1895 Nagant Revolver Club

[tinygnat219]

It's time that the fans of this underpowered, mechanically complex, tough as a tank revolver stood up and said: "Yes, I too own an 1895 Nagant Revolver, and I am not afraid to say so!"

I own four. 1 Soldiers SA, 1932 Tula, the rest are DA Revolvers all from Tula 1932, 1933, and 1945.

I had an Izzy at one time, but sold it.

Who else has one?

 

[bill larry]

I did, a 1944 Tula. I loved the gun, and will have to buy another. It was awfully accurate with .32 Long!

 

[Cosmoline]

I love the old Ivan. It looks like something out of Jules Verne novel, but keeps on trucking. I think they're highly underrated. What other firearm can chamber five different cartridges or more? The Finns snatched them up whenever they could find them, and they have a surprising reputation for lethality in the east. Vladimir Nabokov's wife carried one in her purse. He called it "the black stone of seven deaths."

Here's a short video of some rapid aimed fire with my '37. The sound lags a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvP9CRthdWM

 

[Thirties]

Contented owner of a 1940 Tula. Cute lil' red squirrel you got there.

 

[Mr White]

My name is Mr White and I'm a Nagant owner.

1944 Tula.

So what all ammo can I shoot in this gun, because I sure can't afford to shoot 7.62 Nagant too often!

 

[bill larry]

.32 Smith and Wesson Long, and .32 H&R Magnum are okay in the original cylinder. You can buy a .32 ACP cylinder for it and use that.

 

[Mr White]

Thanks, Bill Larry. Do you know where I can get one of those .32 acp cylinders?

 

[MikeG]

1899 Tula

 

[bill larry]

Mr White,

I believe some one else could probably chime in and give you a dealer web address, I really have no idea other than that they are available (probably in the 70-80 dollar range), made in Korea, and will probably require some fitting on your end to make it work properly. When I had my Nagant, I thought about going this route, but after buying some .32 Long and running it through the gun, I decided to leave it as is.

Btw, the .32 Long is very soft shooting in the Nagant, feels like a .22, and it always made me smile...I could almost see the rounds farting their merry way downrange at that whopping 650fps.

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

Had a 1921 something of other but gave it to my son-in-law. I have been thinking of getting another.

 

[Stainz]

The 1895 Nagant's round, actually a 7.62x38r, is tapered - a la the M1 Carbine round - not straight walled like the .32 S&WL & H&RM. Those rounds wobble around when chambered and will bulge to the point of being useless afterwards. They are smaller than the chamber near the rim - not a good thing.

The softer S&WL's may also split, as a third or more of the Magtech's I've shot did. Those 98gr LRN made a whopping 616 +/- 20 fps average from my original '41T & '44I versions. The yellow boxed Russian target ammo made 591 +/- 7 fps. Fiocchi's version made 674 +/-6 fps. I would buy as much of the last two ammo's as possible - try S.O.G., InterOrdnance, etc, for ammo and guns. The last two ammo's also permit the near zero b/c gap emissions, as designed, where the .32 straight walled case - including those .32ACP's in the needs to be fitted aftermarket cylinder - won't - ALWAYS wear good eye protection, not just glasses!

Go to gunboards.com for a Nagant-specific forum. I load 83gr DEWC & 100gr LDEWC (.312-.313") in modified .32-20 cases that have been sized by an M1 Carbine sizer and get 675-850 fps - and my cases drop out. It's a labor of love... no, I'm just bored!

Stainz

 

[Bacek]

I'm new to gun owning. It all started 2 month ago with my first visit to local shooting range. I've tried different pistols in different calibers and made my choice - new SIG P226 9mm. I loved this well built, accurate gun untill I came across Nagant revolver... Well, it's a piece of my country's history and unique revolver. I've got it a week ago from my FFL, along with HotShot new Serbian ammo (24 bucks a box of 50), cleaned and lubed the gun, and tried it... Now I'm thinking of selling my SIG. Comparing the two, Nagant is lighter, more accurate, more reliable (my wife couldn't shoot the damn SIG at first - weak grip produced jumming every time), almost no recoil... The ammo getting cheaper, waiting for Wolf to start making this type - will reduce the price even more. Double action pull is heavy? C'mon, sissy... It's a military gun. Want an easy pull - use computer mouse. Stopping power? Well, every time I go to shooting range I'm surrounded by macho's with .45 who couldn't hit a barn... To stop somebody you would need to hit them, right?
So yes, now I'm a proud owner and a big fan of my old good Nagant made by Tula Arsenal in 1941 - the first year of Great Patriotic War.

