"
  Empty weight: 19.2 oz.

[Sakobav]

It was recommended to me by earlier member Mehul Baba a pretty futuristic design..

[ckkalyan]

It was recommended to me by earlier member Mehul Baba a pretty futuristic design..

It is a pretty good buy around the $300 mark, even if it is just for the wow and fantasy factor huh, ngrewal

[Ramandeep]

It is a pretty good buy around the $300 mark

If it's for 300$ now in overseas then I would definitely say it would be a good buy, even in the fifties it was not overpriced (40-45$) but surprisingly it had few takers in the era where design of future was the name of the game. Throughout the 50s i guess everything that was made was not just a functional box of wood and metal that is very evident in the stuff that in 50s be it home appliances, cars(the ever growing large tail fins) etc..
I feel by design Whitney Wolverine was very much a 50s thing, would have been interesting if the manufacturer stayed a bit more long in business and had designed a bigger gun say a rifle that would have been something to see.

[ronj]

Looks a lot like a Beretta U22 Neos, It is a very nice Gun. Thank you for sharing.