Why not more gas-seal revolvers?

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speakerguy79

New member
I saw a video here I believe of a Mosin-Nagant revolver that had the cylinder move forward to seal the barrel/cylinder gap when fired.

Why don't modern revolvers do this? It would seem an easy way to get better ballistic performance.
 
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Casimer

New member
Here's some info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagant_M1895

The M1895 has a mechanism which, as the hammer is cocked, first turns the cylinder and then moves it forward, closing the gap between the cylinder and the barrel. The cartridge, also unique, plays an important part in sealing the gun to the escape of propellant gases. The bullet is deeply seated, entirely within the cartridge case, and the case is slightly reduced in diameter at its mouth. The barrel features a short conical section at its rear; this accepts the mouth of the cartridge, completing the gas seal. By sealing the gap, the velocity of the bullet is increased by 50 to 150 ft/s (15 to 45 m/s).
Click to expand...
 
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wjkuleck

New member
Why don't modern revolvers do this?
Click to expand...

Because the extra "monkey motion" and effort required to move the cylinder back & forth wreaks havoc on the trigger pull in double action. Even in single action, the thumb cocking is noticeably stiffer.

The increase in performance simply isn't worth the complication, weight, and effect on the trigger.

Regards,

Walt
 
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Crosshair

New member
For the same reason why you don't see allot of cool gadgets. It's simply too expensive to mass produce them and there are some serious downsides. In this case, horrendous DA trigger pull, extra mechanical complexity and for only about 50-150 fps extra velocity.
 
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George Hill

Staff Alumnus
You really want something else that could possibly go wrong, out of time... kinda defeats the purpose of a revolver.
 
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bluetopper

New member
Because it's not needed.........I was surprised at how little difference in performance the barrel/cylinder gap makes in a revolver as opposed to a semi-auto until I got my own chronograph.

Virtually indistinguishable.
 
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Tom2

New member
Maybe that cartridge needs all the help it can get. Must have seemed like a good idea at the time but the idea has been around for a long long time and if it had a substantial advantage someone else would have picked it up for sure. Especially if they could claim an advantage over some competitors products with it. Just another funky idea that came and went. The Russians finally went with autopistols to avoid the issue altogether.
 
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45_Shooter

New member
Old Colt revolvers kinda did this: they would press the cylinder forward to tighten the gap a little upon trigger pull, then loosen it up for rotation. Not exactly gas seal, but close.
 
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Wildalaska

Moderator
It's simply too expensive to mass produce them and there are some serious downsides. ......, extra mechanical complexity and for only about 50-150 fps extra velocity.
Click to expand...

Guess you have never taken apart a Nagant Revolver :) Nor seen how many were made :D

WildsimpleAlaska TM
 
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noelf2

New member
For all they do, they are AMAZINGLY simple. Not a lot of extra mechanical parts at all. As others said, the gas seal just doesn't have a big performance benefit, but it is so cool to just watch it work. It is interesting that the gas seal still has it's WOW factor. I don't think I've admired any of my other handguns as much as my gas seal Nagants.
 
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darkgael

New member
Nagant

That's what I'm talkin' about:
IMG_0355.JPG


Pete
 
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WESHOOT2

New member
I am certain

Some of my Army brethern found 'suitable' revolvers for silencing other than Nagants during the Vietnam skirmish....
 
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Creature

Moderator
Are you referring to the .22 Colts that the Army experimented with? They were not very successful in that venture.
 
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.300H&H

New member
Modern Russian military/service has a snubnosed-sized sealed revolver with a very compact built-in silencer... It's a cool revolver, but it's relatively rare/obscure...
 
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