Cheap Shooters & Russian Revenge
By Joseph D'Alessandro Editor | RealGuns.Com

Sometimes I long for the good old days, when wars were cold and the only enemy of consequence, in the words of Dr. Strangelove's Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong, was those darn Rooskies. I have a hunch there is a little Russian revenge behind the availability of the Model 1895 Nagant Revolver, a gun that sees cyclical waves of popularity.

I won't repeat the history of the design. I can never keep my eyes open beyond the part where the Belgium Nagant brothers created a gun Russia adapted, yet again. If you are interested in the details of the gun's origination, go to Google, enter "1895 Nagant"+"History" and you can read any of the scores of cross plagiarized pieces that populate the Internet. My interest in the Nagant is derived from it's low cost, wide availability and generally interesting and unique design.

Like a Ruger Single Six, Only Cheaper...and With More Bullets

Reviewers of Model 1895 Nagants tend to fixate on slow to load; one chamber at a time, and slow to unload; a manual ejector rod. Apparently these folks have never fired a single action Colt or Ruger, or a spaghetti cowboy version of the same. The truth of the matter is, the Nagant is built like a Buick, when Buicks were built like tanks and General Motors knew how to make cars at a profit that people liked to drive. My example, the Nagant not the Buick, weighs in at 28 ounces empty, or about 10 or 11 ounces less than the 1911 government piece.

The Colt 1911 envelope is approximately 9"x5½", the Nagant revolver approximately 9½"x5". The combination of chamber and barrel for the Nagant is 7" and the 1911 is only 5" which gives the Nagant 2" of more barrel length. The Nagant center of gravity is at the trigger, making the gun feel well balanced in the shooter's hand, the same as a steel 1911. The Nagant's grip, like the 1911, is made for a smaller than current model human, and there is barely room for the pinky to find a place to settle in. Both guns hold 7 rounds, although the Nagant does not allow for a +1 cocked and locked addition. At a typical price of $89 a Nagant cost $50/lb. A decent 1911 approximately $368/lb. In summary, the Nagant is an inexpensive, solidly built revolver and not so clunky in size or handling. Perhaps it is not the joke it is often made out to be. I personally find it to be an interesting firearm, covered with markings I can only begin to decipher....like year of manufacture; a five pointed Tula arsenal star with a centrally located vertical arrow, partially circumscribed with "1943".

Weird Ammo? Well, maybe.

OK, 7.62x38mmR ammo is a bit strange, but only when viewed out of context with the firearm. Sporting a .308" bullet, the Nagant cartridge has an overflow capacity of 24 grains, a net capacity of 12+ grains, but a MAP of only 11,000 PSI. By comparison, the 32 H&R Magnum operates at nearly twice that level with approximately half the case capacity. The case looks like a typical cartridge with a shoulder and neck intended to hold a projectile, but it does not. The bullet is retained further down inside the case so it can, at best, only peek out. The reduced diameter portion of the case is used in the gas sealing scheme of the revolver.

Fiocchi produces the only factory ammo of this type available on the U.S. market. Unfortunately, because production is and on again - off again proposition, the price per box fluctuates dramatically. During a recent check, I found Midway USA was selling 50 rounds for $35. Century Arms was price set at $22 for the same 98 grain full metal jacket loads. It isn't often the value of a gun is equivalent to three boxes of its ammunition.

I have seen MV rated at 1000 fps+ for this ammo, however, the chronograph recorded sub 700 fps which seems about right considering the low pressure levels. You have to really want to reload this cartridge to hurdle all of the preparation obstacles; a $148 RCBS die set not the least of them. Lee Precision, always trying to meet the needs of the shooting community at a reasonable price, also produces dies for the 7.62 Nagant for under $20. However, this set is intended for the conversion of 32-20 brass for use in this firearm, a compromise output that does not address the issue of differing rim thicknesses and other dimensional inconsistencies between the two rounds. If you find yourself with no ammo or proper Nagant brass for your revolver, the Lee die set could bail you out with what has been a popular solution. I can't begin to imagine how many people Lee Precision has helped to get into handloading who, for high prices from other manufacturers, would have not have been able to participate.

I would be tempted to load this cartridge with very slow powder; Alliant 2400 as an example, where a full case would generate very low pressure.  Starline Brass offers new casings for a reasonable price, producing them a tad shorter, -0.060", than spec. This was done to ease ejection and to reduce case mouth splitting after a few cycles of reloading. The shortness may defeat the whole concept of using the case mouth to gas seal the cylinder, however, this may prove to be more of a lost skirmish than a lost war and the improved ease of use and extended brass life may make this a viable solution.

At the risk of showing my naiveté (I've been watching "Frasier" reruns) - I've seen many references to .311" and .312" diameter bullets and to these revolvers bore slugging .311" and .312", so I was more than a little surprised to find all legitimate published data indicating .308"-.309" as proper bullet diameter. In addition, I slugged 4 Nagant revolvers from a random selection from our inventory and came up with the same. Finally, I pulled a few slugs from factory rounds and found .3075" to .3085" the norm. Pictures in jacketed .309" hollow point, a Hornady 90 grain, which would seem perfect for this application.

Sometimes unintentional humor can be found in message board poetry. One guy said, "I think the Nagant bullet looks between .308" and .312". The next guy in thread said, "Don't worry about it, it's only a few thousandths, use .312". Then second guy went on to explain how he shoots factory 32 H&R magnum ammo out of his unaltered Nagant revolver, a cartridge with twice the operating pressure, a bullet .003" larger than the 7.62 Nagant slug and a case dimensionally quite different. Apparently every body does it, it's just that people are too afraid of lawyers to make public statements regarding the same. In regards to Internet information; I don't even believe what I write half the time and the other half I suspect is mostly an exaggeration.

The Obligatory Gas Sealing Dissertation

The upper picture illustrates the gap that exists between the forward end of the gun's cylinder and its frame; approximately 0.045" cylinder to barrel. By comparison, a more conventionally designed S&W has only a few thousandths gap. The lower image, with the hammer pulled back into the cocked position, shows the cylinder has moved forward to mate the forward face of the cylinder with the barrel, seating the "neck" of the cartridge within a recess in the rear of the barrel and forming a gas seal. The design notion is  that the typical pressure loss in revolvers with a cylinder gap would not occur within this design and higher levels of performance would be achieved. Good theory, although I am not sure what empirical data would substantiate. No, I am not intrigued with the issue enough to find out for myself.

I do know the mechanical linkage required to put all of this metal in reciprocal motion and NASCAR ready mainspring contribute to the less than optimal trigger pull in both single and double action operation; 10 lb 8 ounces and 20 lbs even respectively. Wanga! Actually, double action was a very slick 24 lbs before I disassembled the gun, cleaned it up a bit and changed the oil. The gas seal system is responsible for some case ejection difficulty; remember brass springs back. Chambers measure .328" at the mouth while fired brass measures .331". The flare in the fired brass is larger than the chamber is needs to be pushed through when ejected.

How Do You Get the Grips Off This Thing?

If you've picked one of these guns up and wanted to give it a thorough cleaning or see what's clicking and rattling around inside, you may have found it cannot be opened without a cutting torch and a large mallet. More accurately, the gun was designed by Western Europeans who possibly didn't like Russians at that point in time, so convoluted and tedious are the adjectives that would best describe a person's initial experience with the gun's disassembly. Once through the process, disassembly/reassembly become very simple propositions.

I'll run through a few things the average shooter would encounter. Please feel free to skip the gunk that is not of interest or not applicable.

Ejecting brass is a snap. We'll, maybe not exactly a snap, but easier than difficult. The knurled end of the ejector rod is rotated in either direction while pulling out toward the muzzle. Eventually it will let go and allow the rod to be pulled toward the muzzle as depicted in image two...no, the other two, the picture just under number one.

Once the rod is extended, the mount that secures the ejector rod is rotated counter clockwise as viewed from hammer end. I try not to provide instructions that put anyone looking down the barrel of a firearm. Eventually the rod will locate over an empty case.

Last, but not least, the empty case is expelled from the cylinder by pushing the ejector rod into the case and out through the open loading gate. When completed, of course the routine is to put everything back to the original position.

The rub with this ejector is not the ejector's fault, but rather the gas sealing scheme. The case mouth when fired is not supported so it does what brass does best when subjected to pressure, it expands to fill the void and flares out slightly larger than chamber size making it difficult to push the empties through.

With the function of the ejector rod and it's pivot mount down, removal of the cylinder is literally a few degrees away. At the top of the barrel, at the union of the ejector rod pivot, are two index marks. Line them up and the shaft that mounts the cylinder can be removed.

Here is a little better photo of the cylinder and shaft pieces. If this is a newly acquired surplus firearm, these parts will be loaded with protective gunk. Cleaning off these reciprocating and rotating bearing surfaces, along with some of the internal parts, cut double action trigger pull by three pounds. The cylinder has a central spring loaded bushing. It is removed by depressing the bushing while rotating until it's key clears the slot in the cylinder.

Grip panel removal is easier than it looks. The only notes of caution are; remove the mainspring before attempting to remove the right panel screw. When reinstalling the mainspring, clip it into place at the hammer and frame before pressing the spring's locator pin into the frame. Take a picture of parts assembled in the frame before disassembling. You'll appreciate this when you try to put the gun back together again.

The Thing Actually Shoots!

I was complaining to my wife, saintly woman that she is, about not having a place to shoot. I kid you not, in some ways Maine is worse than California. We called 6 listed ranges in a 30 mile radius and either there were no return calls, or they were clubs closed to membership. Sometimes I wonder if firearm ownership and interest exist in spite of the industry and some types of experienced shooters. What is the point of registering a range with "Places to Shoot" when you have no intention of allowing anyone to use the range and you're hostile to non-member shooters? In fact, friends in the area had no idea where to shoot or hunt and had put up their firearms some time ago. My wife reminded me we now live in a rural setting and suggested I step out into the back yard, set up a target and shoot until I run out of ammunition. That's exactly what I did.

The gun's front sight is a little thin, the rear is only a groove in the top of the frame, yet the Nagant was relatively easy to shoot. The two fliers, circled red, were the result of initial double action shooting and me thinking the trigger was broken. Unfortunately it wasn't. The next 5 shots grouped under 2" at 50' which isn't too bad based on my revolver skill levels. Groups got progressively better with experience until 2" was pretty routine for all shots, single and double action.

The gun has virtually no recoil, 98 grain bullet velocity was a hair under 700 fps and they all penetrated an inch of board without any trouble. It is a fun gun to shoot, if a bit expensive to shoot with factory ammo. I will spend a little time developing some handloads and seeing if Starline shorter brass will reduce or eliminate some of the ejection related problems.

Overall this is a great little revolver; ugly, but in a  very nice way. Interesting mechanically, easy to shoot, more power than a rim fire and a step up on 32's. Is it an intimidating firearm? You be the judge. This flock of turkeys that live in our yard weren't phased in the least by my shooting the Nagant. They were in the front yard, I fired a dozen or so rounds, and they came around the corner and started feeding on my target range. Maybe they saw my targets?

Nagants are available through many surplus dealers as well as directly from Real Guns in the gun store section.

Thanks,
Joe