Whitney Wolverine

The Whitney Wolverine was an American semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge and created in 1956. It was notable for its futuristic, space-age appearance and for its then-new aluminum frame, which was formed by investment casting, a technique that the gun industry later adopted very widely. The pistol has a ten-round magazine, a 4.625 inch barrel, and weighs only 23 ounces. It was engineered by Robert Hillberg, who had learned about aluminum casting during the Second World War while working on aircraft guns. Production was short, with 13,371 pistols made between 1956 and 1958, and most were finished in anodized blue, with a few hundred nickel-plated. Poor marketing, financial trouble and competing .22 pistols from Ruger and Colt sold at a lower price doomed the maker. Later attempts to revive the design included a polymer-framed version by Olympic Arms, which stopped production by 2017. It is a civilian sporting pistol rather than an issued military arm, and is included here as a small arm of its era.