Any experience with Nagant M1895 revolvers?

DubC-Hicks

New member
J&G sales has them for $79.95. refurbished in excellent condition, but some have dark barrels. What is a good price on the nagants? They seem like a nice, inexpensive WWII pistol.
 
I had two I recently sold to lighten my collection.

They were a lot of fun. Double action trigger pull is about 300 pounds(I think it is actually as high as 30 on some of them). I would guess mine were about 12 and 15lbs. Due to all the movement of the cylinder as the hammer is pulled back, so single action is as light as any revolver.
 

DubC-Hicks

New member
Is it true that it is safe to shoot 32 s&w and 32 s&w long out of a nagant? I read that you can also shoot 32 magnum out of it too.
 

raftman

New member
I've never tried shooting anything other than 7.62 Nagant from mine; from what I've read, it's perfectly safe to shoot .32 SW Long, but you may end up up with bulging or split casings as is commonly reported by people who've done this.

There's some debate about whether it's ok to shoot .32 H&R magnum. Some insist it's too high-pressure a round, although there are also a number of people who have reported firing the round in question from a Nagant without any problems. These people argue that although .32 H&R mag is a higher pressure round than the 7.62 Nagant ammo commercially available today, the original military ammo intended for these pistols when they were in use equals and even exceeds the pressures of the .32 H&R mag. I don't actually know. Oddly enough, it seems locally it's easier (and cheaper for that matter, which is sad) to find 7.62 Nagant than either .32SW Long or .32H&R mag locally, so I've never seen any reason to try.

If the price of 7.62 Nagant is a problem, you may try to get a conversion cylinder that will allow you to shoot .32 acp, which is cheaper and more available than any of the aforementioned calibers.

As far as the gun itself goes, it's an extremely solidly-made gun, extremely reliable. Clearly made to last and function forever. Very heavy but at least smooth DA trigger pull, decent SA trigger, though. Has basically no felt recoil.

$80 is a pretty good price, like most guns, they used to available for less. Of course $80 is face value, you have to take into account the cost of shipping and FFL transfers which will determine your actual cost. My advice would to see if they're available for locally (and for what price), and also see what your local dealers charge for FFL transfers. Some may charge as little as $10 or $15, and others as much as $40, or even more. I bought my Nagant at a local shop for $120. Figured, if I buy online I'll pay $80 for the gun, another $20-something for shipping, and $20 more for FFL transfer, so I may as well support the local shop and also avoid the hassle with faxing FFL's, waiting on shipping, and so on.
 

CajunBass

New member
I got one a year or so ago. Never fired it, but it's an interesting piece. It takes two men, a boy and a small dog to pull the D/A trigger, but the S/A doesn't suck too bad. The sights are better than no sights, but not a lot. They're seven shooters which I always wished my cowboy hero's had when the bad guys just knew they were out of bullets. :)

Get yourself a C&R license. Costs less than most places want now to do one transfer and you can have C&R guns like this sent right to your door for three years. Yea, you have to keep a little paperwork, no more than you probably keep for your other guns though.
 

DubC-Hicks

New member
Our local gun shop has one for $120, but it isn't in the best of shape. I would say its in fair-good condition. If I got one on the internet, i would not have a problem with the FFL transfer because our friend lets us use his for free.:)
I just don't know if I need a pistol purchasing permit or if our FFL holder needs one.
 

britrecko

New member
buying the 1895 moisin Nagant revolver

i have owned three and it is a great shooter.i bought one last weekend from a gunshow dealer and settled for a tula arsenal date stamped 1931 for $119.00 with an original pigskin holster with 3 different acceptance stamps. he had other 1895 nagants from $100.if i can find a gunsmith i intend to attach a duly registered 9mm externally threaded suppressors. Does the barrel have to be removed. any comments please. Even if it doesnt shoot with the silencer, i can hold it while i watch 1930's gangster movies.
i also shoot in 32 acp in another 1895 revolver with the cylinder conversion and both calibers shoot fine. Hot shot sells the original nagant ammo costing $29.00 for 50 rounds. i hope these comments are helpful.
 

Stainz

New member
The Belgian brothers Nagant designed the revolver - an interesting piece of Victorian-era engineering. To aid in the SA-style push rod ejection of the rounds, their cases are tapered, very similar to the .30 Carbine round (Don't try it except for fit!!), thus the reason straight walled smaller cases, like the .32 S&WL/H&RM, bulge and split near the base. Use the 'Hot Shot' or Fiocchi ammo. try the .32 ACP cylinder, if you want. The ammo isn't that much cheaper - and the cylinders don't always fit - mine wouldn't fit any of the three examples I had. Fortunately, they gave me a credit. The 1895 Nagants are hand-fitted - very individualistic.

Ammo can be homebrewed... with modified .32-20 cases. I actually size with a Lee carbide .30 M1 Carbine sizer - and load with .32 S&WL/1895 Lee dies - using .32 100gr LDEWCs. My loads, ~800 fps, are fun - but still 'spit' - wear good glasses. The original ammo is longer - bridges the reversed b/c gap (The barrel fc is convex; the cylinder exits are concave.) when the cylinder is forward. My loads - and especially the .32s - don't bridge the gap with their cases - they are too short. If I had it to do over, I'd just buy a bunch of the right ammo... they are that much fun. Here is my 'shooter':

IMG_3425.jpg


I got a C&R ffl... renewed it... just to buy Nagants - I have six - what was I thinking? Yeah, it's nice having them delivered to the front door... but, is it worth the hassle? Anyway, my Nagant above is shown with some of my .32-20 cased homebrews - and a Vic 'Farmer' SAK.

All of the Nagants that were recently imported were re-arsenalled who knows how many times - and at least before they were put up for storage the last time. Lots of buildup on the innards. Cleaning the innards is paramount to 'improving' the trigger - which may get to just less than 20 lb in DA in a 'decent' improvement. SA can be a bit less - but it will never be mistaken for even a new S&W J-frame rimfire. Checkout the 1895 Nagant specific sub-forum on 'gunboards.com' for lots of info - including info on what the chicken scratching on your Nagant means - and how one screw holds it all together!

Stainz
 

RAnb

Moderator
I saw some online in WA (close to me) last year for $95. But the seller would not let me inspect them before buying, so that wrecked the deal. I bought one from a local gun shop for double the price instead. I made an adaptor to mount my homemade 9mm silencer until I submit the forms and pay the tax to make a dedicated can for it.

Reloading the brass was another issue. I bought Lee dies which are actually intended to load 32 auto (I think) brass for the revolver. I had to add a spacer to the seating die to allow it to seat the bullet below the case mouth. The expander was far too short to allow proper seating of the bullet without wrinkling the case, a longer expander made on my lathe fixed that. The seater die would not properly crimp the brass, so I use a Lee 30 carbine factory sizer to close the mouth as far as I can to ensure the mouth enters the back of the barrel when the hammer is cocked.

If you are going to put a silencer on it, then it is best to ensure that the gun you are buying has not had the forcing cone reamed as this will not let the brass seal the gap and make all of the gases go through the silencer.

The gun can be accurate as long as you get used to the heavy trigger pull.
Removing the barrel only requires a padded vise and gloves. I cut back the front sight just enough to put on threads and atach the adaptor.

1895nagant-2.jpg


762nagant2.jpg


Ranb
 

Tamara

Moderator Emeritus
I am of the opinion that a durable, reliable firearm that costs less than dinner for two at a fancy restaurant is pretty much a no-brainer. ;)
 

kilimanjaro

New member
They're $80 bucks each to C&R or FFL holders, and the show dealers are marking them up here to $150 and more, so looks like they're a real bargain at the $80 figure. They were service-issue for roughly 50 years in an army of 5 million men, as well as vast internal police and prisons, so there must be quite a few of them available, but the US market is absorbing them quite readily, just like everything else. I don't expect to see them advertised much longer. The Russian Capture Mausers are pretty well gone, too, so look to see these pistols disappear in turn.

Ammo is $25 a box up here. Mine is a good shooter, I intend on buying a six-pack of these soon.

It's a good collectible revolver, no longer rare in this country, but still not commonly seen. It covers a lot of conflicts, from Boxer Rebellion and Tsushima to Stalingrad, so lots of history behind the design and lots of room for a mini-collection.
 
Last edited:

bop

New member
nagant revolver

Yeah, their ugly, have heavy d/a triggers & the 7.62 ammo is pricey. BUT..price wise you can't beat 'em. I bought mine from JG sales here in American Arizonia for $79.95 plus $26.00 for a box of ammo. My older brother donated a .32 long cylinder from his as he reloads. You can take this ugly little sweetheart & abuse it as much as you like & she'll always go
"bang" when you pull the trigger. Cheap,yeah. Ugly, yeah. Dependable, VERY!!
So, buy one. Or two. Have fun while you still can.
 
Top