POTD: Whitney Wolverine – The Raygun That Shot .22s
Sam.S 06.24.25
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! This Whitney Wolverine looks like it escaped from a 1950s sci-fi movie set. Built between 1955-1962, this .22 LR pistol shows what happened when American gun designers got drunk on space-age aesthetics during the atomic era. Designer Robert Hillberg created something genuinely weird—a cast aluminum frame that ditched traditional steel construction while keeping the gun from falling apart. The exposed cocking knobs and visible hammer mechanism gave the Wolverine an industrial look that either fascinated shooters or made them run away screaming. The timing made this pistol a cultural artifact. America was obsessed with futuristic design. Tail-finned Cadillacs, atomic-powered concept cars, and now pistols that looked like ray guns. Hillberg later worked on High Standard’s research projects and designed the COP .357 derringer. He was pushing pistol design toward modernist principles that threw familiar forms out the window.
The straight blowback action worked fine. Round bolt housed in the frame’s upper section fed and fired reliably. But the Wolverine’s appearance was too radical for most buyers. Shooters wanted their pistols to look like pistols, not props from “Forbidden Planet.” Production died in 1962 after just seven years. Commercial failure, design landmark. The Wolverine represents a rare moment when American gun manufacturers abandoned traditional looks to chase modernist ideals. Most people hated it. Gun stores couldn’t move them. Customers picked up the Wolverine, turned it over in their hands, and bought a Smith & Wesson instead. The future looked cool in concept, terrible in practice.
Today the Wolverine serves as a time capsule of 1950s optimism about technology and design. A functional reminder of when the future looked sleek, aluminum, and nothing like the guns your grandfather carried. Sometimes being ahead of your time means nobody wants what you’re selling.
“Whitney Firearms Wolverine Rimfire Pistol with Box.” Rock Island Auction Company, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4094/3595/whitney-firearms-wolverine-rimfire-pistol-with-box. Accessed 17 June 2025.
