View Single Post
Unread 11-20-2018, 06:22 PM   #10
ithacaartist
Twice a Lifer
Lifetime Forum
Patron
 
ithacaartist's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atop the highest hill in Schuyler County NY
Posts: 3,374
Thanks: 7,447
Thanked 2,613 Times in 1,380 Posts
Default

Here are some pics from the auction house for what is the younger of the two. These were usually anodized dark grey over a matte surface, with a gloss black epoxy paint applied to the cylindrical portion on top. This one has some finish loss near the muzzle, and some small scratches and dings elsewhere. There's a bit of damage to the front toe of the mag bottom, but other than that, it's in very good condition.

It's obvious from the pics that I needed to score the proper parts to complete the gun mechanically. The last original company went belly up just after 1960, and one of the reasons my friend was able to buy his so reasonably is that at the time of his purchase, the previous owner hadn't been able to replace one--or maybe more-- of the small parts (discussed below). My friend checked with Olympic Arms and completed/restored it to function.

Having this info under my belt, I did a search for Wolverine parts before I bid and came up with a page, ostensibly from the Olympic Arms website, which had everything listed--a schematic, parts list, a "shopping cart," etc. After I won, I waited until the pistol arrived to find out what it needed.

Here comes the fun part. Clicking on the "view cart" link resulted in an error page that announced the domain for sale. My pants immediately turned brown at the point I found out that Olympic Arms had pulled in its horns around two years ago and wasn't in business any more, either!

I returned to the search engine to find other sources, if any, to get what I needed. None of the usual suspects listed them, other than Triple-K, which still sells mage for them. A page or two in, I noticed that there was a apparently an Olympic page on Facebook. I went there and discovered it had only a few posts...but the latest one was from end of summer last year, which was after they closed, so...

I sent a message asking if parts were available and got no response, even after a few more days. I did notice, however, that my message had been "seen" by the recipient about a minute after I'd sent it: a glimmer of hope! My next message received a response which included an 800 number!

My selection cost almost $200. Added to the similar expense of the auction lot itself, I'm into it just South of $400 total (neglecting my labor, of course). What remains of the Olympic Arms enterprise still has parts for sale, but although I didn't strike out on any of the ones in my order, I suspect that the major components are probably what's in short supply. The helpful aspect was that the originals and the newer Olympic's composite versions use the same internals, with a few exceptions that turned out to be unimportant.

The one from my friend, #35418, was accompanied by a plastic parts box with everything for a complete barrel and slide assembly, so I have a complete upper works as a spare. I consider the $300 he asked for his to be a very good price.

What research/reading I've done so far leads me to believe that they potentially share mag sensitivity with a lot of other .22 semi-autos, but aren't all that fussy about ammo as long as high velocity rounds are used, such as Mini-Mags. Test firing revealed both of them to exhibit a strange behavior. In mostly the first portion of a full mag, they will drop the hammer--but no ignition. Re-cocking the hammer for another go gets no better results. What gets it going again is to re-c0ck, then pull back about 3/8" on the action, which seems to re-set something; then they will fire. It's still possible to do Ron"s "vibrating finger" routine for the last part of a mag. I may fiddle with the feed lips to see if things will improve.

These originally retailed for $39.95, and the distributor contracted to pay the maker $16 each for them. I've been watching them on Proxibid for several years, and they seem to realize hammer prices in the $600 range for the basic originals. A nickel plated version only 500 ever made, was also offered originally, and these tend to have auction starting bids of $1k or more. Other versions were completely polished vs. the matte areas on most. One should be able to score a plastic one for near its former retail of ~$300.

Their manufacture is a long, convoluted tale involving sale of the company by the original owner/designer, a slight company name change, a shift from Alcoa to another firm for the cast frames, a change of alloy used, and a move of facilities from New Haven to Hartford. Use of the name Wolverine was contested by Lyman, which had already marketed a series of scopes under the same moniker. "Wolverine" appears only on some early examples, from before that waste hit the rotating blades.

What prompted the first sale of the company was the contract with the distributor, which demanded continued exclusive sales/distribution rights despite the distributor's failure to purchase the contracted 10k units per year. Whitney's second owners tried mail order sales, but although this might have worked, this was halted by the distributor with a lawsuit--which was the beginning of the first end. The maker should have had better lawyers.

Olympic inherited a raft of original parts with their purchase of the mfg. rights. I'm not clear why they went under.

I've also included a schematic to show just how many tiny parts they use--about 50 of 'em, even worse than a Luger!. The barrel key and the firing pin lock are quite small, as well as indispensable for assembly/function--thus easily lost/misplaced during field stripping for cleaning, which is not very different for a complete detail stripping. One reason they give problems is because they become filthy due to an owner's understandable avoidance of thorough cleaning. Cleaning and lubrication generally restores them to function if them become cranky if all else is proper and intact. The pistol is cleverly designed despite this, with adequate fit and finish.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	10451.jpg
Views:	92
Size:	43.1 KB
ID:	74767  

Click image for larger version

Name:	10451-1.jpg
Views:	94
Size:	48.3 KB
ID:	74768  

Click image for larger version

Name:	10451-2.jpg
Views:	112
Size:	44.9 KB
ID:	74769  

Click image for larger version

Name:	10451-5.jpg
Views:	91
Size:	25.4 KB
ID:	74770  

Click image for larger version

Name:	Whitney-Parts-View---Exploded-2.jpg
Views:	92
Size:	106.8 KB
ID:	74771  

__________________
"... Liberty is the seed and soil, the air and light, the dew and rain of progress, love and joy."-- Robert Greene Ingersoll 1894
ithacaartist is offline   Reply With Quote
The following 6 members says Thank You to ithacaartist for your post: