Nagant Revolvers?

[lemko]

I was at the recent gun show at the Philadelphia Armory and one vendor had a crate full of Nagant revolvers that were drowned in cosmoline. The vendor was asking $125 each. Don't know much about the Nagant revolver.

1. How good of a revolver are they?
2. Don't they take some kind of weird caliber ammo that is difficult to find?
3. Would've $125 been a good price for this oddball?
4. Don't they have some strange kind of action?

If I had $125 to waste, I might've bought one as a lark.

[Azzy]

As good as most russian surplus. Can be pretty decent, but a very heavy trigger pull can hurt accuracy.

They use a forward sealing cartridge, and it can be hard to find locally, but you can find it around. Not sure on the reload-ability. they can also be converted to fire 32auto, but Ive heard that's a finicky conversion.

Last I looked, around $100 was going price for these, but its been a bit.

The action not only rotates the cylinder and cocks the hammer, but pushes the cylinder forward so there is no gas blow-by in a gap between the barrel./ One of the interesting things about this action is one can be suppressed, which is not a feature that revolvers usually can have.

[Advocate]

I love my nagant wheel gun. I'd never use it for self defense, but its fun to shoot and the low power ammo that you find produced today is good for new shooters.

$125 new in cosmoline sound about right...

As stated above, they use a forward moving cylinder that seals the round to the barrel. The idea was that it would increase muzzle velocity since you aren't losing gases like you would in a normal revolver. This worked with military power rounds, but with the ultra low power stuff made today, its a moot point.

The trigger is ultra heavy and nothing to write home about (unless it's to complain), but its also DA/SA so you can choose. The ammo is not as hard to find anymore, but can be a little pricy.

All in all its a neat gun, cheap to own and not so cheap to feed. I keep mine for history, mechanical uniqueness and as a beginner revolver for new shooters.

[Snuff]

I also seen them there, forgot all about looking into them,

[Noah_Zark]

IMO, the Nagant revolver should be purchased only for its historical interest or mechanical curiosity.

As a shooter, it has a number of things against it:

1) Ammo is costly -- ~$30 for 50 cartridges
2) Ammo is mostly unobtaniun -- Midway, Ammunition to Go, Sportsmans Guide, Cheaper than Dirt all show it Out of Stock.
3) The trigger pull is horrendous; the Nagant is NOT a target pistol -- you might be able to hit someone across the room, just no guarantee where.
4) At one time, 32 cal conversion cylinders were available but they are unobtanium. In addition, they were NOT "drop in" conversions and many if not most of them needed fitted to specific revolvers in order to function at all, let alone correctly. Remember, the Nagant revolvers were all hand-fitted.

If you want one, fine, but buy one only if you have $125+ tax to blow on a curiosity you won't shoot that much, either by cost or by unavailability of ammo.

7.62 Nagant revolver ammo brings to mind the line repeated by the "Pickers:" "The time to buy something unusual is when you see it." If you have a Nagant revolver and see some ammo in a shop, BUY IT, regardless of price, because it may be a long time before you find any more.

JMO,

Noah

[Raystown]

I saw the crate there also .. Dripping in cosmoline .. Neat looking revolver.

[mp517prct]

.32 S&W and .32 H&R Magnum can both be fired out of a Nagant revolver without conversions, however there are two downsides. First, the case blows out to the dimensions of the Nagant's chamber, making them practically unreloadable, the Nagant is a .30 caliber, the ammo is .32 caliber so the barrel "shaves" a little off of the bullet when it leaves the cylinder, this means extra cleanup, usually with a small screwdriver or pocket knife when you're done shooting.

.32S&W is far easier to find than 7.62 Nagant and you're typically looking at $20-$25 for a box of 50 for it.

[thebearpack]

3) The trigger pull is horrendous; the Nagant is NOT a target pistol -- you might be able to hit someone across the room, just no guarantee where.

QFT. I couldn't sell mine fast enough. It was cool for about three seconds and then got dumped into the "what the hell was I thinking" pile right next to my Enfield No 2 MK 1.

[cruzans]

You can usually get them at J&G for $99 but with shipping, gets close to the $125 price. I bought mine for the "neat" factor. Ammo very expensive, and a pain to load, eject, re-load, etc.. As mentioned by others, nice gun for the history and neat factor, but not for taking to the range regularly

[leplat]

I have a buddy that reloads them. Absolutely luvs his. I plan on picking one up and reloading for it.

The fact that they can be suppressed is just flat out AWESOME and that is another major reason I want one.