http://youtu.be/xEaDaAKyzu4

Although I’ve never seen or held one, I’ve always had an affinity for the [now] retro-futuristic, Art Deco looks of the original, 1950’s Whitney Wolverine. It was pretty good looking with the blued finish, but particularly amazing in the relatively rare nickel chrome. For the last decade, Olympic Arms has manufactured a modern remake of the Wolverine that’s pretty faithful to the original design but for one large change; it’s polymer instead of aluminum. Although the gloss of the finishes is lost in the polymer versions, and the feel in the hand is obviously going to be different . . .

it still looks like a fun plinker and has that retro space age ray gun aesthetic. The trigger was significantly nicer than I expected. If the MSRP were $100 lower, I probably would have made an impulse purchase by now. At its $295 MSRP, I’m going to have to take one for a test drive first.

What do y’all think? Is there interest in a review?

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35 COMMENTS

  1. I was an early adopter several years ago, and I still enjoy my “plastic Whitney.” It’s a great little plinker, and quite reliable.

  2. Please, please do a review. I remember seeing ads for this gun in the American Rifleman magazine 50+ years ago and thinking, someday…

    • Even a plinker? I understand the argument RE self defense guns, but personally don’t care at all in a .22 target plinker “toy” like this. Typically those mag disconnect “safeties” are really simple to disable, anyway, if you’re so inclined.

      • Of course they are. I do against my own words own a Hi-Power and it was the 1st thing to go.
        But even for a plinker it might make a mess of the trigger pull. So its just something I personally can do without.

        • Yeah, but just like the grip safety on a 1911 it doesn’t necessarily affect the trigger pull at all. There are many ways of physically implementing the actual functionality of a mag disconnect safety. Obviously I haven’t actually shot this pistol, but I did dry fire all three examples at SHOT Show multiple times, racking the action to feel the reset also, and was really surprised at the quality of the trigger pull and reset considering the plastic look and feel of the gun. From that limited experience, it has a pretty darn good SAO trigger.

  4. I may be the only person on the planet who remembers this, but in the 1960s there was a very serviceable toy gun in the shape of the Wolverine. It was about half size, painted gold, and shot little firm plastic pellets an impressive distance and with enough accuracy to shoot greeting cards off the mantlepiece.

    • It most likely is the company you’re thinking about. I actually asked the owner about quality and future plans and such at SHOT Show and he told me they made a massive mistake in the past. They sold stripped receivers and other, individual parts and allowed 3rd parties to assemble them with whatever other parts they wanted and sell them as “Olympic Arms” rifles. The vast majority of OA rifles on the market — what the customer thought was a rifle made and assembled by OA — were apparently actually just an OA stripped receiver that was spec’d and built out into a complete gun by a retailer and then sold as an OA rifle.

      This practice ended, and OA is working on restoring its reputation in the AR world. I do hope to test out that convertible .308 / 5.56 rifle when it’s ready and, as always, will be totally candid and blunt about functional and physical/aesthetic quality.

      And no, I have no actual way of verifying the statement RE 3rd party creations being sold under the OA name. It’s at least plausible. I do recall a time when OA stripped lowers were among the most popular (at least in volume) on the market.

      • I don’t live that far from Oly Arms, and have seen a lot of their rifles. The reason provided by the sales guy sounds like typically BS that you’d expect from those guys. There were plenty of complete rifles sold by the factory that didn’t work. OA also had a really low end line of ARs in years past that had cast, instead of forged, receivers – they had issues with quality control on those as well.

        OA is also the company that initially poked the bees nest with making AR pistols and were on the receiving end of a lot of angst and hatred about the potential for – wait for it – getting common 5.56 NATO ammo reclassified as armor piercing.

        I wouldn’t turn one down if it was given to me, but they certainly aren’t considered one of the top-tier manufacturers. Probably a notch or two under Bushmaster, and nowhere near Daniel Defense, Wilson, Noveske, etc. in quality.

    • The ones I have work quite nicely. Everyone has likes and dislikes. eg: I hate FORD, you hate CHEVY. YMMV.

      Also, I know several LEOs that swear by them (not at them).

      Interestingly enough, Olympic created several of the formats that are now mainstream. Look up their history.

  7. I saw this in an on-line gun mag, I think, and was interested until I realized they won’t let me buy one here in Ca. I was hoping for a reasonable cost replacement for my (innacurate) Mosquito. At this price point, it is right in with the other pistols in this niche.

  8. Oh good, I get to be the first to point out that he muzzles the camera guy then puts his finger on the trigger then racks the slide (safety checks?) with finger still on trigger.
    I win.

    • Yep, like those gunshows where somebody always shoots a hole in the roof, and everybody dives………

  9. Out of curoisity is this the cheapest good semi auto .22? (no ravens/locrings/jennings etc)

    • Maybe if they can be found at “sale” prices (and they work). You can get into a Ruger 22/45 at like $270. I’m not sure how Chiappa’s replicas hold up but they can be had starting at like $220. Kel-Tec PLR-22 is a bit out there but it comes in around $265 (and, yes, you can find them. KYGunCo has ’em in stock at this price). Beretta Neos also looks futuristic and is a quality piece AFAIK and comes in at $245 and up.

      • I had a Neos… two actually, now that I think about it. But I digress. I also had the Neos carbine conversion kit. That was some really cool space-gun stuff there.

        As for the original question: yes please, do a review. I’ve had the… well, if not “Hots,” at least the “Luke Warms” for a Wolverine for some time now and would like to know if I should pull the proverbial trigger on one.

      • The Walther P-22 and Ruger SR-22 can often be found in the $270 range, as well. Both are nice guns (though the Ruger is hands down the more reliable of the two).

        Then there’s the Taurus PT-22 series, which run around $200. They’re a knockoff of the Beretta 21A Bobcat, and while I probably wouldn’t want to rely on one for self defense or other “serious” uses, they’re good quality plinkers.

        Jeremy, definitely get one of these Wolverines to review. I love me some rimfire guns, and would be eager to hear how it stacks up.

      • +1 for the U22 NEOS. TTAG reviews are always helpful. When I was in the market for one, google brought me over here for the 1st time. I got the 6″ @ Gander on sale for $249.

  10. Jeremy S – “What do y’all think? Is there interest in a review?” I see, you are trying to determine if its worthy enough to dip into your .22lr stash? Can’t blame ya bro.

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