NAGANT REVOLVER
Do any of you guys own one of these M1895 Nagant revolvers? I see them being sold at gun shows and on here for around $150. They look like a fun informal plinker/fun gun. I'm not expecting a tack driver-just something reliable and not too $$$$$ on the ammo.
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Was it a brillant design or a flop. I personally think it was a brillant design and wonder why someone else has not taken it a step further. Yep, it has terrible trigger pull but good American engineering can fix that.
The cylinder moving into the barrel is just plain good design
, in my opinion. tom0 -
Yes, you are correct. However, the holes in the cylinder are wider on the barrel end of the gun so case splitting is very common.
OldGuns55@yahoo.com0 -
quote:Originally posted by Bamavol
Could one be modified for single action and the cylinder movement be disconnected? Do I have too much time on my hands?
Bamavol
Your reinventing the wheel. The Russians made single action, and target versions of the Nagant years ago. Unless you have access to a machine shop and the knowhow to fabricate the required parts, it's going to cost you a mint. My 2 ?.
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I have a couple of these and they will shoot 32 S&W, 32 S&W long, and 32 H&R Magnum. I have played around with several differant handloads. I have got the best accuracy using 32 mag brass and loading it with 71 gr fmj bullet made for a 32 acp. I use the loading data in the Lyman manual for 32 magnum. 0 -
does anyone know how to fit the 32 cylinder ? it wont cycle needs to be filed somewhere I am sure. they said maybe 1 out of 10 fit and fire. if you know how to fit the cylinder, please send me an e mail
at how111now@yahoo.com
thanks,
H0 -
I buy .32-20 pistol ammo, seating the bullets slightly deeper in the case so they aren't longer than the cylinder. After firing I reload the once fired brass using a special Lee .32-20/Nagant die set. This has worked great for me, but your experience may vary...
"Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away." Thoreau0 -
New proper gas-seal ammo isn't that expensive; the best price is right here on GB:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=31159996
For more info on the revolver and ammo options (it's a large page and will take a while to load, especially if you're on dial-up):
A Great Nagant Site
"Strength is the outcome of need; security sets a premium on feebleness." -- H.G. Wells (The Time Machine)0 -
On fitting the 32 ACP cylinder, can tell you my experience.
I bought two Nagants and two cylinders, figuring it would increase my chances of one cylinder dropping right in. One cylinder didn't work in either revolver, the other cylinder worked on 3 of the 7 chambers. By working, I mean I was able to get the gun to cock or operate in double action mode.
I had asked a few people how to adjust the timing on these, and had people tell me it was necessary to adjust the arm the pushes the cylinder by filing it down. But in looking at how the gun functions, that made little sense. What prevents the ability of the hammer to cock is the cylinder lock at the bottom of the cylinder opening on the frame. With the cylinder out of the frame, you will see this cylinder lock pop up from the bottom of the opening. What everyone tells you to adjust is the arm at the back of the opening, the one that actually makes the cylinder turn. It doesn't make any sense to remove metal from the arm that makes the cylinder turn, because the real problem is the cylinder might not be turning quite enough to allow proper functioning, as it is necessary for the cylinder stop to pop up in order to allow cocking or double action fire.
What I did to compensate for this was, take a small file and start working the notches found in the largest outside diameter of the cylinder. Work on the flat at the largest end of the notch. If, after carefully examining the revolver, you don't understand what I am saying, just stop and take it to a qualified gunsmith. The notches are the notches that that the cylinder lock should be engaging when the gun is ready to fire. Slowly file down the notch where it is so large it will not allow the cylinder stop to engage. Take it slow.
If you have a revolver that will not engage on any of the chambers, work the cylinder notches down until you get it to operate on one cylinder. That will be indicated when the cylinder stop is able to pop up into the cylinder stop. Then work each notch down to the point that each chamber works most of the time. You will get to a point that the cylinder will almost lock up relaibly every time, but not quite every time. From that point, two options. One, take some valve grinding compound and apply to notch, and have fun cocking the gun over and over and over and over again, until reliable functioning is achieved. Second otion, just shoot the gun until it wears in some.
Here is the thing to remember. Most people will tell you to adjust the arm that causes the cylinder to turn, or take a little bit off the cylinder stop. Maybe taking just a bit of the right hand side of the cylinder stop would be okay, but the problem is you want the revolver to continue to function properly with the original cylinder. The only way to make that happen is to leave the original configuration of the firearm as it is. If you go to adjust the gun to the cylinder, you might end up with a revolver that operates okay with the new cylinder, but is sloppy or will not operate at all with the original cylinder.
The 32 ACP is only about 60% of the power of the original Nagant military ammo. It may be with my method, precise allignment of the 32 ACP cylinder with the barrel will not always happen, and you might end up shaving a bit of lead. That is not real big deal using a 32 ACP round in a Nagant. I would rather have the considerably lower powered 32 ACP cylinder not exactly and precicely lock into place than the sloppy fitting original Nagant cylinder, that can shoot much more powerful rounds.
That's my take on it, and it has worked fine in mine with no shaving what so ever. My method is not the easiest, adjusting the revolver rather than the cylinder is what most people seem to suggest. Buy I can't help but thing that affects the original timing on the revolver, something I want to maintain. Leave the timing on the original gun parts, and the cylinder that will shoot the original ammo or the 32 H&R mag ammo the same. A slightly misadjusted cylinder that shoots a much less powerful round is going to be better that having a sloppy cylinder that shoots a more powerful round. That's my thinking.
If anyone has any better suggestion, or just comments, please jump in.
MEMBER SINCE 10/24/1999.
To err is human, to moo is bovine.0
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