white smoke
Member
Just had to have one, you know how it goes. A couple of years ago my son gave me a copy of a Woodsman magazine and it featured the 1895 Nagant. I was intrigued then forgot about it for a while. A deal came up locally for one (2 in fact) with lot's of ammo. I couldn't resist and dragged it all home. Yesterday I took the pistols and 2 types of ammo (1978 Russian surplus and PPU commercial). Of the 2 guns, one was clearly mechanically superior to the other. It was the less cosmetically appealing of the 2 but it had an obviously better trigger and seemed to lock up better. I put 100 rounds through them and what fun to shoot. Forget the double action, it's just near impossible. Both were surprisingly accurate for such an ancient design. Both were WW2 era refurbs and nicely done I must say. They both shot to center with a 6 o'clock hold and no sight adjustments needed. The target shows a group from 10 yards from a sandbag and the wild scattering of shots is a vain attempt with the double action. Home defense gun? Not at all practical. Fun factor is way up there if you enjoy shooting historical pieces as I do. Supplies seem to be drying up and prices are going up but that's how it always seems to be when caches of old surplus are turned loose on the market. Both are Tula, one is 1941 and the other 1944.