anyone ever owned a nagant m1895?

[danger barch]

I think these are neat looking pistols and I have a thing for historical firearms.
has anyone ever owned one and if so, what did you think?

 

[Quiet]

I have one.
Best $75 I spent.

 

[oklahoma caveman]

owned 1 for a while. its a neat gun, with a history. is the only mass produced revolver i know of that can be silenced. but the ammo is high for it, and it really had no practical purpose for me, but for a collector its a neat gun, and hey for $80 you cant go wrong

 

[danger barch]

thanx guys, the thing I think is neat on it is that cylinder gate .

 

[jonnyc]

I have one, kind of neat, expensive to shoot, sits a lot.

 

[Mooseman]

I have one, cool as a curiosity. If you have money for the ammo it's a great way to strengthen your trigger finger.

 

[Jim K]

The reciprocating cylinder is supposed to do wonders by eliminating (with the proper ammo) the barrel/cylinder gap. Actually, it only adds some 50 fps bullet velocity, not really worth the extra mechanism.

I agree they are more for the collector and those interested in gun design than for someone interested in target shooting or self defense.

Jim

 

[Ruodo]

I almost bought one for $100 a week or two ago but there was just something funky about the one I handled. I would pick one up at first sight if I found one that I trusted.

 

[mcdonl]

I shoot .32 S&W Long's (S&B Wad Cutters....) $20 a box of 50, 'bout the same as my .38 Specials....

Leroy

 

[makarovnik]

Yeah. They are OK, I use .32hr magnums.

Kind of slow to load/unload but inexpensive and serviceable.

 

[zt77]

if you like 20# trigger pulls lol
the DA trigger is too heavy for my gauge to even measure.

they are accurate though, somewhere i know there are .32 acp cylinders, aftermarket, for them.

 

[ComradeBurg]

I own one and personally I love it. It's certainly a unique design and is the only revolver as far as I know that can use a silencer (when using 7.62 Nagant ammunition). It's a fun little plinker. The only downside is the price and quality of ammunition available for it. I'm still looking into what it will take to reload something that will fit into it though.

 

[Snowdog]

They're fun, sure. I love plinking with mine, especially with the Russian target ammunition SOG sold a while back. I suspect the energy is less than that of a .32acp, but it doesn't take much to punch through paper sitting a few yards away.

A buddy of mine purchased a "target" model that featured a longer bull barrel and horrendously large grips (but he's a troll with troll hands, so he can manage) also purchased from SOG a couple years ago.
His model is SAO and features a far lighter, crisper trigger pull that has printed a few sub-2", 25 yards groups for him.

 

[Anna's Dad]

FWIW: I've seen .32 ACP replacements cylinders for them. Would certainly pay for itself in ammo cost.

Of course, that was back in the glory days when you could actually find ammo in stock.

 

[rondog]

There's a video out there of a guy here in Colorado shooting his supressed Nagant revolver, seems to work very well. But I can't find it now, of course.

 

[WardenWolf]

Yeah, they do make .32 ACP cylinders for them. And some people put .32 H&R Magnums in the standard cylinder (which I've been told are around the same pressure as the original military load), along with .32 Longs and Shorts. However, depending on the individual Nagant, the rims may not be large enough to prevent the cartridges from falling through. Moon clips may work, though.

Everything I've heard about the Nagants say they're accurate, and the proper military loading is powerful enough. New factory Nagant ammo, though, is underpowered. The trigger is bad due to the long, heavy pull needed for the cylinder's movement.

 

[Ranb]

I bought one a while back. The trigger pull is awful, especially when used double action. The front sight is staked in so hard that when I tried to adjust it, the barrel unscrewed. It is not very accurate, 4 inch groups at 25 yards. The Fiocchi ammo is slow, only about 700 fps. The Lee die set sold for it is poorly made, the expander is rough and too short causing the case to bulge when the bullet is seated, the seater needs a spacer inserted so that it will seat the bullet below the case mouth properly and it does not crimp the mouth enough to ensure reliable functioning as the case mouth as to enter the barrel to get the hammer cocked.

On the good side, the Fiocchi ammo has a stdev of only 5 fps, it is the most consistent factory ammo I have ever seen. I was able to make a new longer expander and modify the seating die so the reloaded brass chambers properly. I used a dremel tool to widen the slot in the shell holder to hold the brass. I bought a Lee 30 carbine factory sizer die to crimp the case mouth properly. The barrel was easily removed so I could turn it down and machine threads onto the muzzle to mount a silencer.

I cast 93 grain RN bullets and use 3 grains of bullseye to get about 1000 fps. If you are carefull, the brass will last several reloadings. When reloading, it is no more expensive than any other pistol to shoot.

This thread, http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=407289&highlight=1895+nagant shows some more reloading info and a drawing of the silencer I will make for it. So far it is a fun project.

Ranb