I picked up this great condition original Whitney Wolverine last week on Gunbroker. I had been wanting one of these for several years and now I can finally scratch it off my list. 
The Whitney Wolverine is straight out of the 1950's "space and rocket ship" age. The pistol was designed by Robert Hillberg and named after his favorite collage football team. They were built for only a brief time between 1956 and 1958. During that short span, the company did manage to produce a little over 13,000 pistols. Likewise, they certainly aren't as scarce as some of my other rare handguns. Having said that, many of them are no longer in existence or in pretty rough shape. Of the 13,000 pistols produced, most of them were black with brown plastic grips, like this one. Less than 1000 of them were a nickel finish with white plastic grips, so those are hard to find and usually command a premium over a black model in similar condition. The gun itself is built mostly out of cast aluminum, including the frame and the upper (not a slide). The bolt, hammer, barrel, and some other small parts are steel. The amount of aluminum used in the manufacture of the Wolverine makes it very light. The gun is as large as a full size service pistol, but weighs only 23oz. In fact, it weighs a half ounce less than my Glock 19, even though the Glock has a polymer frame and is smaller in size.
The outward design of the Wolverine is straight out of the era in which it was built and was obviously styled to have a very futuristic appearance. The appearance of the gun is what always made it interesting to me. As different as the pistol looks, it feels great in hand. The ergonomics are outstanding and it points very naturally for me. Though I haven't shot this one yet, they are supposed to be good shooters, though not quite in the class of the target rimfires of the day from Colt, Smith & Wesson, or High Standard. I find that the trigger breaks cleanly with very little creep. The rear sight is merely curved sheet metal, but gives a decent sight picture in conjuncture with the aluminum front sight.
This particular example was built during the first year of production (1956) and would rate at a solid 95% condition, with only minor wear and handling marks gathered over the past 60 years. The plastic grips are nearly flawless.
The Wolverine is back in production today by Olympic Arms. However, all the parts that were previously aluminum are now polymer. This means the gun is almost completely covered in plastic with an ugly vented rib on top sporting an equally hideous adjustable rear sight. They retail for about $300 new, but I don't know why anyone would buy it. All the graceful lines of the original are lost in the new version and they aren't supposed to be particularly good shooters. :ack:
At any rate, I thought you would like to see some pictures of a very nice original Whitney Wolverine. Does anyone have one? Anybody have the new version?
Please enjoy the pics and share your thoughts.
Thanks! :supergrin:
The Whitney Wolverine is straight out of the 1950's "space and rocket ship" age. The pistol was designed by Robert Hillberg and named after his favorite collage football team. They were built for only a brief time between 1956 and 1958. During that short span, the company did manage to produce a little over 13,000 pistols. Likewise, they certainly aren't as scarce as some of my other rare handguns. Having said that, many of them are no longer in existence or in pretty rough shape. Of the 13,000 pistols produced, most of them were black with brown plastic grips, like this one. Less than 1000 of them were a nickel finish with white plastic grips, so those are hard to find and usually command a premium over a black model in similar condition. The gun itself is built mostly out of cast aluminum, including the frame and the upper (not a slide). The bolt, hammer, barrel, and some other small parts are steel. The amount of aluminum used in the manufacture of the Wolverine makes it very light. The gun is as large as a full size service pistol, but weighs only 23oz. In fact, it weighs a half ounce less than my Glock 19, even though the Glock has a polymer frame and is smaller in size.
The outward design of the Wolverine is straight out of the era in which it was built and was obviously styled to have a very futuristic appearance. The appearance of the gun is what always made it interesting to me. As different as the pistol looks, it feels great in hand. The ergonomics are outstanding and it points very naturally for me. Though I haven't shot this one yet, they are supposed to be good shooters, though not quite in the class of the target rimfires of the day from Colt, Smith & Wesson, or High Standard. I find that the trigger breaks cleanly with very little creep. The rear sight is merely curved sheet metal, but gives a decent sight picture in conjuncture with the aluminum front sight.
This particular example was built during the first year of production (1956) and would rate at a solid 95% condition, with only minor wear and handling marks gathered over the past 60 years. The plastic grips are nearly flawless.
The Wolverine is back in production today by Olympic Arms. However, all the parts that were previously aluminum are now polymer. This means the gun is almost completely covered in plastic with an ugly vented rib on top sporting an equally hideous adjustable rear sight. They retail for about $300 new, but I don't know why anyone would buy it. All the graceful lines of the original are lost in the new version and they aren't supposed to be particularly good shooters. :ack:
At any rate, I thought you would like to see some pictures of a very nice original Whitney Wolverine. Does anyone have one? Anybody have the new version?
Please enjoy the pics and share your thoughts.
Thanks! :supergrin:
