In the years immediately following World War II, there was a great deal of developmental effort in the field of handguns. This included radical revolver makeovers, but even more with the semi-autos. Here, we saw a great deal of action or lockwork improvements, but also upgrades in style or appearance changes. In plain terms, the automatic pistol began to take on a new sleek and modernistic look. No pistol I can think of was any more modernistic than the Whitney Wolverine. This .22 plinker was an effort to build an inexpensive rimfire for light varminting or informal fun shooting. While it did not become a perennial favorite and saw only some 14,000 units sold in the 1950s, the Wolverine had features that caught the eye of none other than legendary handgunner Rex Applegate.
July 13, 2012
