"Nothing against the Mauser action- they're proven- but your distaste for cock-on-open actions is unfounded in fact"
Actually... I have a collection of rifles with some 50 examples of cock on close military bolt actions... mixed in among about 200 examples of 20th century military rifles. You forgot the P14 Enfield BTW... one of my favorites.
The Nagant has a few challenges though... the bolt handle position on the bolt being among them. The Swedish Mauser might be cock on close, but you can do a "salute" opening using your index finger and a closure of the bolt with your thumb without unshouldering it. Good luck doing that with a Nagant. But I digress:
The point I was trying to make is that the Nagant is hardly the creme-de-la-creme of military rifle designs. It just happens to be the surplus "we have a barrel full of 'em" de jour. People buy what is available. I've bought a few too... I just place them towards the bottom of the "interesting" list. Aesthetics are part of rifle collecting: Mom Nagant, I have to tell ya... your baby ain't pretty...
Strong? Yup. Reliable? Sure. Accurate? Uhh... yeah. Pretty? Nope, sorry... not pretty. Oh well.
If there was a selection of other designs for a similar price, it would likely be the one that was picked towards the bottom. The fact is that there are no other designs available for a similar price any longer... thus the interest in them.
For the old timers who remember mixed barrels of K43's, Kar-98's, Enfields, and Arisakas, these are thin times for surplus rifle collectors. But it is what it is... enjoy the hobby. You'll never regret buying a rifle.. you'll only regret the ones that you didn't buy and still remember 30 years later. I *really* ought to have bought that ugly Garand with the funny gas cylinder... yeah, the one from 1937 that I passed up because it looked strange...
Best,
Willie
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