 

[Cosmoline]

Do you know where I can get one of those .32 acp cylinders?

The come in batches from Korea. Century sometimes has them, as does Makarov.com. I found mind at a local shop. There's a lot of complaints about fitting problems. This is not a flaw in the cylinder design. The problem is, over the many decades of production and re-arsenaling, the M95's ended up with divergent dimensions. Some are tighter than others, and you cannot make a single cylinder that will work with every Nagant. What they've done is make one with the tightest possible fit. A gunsmith or shooter who knows what he's doing can then carefully file the contact points down to fit. I did this with mine, and had a thread on the process posted over on the nagant forum.

You basically file down the points indicated, VERY slowly, one little bit at a time, doing the same amount to each of the seven points as you turn the cylinder. Then check for fit by dry firing double and single action all the way around. At first it will start to cycle on two of seven, then three, then four, then five then it cycles through all seven. It was a nice winter project, and now the cylinder works very well, as shown in the above video. I took the risk that I might screw up. If you want to make sure it's done right a smith would have to do it.

 

[tinygnat219]

Types of ammo include .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W. I wouldn't recommend the .32 H&R, LOTS of lead "bites" as the bullet hits the forcing cone. .32 S&W Long produces the best in terms of accuracy, etc. for this revolver. Cosmoline, how far away was the squirrel when you shot it?

 

[mashaffer]

Seriously considering getting one of these when I get my C&R. Much cheaper than the Makarov, CZ82, CZ52, Tokarev etc.

mike

 

[Gustav]

Count me in
I have a mint refurbished one dated 1926 marked CCCP its the year both my parents were born so its kind of a keepsake.
Now if I could find one marked with the SA mark stamped on it having been only dropped once in the snow!

 

[Cosmoline]

.32 S&W Long produces the best in terms of accuracy, etc. for this revolver.

Out of the S&W family, yes. But the very best accuracy is with the actual 7.62 Nagant rounds. They can be extremely accurate.

Cosmoline, how far away was the squirrel when you shot it?

Just up a tree 10 yards or so. I had good luck killing them with the CCCP lead target rounds, but terrible luck with the FMJ Fiocchi.

 

[mashaffer]

I seem to remember a web site with instructions on converting to SA only. Anyone give me a pointer to it?

mike

 

[Princi]

I have one, but I never shoot it because of the heavy trigger pull (I've had surgery on my trigger finger and they screwed up the nerves, leaving me with a real sensitive finger in some places and numb in other places).

Has anyone done anything to reduce the trigger pull?

Confession: I had to have one because of the way the cylinder moved forward. I had to see for myself how it worked.

 

[tinygnat219]

mashafter,

I think I have the instructions, it's pretty simple. Zespectre and I took about 5 minutes to do it. Yes, it's one of my main Cowboy Action Shooter guns.

Princi,

For lightening the trigger pull, there is a method of using a hex nut in the spring somewhere to make it somewhat easier to shoot. I prefer the SA models myself.

Mashafer,
CZ 52s and CZ 82s are cheaper in the long run to shoot. The Nagant is the only firearm I am aware of where 3 boxes of primo ammo cost more than the pistol did!

 

[mashaffer]

If I get one I will undoubtedly be reloading for it (most likely in proper brass). I have seen varying information on groove diameter. Has anyone actually slugged their barrel that can shed some light on that aspect?

mike

 

[tinygnat219]

Barrel is about .295 caliber when slugged. This why you get "splash" from using .32 S&W Long Ammo.

 

[aaronrkelly]

I have one, great piece of history for under $100.

 

[RonJon]

Cosmoline said: "I did this with mine, and had a thread on the process posted over on the nagant forum."

I looked up this post of Cosmoline's, and since it's not easy to do a search over there at gunboards, I post the link here for the convenience of others who are interested:

http://www.gunboards.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=191172&SearchTerms=.32,acp

Ron

 

[Bacek]

post removed by Bacek