My first revolver

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AID_Admin

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My first revolver - Nagant M1895

After some months of regular visits to the range and renting different revolvers I finally have the first one of my own. I asked you for a bunch of advices and I am pretty close to be getting a really nice S&W. Mean while I could not pass an opportunity to buy a nice, armory refurbished (or may be even NOS) Russian Nagant. This gun is a part of my heritage. My grandfather went through WWII with one! And considering the prices they sell for I just could not resist.
Before I got it I went through a bunch of reviews from "fun little gun and a piece of history" to "horrible Soviet device only good to fire in the back of the head of political prisoners". I also knew about less-then-stellar action and saw some videos on how to improve it.

So, about a week ago this gun has arrived. Cosmolite is all over it, to the point that it was leaking from inside. My friend and I took it completely apart, cleaned it up, polished up some parts of the hammer and trigger which improved the action somewhat and oiled it. The bore was... not the mirror for sure, I was a little concerned about it. While waiting for the gun I ordered some ammo: about 50 rounds of Russian surplus and a box of Serbian PPU.

Today I went to the range. The range I go to is basically a store which also has a gunsmith. I decided to show my wheel-gun to a gunsmith, just in case. His reply was along the lines of "I can't guarantee anything, the bore is black, it may be cracked, it may blow in your hands, who knows". Wow, that was optimistic... So, I figured I'll just trust mother Russia and went to the range.

The gun works great. Single action is fairly smooth (don't ask about double action though) and to my surprise accuracy is more than what I could expect! At 15 to 20 yards this gun is as good as most! Shooting PPU ammo was a breeze. Shooting Russian surplus was more fun due to a little more kick it has, but I did not find it being more accurate as some suggested. I also find it being a pain to unload. Loading and unloading is a weak spot of this revolver and Russian ammo expends and very hard to pull out. PPU - no problem! And it's a lot cleaner too. Of course, it's also more expensive...

So, here is my first revolver laying on the target I shot from about 20 yards after some training shooting. I want to thank you for all the knoweledge I picked up on this forum. S&W K-frame with 6" barrel will probably be the next one. I almost wrote "will be first real one", but that would be incorrect. This gun is very real, for sure!


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Congrats on the new/ old revolver. At the current price & rising I also picked one up with 4 boxes of shells as a novelty of sorts. I like revolvers and this one is unique being that the cylinder moves forward to seal against the barrel. The cartridges are quite unusual as well without the bullit showing past the casing. I saw one that had a silencer, since the cylinder seals against the barrel. Probably the only revolver I've ever seen with a silencer, and it does work.
Enjoy!
 
I saw the HD video if this revolver being used with a silencer. I am yet to figure out why anyone would want to have a silencer altogether, let alone on the revolver. But technically it is doable with a Nagant and seems to work well.
 
I am yet to figure out why anyone would want to have a silencer altogether, let alone on the revolver.
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Shrug. To each their own. (That's why they make so many different flavors of ice cream.)

That said, a suppressor, in theory, can allow you to concentrate more on your shooting and reduce flinching.

If I remember correctly, some clubs in Europe, where supressors don't have the 'evil' reputation they do in the US actually require you to have a suppressor to keep the overall noise level down.
 
I saw the HD video if this revolver being used with a silencer. I am yet to figure out why anyone would want to have a silencer altogether, let alone on the revolver.
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I consider this attitude to be rather strange unless this person also rides in automobiles not equipped with mufflers. While there a disadvantages to silencer use on a gun, anything that reduces noise is a good thing considering how often public and private shooting areas are under attack for noise.
 
I had a grandad marched all the way across Germany with a German Luger which was stolen from him by burglers years ago but at the prices they sell for i dont see one in my future. People say the russians loved those revolvers though.
 
Ok, let me elaborate on my statement about silencers... In general I have nothing against them. And I never used one, so all my statements are assumptions. But I don't see why one would need it for a hand gun, especially a 32 caliber revolver that doesn't make that much noise. In my mind it distracts from aiming, which is half of the fun when you shoot targets. And I am a big fan of a good aim.

I really enjoyed my new Nagant on the range. I find it being very accurate for a gun designed 120 years ago and made during WWII! Below is my target at 50FT. The target is printed on A4 paper, to give an idea about it's size. And while I know what I am doing on the range I am far from being a professional marksman. And I never used this gun before. This is my second target. I think this is pretty good results for "a gun which was designed to shoot political prisoners in the back of their heads by Soviets". Sorry, I've read this comment somewhere esle and I just can't get over it for some reason :-) No offense meant.

Nagant_target_50FT.jpg
 
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