This one has been on my "grail" list for some time, and just recently I came across one. Only 13,371 of these pistols were ever made, so they are scarce.
The Whitney Wolverine was the brainchild of Robert Hillberg, who was involved with aluminum castings while working with aircraft guns on the P-47 fighter aircraft. After the war, he was a research engineer for High Standard. The company he formed, Whitney Firearms, Inc., in New Haven CT was named for pioneer gun manufacturer Eli Whitney, and the gun to be produced was named the Wolverine simply because the University of Michigan's football team was Hillberg's favorite.
The gun was manufactured starting in 1956. The frame and what would normally be a slide was cast of aluminum in one piece. The actual slide reciprocated inside the upper frame, and housed the barrel and breechblock. The whole gun weighed only 23 ounces and sold for $39.95 in blue and $44.95 nickeled. Nickeled ones are very rare; 500 were reported to have been produced. A contract dispute with Galef & Son over marketing rights proved the undoing of the company. Also, Lyman Gun Sight Co. had the copyright for the name "Wolverine" and Hillberg quit using the name after a while, entering into a gentlemen's agreement with Lyman with a handshake. It was then simply called the "Whitney pistol." This example has the earlier Wolverine name on the side of the pistol and was made in May, 1956. The whole enterprise went belly up in 1958, although the remaining stock was sold through 1962. The competing Ruger pistols forged ahead, and you know the rest of that story.
The gun had a grip angle similar to the famed Luger pistol, and was very ergonomic. Another set of features from the Luger were the retracting knobs at the rear of the pistol - very similar indeed to the Luger's. The magazine held 10 rounds and was unusual in that it did not have a follower knob. Instead, the follower had a hole in it to insert an empty .22 shell to assist in drawing down the follower. The safety was pressed down to engage, quite different from the norm. Sadly, it had no hold-open device, but when the shrouded hammer was down it interfered with the sight picture to indicate visually that one was either not ready to fire or out of ammo. It pointed naturally, had a nice trigger pull, and was quite accurate. It has a magazine disconnect safety.
I just disassembled mine today, and when doing so, a profusion of small parts seem to separate from the pistol quite naturally. It came apart easily, but re-assembly involved a lot of head-scratching and the use of some words not normally employed in polite company. There are only three screws used on the gun, two for the grips and one for the sideplate. Most parts are held in by other parts, kind of like the Mauser broomhandle. In short, it's a nightmare, best done within a pillow case or a box to keep things tidy.
Olympic Arms is now manufacturing a look-alike to the Whitney, using a plastic frame. It's similar, but not quite the same, and has a ventilated rib. The jury is out on its quality - I have not had the opportunity to fire one, but reports vary on it.
Today, the original Whitney is well-regarded for its futuristic design and novel manufacturing techniques - it was ahead of its time. I thought you might like to see what it looks like. This "grail" gun has come home to roost now.
John
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