M1895 Nagant Revolver!

S

SigP6Carry

New member
Well, folks, they seem to be back. A touch more expensive than they used to be, but I'm'a get one of these at the start of next month. I'm psyched, since I missed the chance before and wasn't willing to pay the gunbroker prices for them. Now, they're back at $100.

So, I've got a handful of questions about them.

I know that some people suggest NEVER firing .32S&W, Long or H&R in them, but I'll probably put some .32 S&W through it and keep it loaded with H&R for self-defense purposes in home.

But, I've been looking into reloading for them (if there's any gun to start reloading for: it's one of these!) and have read that .32-20 is an ideal case to load with .310 diameter bullets, but that still doesn't seal. How is that any better than firing .32S&W through it?

Also, what cartridges would be best to use to load 7.62x38R while allowing gas seal, still?

And finally: any way to lessen the trigger pull weight? IIRC, the pull is unbearable in DA and manageable in SA.

Thanks all!
 
By a box of Fiocchi, shoot it, the take the fired cases, trim it to exactly 1.490 and load it. It isnt easy but its doable

WilddoasearchhereandibythewayIwillhavenewdatashortlyAlaska
™©2002-2010


I know that some people suggest NEVER firing .32S&W, Long or H&R in them, but I'll probably put some .32 S&W through it and keep it loaded with H&R for self-defense purposes in home.
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Thats the silliest thing I have ever seen. get a baseball bat instead:rolleyes:
 
A baseball bat, aye? Didn't know it does the damage of an H&R Magnum at range.... nice to know. I'm going to order two boxes of hotshot Nagant ammo with my pistol, as well as two boxes of .32S&W and then pick up a box of H&R mag at my range when I go. I'll start reloading and I plan on loading some Nagant specific hollow points, but I'm still more than a few months away from reloading. In the mean time, I'll keep .32 H&R in my nagant.

I have a 9mm with JHP and a 12 guage with 00 Buck for home defense, but I've also got a Mosin, an Iver .22 and a .44 Blackpowder ready for "just in case." The .32 H&R loaded Nagant will fall into the same category as the Mosin, Iver and Blackpowder.

Buying a .32 ACP cylinder and firing .32ACP doesn't seem like it's any kind of improvement over the .32S&W long, though. From what I've read and seen, the .32ACP cylinder suffers from every problem that firing a .32S&W long in the nagant, only it's a new manufacture korean cylinder. Especially considering the cost of .32 ACP around me compared to .32 S&W long and short. .32ACP comes in at about $2 more a box than .32S&W long for me.

If I trim the Nagant shells down, though, won't they essentially be .32 S&W in the revolver concerning gas cutting and pressure?
 
If I trim the Nagant shells down, though, won't they essentially be .32 S&W in the revolver concerning gas cutting and pressure?
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No, the 32 S&W Long is a straight walled case and will bulge and split and lose energy. The cut down Nagant brass, or resized 32-20 has tapered walls (like the Nagant cylinder chambers) and won't bulge/split. 32 H&R Magnum cases are straight walled but thicker brass and will only bulge a bit, but are considered by some to be too high pressure for the old Nagant. I wouldn't run too many through my Nagant, but wouldn't hesitate to use them as a "last" resort.

For reloading cut down Nagant shells, or 32 S&WL, gas cutting and pressure depends on how hot you load them. I've had no visible gas cutting or overpressure signs (in the cylinder) with 32 S&W Long ammo loaded to factory pressures specs.

My 32acp conversion cylinder is a waste of time/space. I would like to get it bored to 32S&WL but not worth the expense. The original cylinder is better.
 
A baseball bat, aye? Didn't know it does the damage of an H&R Magnum at range.... nice to know.
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Didn't know that you were good enough with a gun to use one with a 14 pound double action pull, sights impossible to see even in broad daylight, and loaded with the wrong cartridge that could grenade off in your hand on the first shot:rolleyes:


For reloading cut down Nagant shells, or 32 S&WL, gas cutting and pressure depends on how hot you load them. I've had no visible gas cutting or overpressure signs (in the cylinder) with 32 S&W Long ammo loaded to factory pressures specs.
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I loaded up 30 rounds last night, using Berry's Wadcutters, trimmed down Fiocchi cases and 2.7gr of Unique. By trimming to 1.490, then using a 30 carbine die to crimp, you get gas seal. Ill be shooting them in less than an hour.

WildandyouareusingtherightammoforthegunAlaska ™©2002-2010
 
So here is this ams test target (I had two more but one was all torn up and the other was cardboard just to test for keyholing), only at 15 feet but still....

Once I get the custom seater plug made I can finalize this project. I have to shoot at 50 feet to check for keyholing too...think Im going to need to run the charge a bit hotter and seat further out.

Anyway...the legnth has been finalized at 1.490

WildmazurkaAlaska ™©2002-2010
 

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what size bullets are you using? From what I can gather, a lot of Nagant shooters loose a lot of accuracy to undersized bullets.
 
Looks like I lost o a lot of accuracy didnt it:rolleyes:

I cant remember what Berry's Miked out at. They are easier to load then .312s though/ Maybe Jay for Berry's will chime in

WildalmostthereAlaska ™©2002-2010
 
The 32 longs shoot fine out of this gun. And for half the price of the real stuff it's all I shoot. Lets be honest, there's no real practical use for this gun other than blasting cans or maybe the occasional squirrel. Sure you could load 32 mags in them for defense but for the most part they're nothing more than oddball plinkers. The 32 long cases will split and bulge but I'm pretty sure the nagant is built out of melted down old soviet tanks and will handle the weakly loaded 32 longs all day. Might have to scrape some lead once in a blue moon though.
 
Most of them were made well before Russians built lots of tanks.
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They shoulda built tanks out of melted down Nagants...;):D

But why not shoot the real thing
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No such thing available.... I'm sure that what is called Nagant ammo now is not near what was originally shot from them. When you increase the amount of unique in your load, you may come close, but the whole process is too much of a PITA IMO. The brass will never be able to last but a few loadings because of the case mouth crimp required for a gas seal. I'll just keep getting .prvi Nagant ammo and reload 32SWL for this pop gun.
 
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Sorry Cow Towner, no new information from that link. Arguments/debates Wild and I have had in the past more than covers the information in that link, and then some. Thanks for the link though, I've read that entire site over a million times and love to see folks reference it.
 
Well, Real ammo isn't that much more expensive than .32S&W or .32H&R thanks to Hotshot, but the hotshot ammo seems to shoot at the same power as .32S&W while H&R fires at what original Nagant ammo did. But, because of the case wall (I think that's what it's called) its pressure goes in the wrong direction compared to original nagant ammo, which is what makes it "dangerous" in the eyes of some.

Shooting the hotshot and reloading the brass or loading 32-20 or .30 Carbine brass for the Nagant is both economic and "safe" in the eyes of Nagant purists, which is what I'm planning on doing, as well as .32 S&W and .32 H&R. .32H&R won't be a consistent diet in my gun, just to be used as one of my "last resort home defense guns" until I get a good HD load built up for the Nagant.

So long as you reload ammo, the Nagant is not expensive to shoot at all.
 
I can find 32 long for 15 a box at gun shows vs 28ish for the hotshot nagant ammo. The regular 32 and 32 mags are expensive though.
 
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