As a relative newbie to the Nagant - and the Gunboards 'home' of same - I decided to go the reloading route, as the Fiocchi ammo is too pricey, my .32 ACP cylinder didn't work, and I don't like removing bulged & split cases (Magtech .32 S&WL). Sadly, the only available new cases are the pricey ($13/20) Australian made ones Graf's and others carry - the Graf's 100/$21 goodies still being a pipe dream. Of course, the custom made steel true Nagant die set is also expensive.
I went with the goodies mentioned in a Dillon 'Blue Press' article on reloading for the Nagant: The Lee 'special' Nagant set comes with a steel sizer... I subbed the Lee carbide M1 Carbine die, using only the .32-20 seating/crimping die. I also had the .32-20 shellplate holder & pins for my 550B and the M1 Carbine powder funnel. Since the rim thickness is too much on those .32-20's (... causing the revolver to 'jam'...), I sanded ~ .010" off, leaving plenty of the headstamp. I used 240grit Si/C paper on a flat surface. The rim diameter was too great (... difficult case insertion), so I turned down ~.024" off it's diameter with a three-jaw chuck equipped Taig micro lathe, a tedious process with 200 new Starline .32-20 cases (I only mangled two!). I loaded the cases with 2.3gr TiteGroup and topped with nearly flush mounted Meister 100gr .312" DEWC's. The resulting round groups better than anything else - and closer to POA than anything else... very nearly the equivalent of the Fiocchi ammo, at much less cost. And... the cases fall out! I have reloaded some cases three times now with no visible side effects - they should last a while... certainly longer than my trigger finger in that DA mode...
The original 7.62x38r Nagant ammo was ~100gr FMJ @ 1,000+ fps, fairly potent. Fiocchi ammo runs ~675 fps, the Ruskie target stuff ~592 fps. They have case mouths which will extend into the barrel, expanding slightly upon firing, thus needing that SA-style ejector rod, while my reshaped .32-20's don't - and literally fall out. Of course, the convex cone of the barrel is actually pushed against by the concave cone of the cylinders' chamber exits to effect a decent ' gas seal', if the surfaces are kept clean. Additionally, the slow speeds produces less leading to clean up. I still don't know if those cases were worth all of the effort... but it is nice to have 'easy to use' ammo for it. Neat weird gun.
Stainz
