I watched an interesting Joe Mantegna "Gun Stories" episode about the Whitney Wolverine .22 pistol. It was created by iconic firearms designer Robert Hillberg, and only manufactured by Whitney Firearms, Inc. in 1956-1957 (approx. 13,300 pistols). Aluminum frame with either blued or nickel finish. Apparently stiff competition from Colt and Ruger .22s forced them out of business. Olympic Arms tried to reintroduce a polymer version of the Wolverine in 2002, but they also ended up going out of business (2017). BTW- I happen to still own and shoot a modified Olympic Arms PCR-00 (AR15A2, ca. 2000). It's a great carbine, very accurate and dependable- not sure why Oly Arms went OOB. Anyway, I was curious if any Forum members own or have shot a Wolverine? Interesting and rare space age pistol!

Short answer is that I don't own one, but I have wanted one for a long time. Unfortunately by the time I got on my rimfire kick they had already increased to a price level I haven't yet been willing to pay.

I still occasionally look at/for them but still haven't been willing to ante up. Part of my issue is that I have a squirrel type attention span on my firearm interests and am easily distracted.

They have that sort of "Ray Gun" appearance. I remember seeing lots of ads for them in various sporting magazines. I saw a few at gun shows over the years, also saw several Olympics, but I do not remember much about them.

Got to have a picture! They are "cool" looking I would like to have one

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Still Running Against the Wind

I do have one. I got it about 15 years ago at a gun show for about $300. I too remember seeing them advertised when I was a kid, and always thought they looked very interesting. When I saw it at an acceptable price I could not pass it up.
It is fun to shoot, only weighs about 24 oz. The only issues I have with it are the slide does not lock open when empty, and mags are ( if you can find) very pricey .

I’ve seen one new in box back in a Pennsylvania gun shop in the late 70’s!

Picked mine up many years ago. Great little shooters.

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Remain Viable

They are wonderful, fun little guns. The design is simplicity in motion and when you take one apart you have one of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments. Not target pistols by any means, but perfect plinkers. I had an original and the Olympic Arms version which was kind of a let down,, but only because I was comparing it to the original. I had wanted one as a kid and in the 70s I had one of those cheap plastic toy guns that shot the vinyl yellow pellets that you had to pull apart from each other before you shot them. It looked just like the Wolverine and I played with it for years.

I remember seeing them advertised in the Herter's catalog around 60 years ago! The ad made me want one big time. By the time I bought my first .22 pistol about 7 years later, they were gone. I ended up with a new Ruger MK I target model with bull barrel. It was a better pistol for my purposes.

I’ve got a blued one, makes a great pair up with my Nylon 66.

Wish they’d make them again.

For those who really dig the look of the Whitney Wolverine, Beretta makes a .22 Pistol with a similar look called the Beretta U22 Neos.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Yes, the Neos also has that "ray gun" look to it. The grip frame is available with different color insets.

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SWCA #590
"Colligo ergo sum"

Have one and looks kinda spacey also...that long rail on top helps, although its a pretty hard trigger pull...like a double action revolver, but still fun to shoot
Squirls b Crazy

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Guy Godios
VVA chapter 77

I had one. It didn't really impress me other than the novelty of having it.

Another .22 pistol of that same period (early-mid 50s) I associate with the Whitney is the Sheridan Knockabout single shot. It initially sold for $18 by mail order, very simple construction, almost like a zip gun, and it was intended for use by fishermen, campers, hikers, etc. Another gun that I remember being advertised heavily in outdoors-type magazines. Like the Whitney, I have seen a few of them at gun shows over the years, but not recently. If one had very modest needs for an inexpensive single shot .22 pistol, the Knockabout would fill the bill even today. But not for SD use.

I had an Olympic Arms version. Jammamatic. Sold it on GB for double what I paid for it (after owning it for about ten years).

IN 1967 I bought a used '55 ford and when I was cleaning out the dirt, I found a Whitney Wolverine under the back seat. I don't remember where or why I sold it.
SWCA 892

I saw a nice looking one in the used gun cabinet at Gat Guns, Carpentersville, IL a few months ago. Looks even better in person than it does in the photos. I see there are also a few on GB...

There's one in blue at my LGS.

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SWCA #2817

As a teenager when they came out and hit the gun magazines, I was attracted to them because of the "ray gun" appearance. I bought a used one ANIB in the 1970s and still have it. It has appreciated substantially. I have two extra factory magazines for it.

I spent my money on a new Ruger Mark 1 5.25-inch barrel target pistol instead of the Whitney (I liked that it looked like a Luger), and it has proved to be better investment. The 5.25-inch Mark I "small number" pistols are scarce collectors' items.

Love them both.

While it sort of had a Luger's appearance, Bill Ruger was inspired by the Japanese Nambu design. A closer resemblance to the Luger was the .22 Stoeger Luger.

The Whitney Wolverine is a grail gun for many today. I have one, vintage of May, 1956. The reason for their going out of business is complex, the center of which was an iron-clad contract with Galef and Son which gave Galef the rights to both marketing and price. The details can be found in my book "101 Classic Firearms."

Here is a pic of the one I own, still in pristine condition.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Here's mine that I have had for 35 years or so. I've shot it sparingly. They are not exactly rugged and parts are not easily available. I love the look.

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Actually it was more than a resemblance. If my memory serves me right, Stoeger held the trademark rights to the name "Luger" in the United States.

Allegedly they did. While the external appearance was strongly suggestive of the original P08, there the similarity ends. I owned a Stoeger Luger for many years, and I can't say much bad about it. In fact I even used mine in competition for awhile.

I had one of the target models with adjustable sights. Unfortunately it was one of the guns that went when I lost my job back in 2009.

I once saw one of them with an adjustable rear sight, but mine did not. Fortunately, the sights on mine were fixed and pretty much dead on at 50 feet.

Actually as expected they whitewashed the true story about the demise of the Company. In reality the owner did not have enough money to advertise his new pistol so he signed a totally ridiculous contract that gave exclusive rights to market it with Galif. Galif found a cheaper foreign pistol to import and then refused to buy anymore Wolverine pistols which forced the Wolverine company out of business.

As far as your questions the only thing the Whitney had going for it was its exotic space age looks.

The pistols I have shot were not totally reliable with any ammo which refutes the claim that it would have taken a large share of the market from Ruger who did produce a reliable .22 rimfire pistol.

The Whitney also did not have the worlds greatest trigger either but to be fair neither did the Ruger for many years until they improved it somewhat recently.

Also unlike Ruger the Whitney was never noted for outstanding accuracy either.

Having said all that if someone could make the pistol today and make it as reliable as the Ruger and make it with a competitive price I think that there would still be a market for it even today. I might even buy one.

Also there was an attempt to resurrect it but to appease the blind greed of the stock holders they made it with a disgusting cheap plasticky frame and hideous vent rib which went over with collectors like a lead balloon. No one wanted one of those. If they had reproduced the original and made it reliable I think it might still be in production today.

A nickeled one that sold at auction several years ago: Scarce Nickel Plated Whitney Wolverine Semi-Automatic Pistol | Rock Island Auction

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SWCA #590
"Colligo ergo sum"