The Whitney Wolverine is a semi-automatic
.22 LR caliber
pistol
A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...
created in 1956. Notable for its advanced, "space-aged" looks and then-new
aluminum
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
construction, it has a 10-round magazine, a barrel long and a weight of only .
History
The Wolverine was engineered by
Robert Hillberg
Robert Hillberg (August 27, 1917 – August 12, 2012) was a firearm designer and the head of Research & Development at the High Standard Manufacturing Company. His designs included the folding shotgun stock, the Whitney Wolverine lightweight pisto ...
, who learned about aluminum casting during WWII while working with aircraft guns and later became research engineer for
High Standard Manufacturing Company
High Standard Firearms was an American manufacturer of firearms, based in Houston, Texas. The company was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1926 as a supplier to the numerous firearms companies in the Connecticut Valley. It was based in New ...
.
Only 13,371 of these .22 semi automatic pistols were made in its short period of production between 1956 and 1958.
There were approximately 500 nickel-plated according to company records, the rest finished in varying shades of anodized blue. The plastic grips came in either a black, dark brown or white; the white grips are found mostly on the nickel-plated models.
Investment casting
Investment casting is an industrial process based on lost-wax casting, one of the oldest known metal-forming techniques. The term "lost-wax casting" can also refer to modern investment casting processes.
Investment casting has been used in vari ...
of the frame by
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...
was a new idea for the gun industry at the time; now it is widely used by almost every major gun manufacturer.
Its name, ''Wolverine'', was after Hillberg's favorite football team, the
University of Michigan Wolverines. The ''Whitney'' name was used because the factory was located near the old
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South.
Whitney's ...
factory site. A victim of extremely poor marketing in the beginning, financial problems and then being under priced by $2.00 by both Ruger and Colt with their new semi-automatics .22, the company was doomed.
The original retail price was $39.95 blue and $44.95 nickel-plated (equivalent to $ and $ now).
[
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Revival attempts
Two companies have attempted to revive the Wolverine model originally design by Whitney, with one of them having succeeded.
Olympic Arms manufactured and sold a version with a polymer frame, instead of aluminum.
References
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External links
''Rock Island Auction''
Whitney Wolverine
''Forgotten Weapons''
Manual
Whitney pistol`s patent US 3060810
Semi-automatic pistols
Semi-automatic pistols of the United States
.22 LR pistols
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1956