Nagant revolver - what to buy?

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bob.a

New member
Decided to get one or two of these, but I know little about them. So I'd like to tap into the knowledge base here about desirable models.

I'm looking for good solid shooters, not necessarily collectible rarities. J&G will select for a shiny bore for an extra 20 bucks; is it worth the money?

I have this fantasy about fitting one with a suppressor, since as I understand it the mechanics of the revolver support such an action. I haven't heard of anyone doing this, but I doubt I'd be the first to try. Feel free to dissuade me, or not, if you have solid information. (You don't have to tell me it's a stupid idea. I'm smart enough to know that already).

Thanks.
 
There's really not much to say. The majority of Nagants imported are the same double action revolver first built in Belgium. The factory was moved to Russia fairly early in the Nagants life.
There are some single action versions. I have yet to see one.

Valuable Nagants will have a red star. Those are presentation models for heroes of the great patriotic war and other reasons. Not likely that you'll find one of those cheap.
There are also Scandinavian and Polish models.

I think some Russian probably got the idea of a silencer on the Nagant a bit before you did. Probably not that difficult. Check withe the kids on the NFA forum.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222103&highlight=nagant
 
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The ones they import don't have threaded barrels and as such a home silencer job will require duct tape and coke bottles.

Disclaimer: Doing so is illegal without the paperwork.
 
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Thanks for the links; both of interest. Until I saw the smoke coming out of the cylinder, I thought the "silenced" part of the video was fake. All I could hear was the pistol's action. I wouldn't have believed it.
 
I bought a Nagant revolver a while back. I unscrewed the barrel, cut back the front sight a bit and threaded it. I permanently installed an adaptor to hold my homemade (form 1) 9mm silencer. It works well with my cast 93 grain .310 bullets. Reloading is a bit of a chore, but I modified the dies and bought a Lee 30 carbine factory crimp die for better crimping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGoPE7VQ9GY

Shooting cast ammo through a can makes it very dirty, but it comes apart for cleaning.

Kbaffles.jpg


These are after cleaning off the gunk.

Ranb
 
Aim Surplus has some for $95 and they are in really good condition. I just bought one and they are 1944 stamped and made in the Izhevsk factory.

What makes these revolvers rare is that they only made them in Izhevsk for three years, they were one of the higher quality ones, and they are the only ones to have an R stamped after the year, standing for "Year of God."

The single action ones are the "enlisted model" and the double action ones are the "officers model."

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=F3Nagant&groupid=3
 
I looked at the link, but didn't see any reference to different models, or SA/DA.

I would have thought they'd all be DA. Now I have something new to be concerned about.
 
All the Nagants that you see in the $100-$200 range will be DA "officer" models. The single action models are fairly uncommon. If you see an "enlisted" model in the DA price range, be skeptical - the double action revolver can be converted to single action with a bit of cutting and filing.

My understanding is that when the revolvers went through the refurb process, the SAs were "upgraded" to DA. All of the revolvers that the distributors are selling are refurbs.
 
I posted the link to provide you with a good site to buy one of the revolvers from. Not as information. Sorry if I mislead you.

As hardcase said, if you find a single action one, they will be much more expensive.

The one I bought from Aim Surplus (the link I posted) is in really good shape for being 60+ years old. Shoots really well, and the ammo from them is about 15 dollars cheaper per box than anywhere else I've seen. They are pretty fun to shoot. Its a fairly tame round, doesn't feel like it has a lot of power behind it at all, but still fun.
 
No need to apologise, I just needed clarification. I'm obviously new to the Nagant, and had no idea there were two different types.

Thanks to you both for the info, and the link.
 
I find my Nagant to be an excellent plinker - cast bullet loads work very well with steel spinner targets.
Reloading is extremely easy, if one gets past the need for the 'gas sealing' bit. (getting that funky crimp can be an exercise in frustration!) I use .32-20 brass and the Lee die set for the Nagant, and simply load as for any other revolver cartridge, bullet seated to just short enough for cylinder rotation. The lead bullets are widely availble too. Uses fairly little powder, so is very economical to load, and with power so low, the brass should last through many loading cycles.
During the recent ammo shortages, I found my Nagant cheaper to shoot than the rimfires. Makes a nice 'conversation piece' at the range too! Folks get real curious about the 'oldtimey gun' I am shooting. :)
I shoot mine pretty much SA all the time - the trigger pull isn't bad. With some practice, I can hold it steady enough for decent groups on DA, but it's a bit twitchy. My trigger pull gauge doesn't go high enough to measure the DA pull!
 
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