1895 Nagant

[cbourbeau32]

I am considering purchasing one (or more) of these pistols. I would like to ask the owners of these pistols to share their experiences good and bad. I am also interested in those who have reloaded for these guns. If I buy one I will use the Lee reloader with the 32-20 brass. Thanks in advance. Charlie

[Lee N. Fielder]

The 1895 Nagant is a well-built archaic revolver whose prime attraction to the shooting enthusiast is its low price.  If they cost $350 then only collectors would buy them, and they wouldn't shoot 'em.  They don't have enough power to be a good self-defense gun and the DA trigger pull is horrendous.  About the only good legitimate use they have is as a field kit gun for dispatching small varmints.  Good gun for a trapper on a budget maybe.

Having said that, they are an incredibly neat piece of 19th century engineering and a lot of fun to plink with.

Once you acquire a Nagant then before you buy any reloading equipment you need to get your hands on some .32-20 empty brass and see if it will allow the cylinder to index in your gun.  The .32-20 rim thickness is over .010" thicker than the factory 7.62 Nagant rim and it causes all my Nagants to bind up.  You can solve this problem by grinding down the recoil plate on the revolver, but now you're into modifiying the gun and the headspace will be too great if you ever decide to shoot the correct factory ammo.  Starline .32-20 brass has a rim that is just a smidge thinner than Remington or Winchester brass and so you are likely to have your greatest success with it.

The Lee 7.62 Nagant die set is designed to modify .32-20 brass so it will work in the Nagant, but it's not carbide so you'll have to lube all the cases.  Additionally, the dies come with no provision for seating the bullets below flush in the cases.  You can make a seater out of a 1/4-20 screw, but it's a fairly primitive set-up.  It DOES work though.

I buy HotShot 7.62 Nagant ammo whenever Century Arms puts it on sale for $18 a box (as it is now through the month of February).  I then reload the factory cases using Lee M1 Carbine carbide dies and a RCBS #1 shell holder.  I use a Berry's plated 98 grain DEWC bullet over 3.5 grains of Unique powder.

I seat the bullets below flush using a .223 bullet seater and I crimp using the crimp die that came with the Lee 7.62 Nagant set.  I have to adapt so many different dies to make Nagant ammo that in hindsight I would have been smarter to just pony up the extra money and buy a correct RCBS die set (of course, the RCBS die set costs twice as much as the Nagant revolver). 

It takes twice as long to load true 7.62 Nagant ammo as it does any other conventional revolver cartridge.  Ultimately, unless you are going to shoot your Nagant a lot I think you are better off just buying a few boxes of the HotShot ammo, but if you are a die-hard reloader like me then you won't be able to resist the temptation to roll your own.  Still, you need to ascertain whether or not your Nagant will take .32-20 cases before you go too far down that road.  Neither my 1941 Tula nor my 1944 Ishevsk will work with the thick-rimmed .32-20 cases.  Good luck.

-Lee

[cbourbeau32]

Thanks Lee for the detailed answer. Charlie

[NRAJOE]

Ya gotta have at least one....

I got a 1938 Tula in excellent rearsenal condition.

Fun to shoot (especially with the Russian yellowbox ammo...I got 13 boxes of the stuff) the stuff is corrosive and stnky...


But don't expect to win any shooting contests with it.

The new HOTSHOT ammo is available (About $22.50/50 rds) I have some but haven't shot it yet.

Mine at 25 yds shoots low and to the left...but once you compensate for it its not too bad...double action pull is horrible...single action is better but not that great (about 10 lbs!) 

But they are HISTORY....

Heres a great page for info:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/4064/PersCollection/M1895page.html

[coyotejoe]

The experience of Lee N. Fielder exactly parallels my own, I even resorted to the same die combination to reload. Lots of people speak of using 32/20 brass as if that is the standard but it will not work in my Nagant revolver unless I thin the rims, which is not easy. Further more, since the chambers are cut for the full length case, accuracy is hopeless from a shorter case. You're trying to run a .312" bullet through a chamber throat of .335" or larger. About like firing a 44/40 cartridge in a .45 Colt cylinder. Also, the barrel does not have a conventional revolver forcing cone but is throated to accept the case mouth, yet another reason shorter cases don't work very well. Only Nagant brass truly works in a Nagant revolver. There were rumors that "Starline" would produce the Nagant brass but they ran into problems and I don't know what ever happened with it. The Russian brass is Berdan primed and not reloadable. The Fiocchi brand ammo available from Graff & Sons is good stuff and is reloadable.
  You can get a new cylinder chambered for .32 ACP, at nearly the cost of the revolver, but you still have the issue of a barrel with no forcing cone and accuracy with mine has been poor.

[Hank08]

I have the .32 cylinder rechambered to .32 H&R mag. and have had excellent results with it.
It shot high so had to make the front sight a little taller, now it's 0 about 40 yds. will shoot 2" sometime less at 25Yds. as good as most revolvers.  I shoot a 115 gr. cast plainbase bullet with 2400 powder @ 1100 FPS.  I've shot a ton of jackrabbits with it.  Some shooters use
.32 S&W longs in the original cylinder, seems to shoot ok but bulges the cases. I've been pretty happy with mine, planning to buy another for parts although these guns are tough and not noted for breaking.
H08

[Gerry N.]

I must be the luckiest M95 owner in the country. Mine is a 1939 Ivestk with a rebuild stamp, perfect bluing, perfect bore and I got it with a new, unissued Turk Mauser on a coupon deal from Century about ten years ago upon getting  getting my C&R.  I paid $59.95, shipping included, for the pair.

I load for it using .32-20 Remington brass using Lee carbide .30 Carbine dies.   I had a little trouble getting one chamber to let go of the brass after firing and found the rim of the brass hanging up on the boss of the cylinder at the back.  I chucked the cylinder in my lathe and turned .005" off the boss.  It's difficult describing it.  The rims are thin enough for my gun to work fine.   I found a partial box of .32 cal. 98 gr. HBWC's in a gun shop and paid five dollars for 'em.  It was a 500 count box over 3/4 full.  Anyway loaded with, I think, 2.5 gr. of bullseye it shoots a tad low and centered at 15, 2 1/2" low at 25.  Another half grain of Bullseye raises the 25 yd. group to center.  The brass falls out of the cylinder by gravity alone.  I haven't chronied it but loaded hollow base out, a body hit on a rabbit results in red jello. Loaded the way they're supposed to be they just punch a neat .314" hole through the bunny.  Anyway, it is my fishing, camping and hunting sidearm.  It's good for that, small light and easy to carry.

I tried a 130 gr Lee cast bullet  (C-309-130-R, discontinued) with 3.5 Gr. Unique.  Funny load, No pressure signs, easy extraction, nasty recoil and that scrawny little grip with the teeth in it hurts.  It hits 2" above poi at 15 yards and patterns about 10 inches.  It doesn't do any better at lower loads, so I went back to the hollow base wadcutters.  I consider it to be a 20 yard pistol.  Here in the People's Soviet of Washington it is a legal deer gun.  Not a good one, a legal one, so I carry it in case of the need for a coup de gras on a deer. Or as a persuader in case of............Need.

If I shoot it from a bench or braced on a tree, it will put seven shots into about 5" at 25 yds, 2" at 15.  Minute of pop can.  Trying that double action doubles or triples the size of the group.  My gun has a clean, crisp single action trigger pull of about 4 lbs.  Not S&W good, but good.

Gerry N

[njanear]

I must be the luckiest M95 owner in the country. Mine is a 1939 Ivestk with a rebuild stamp, perfect bluing, perfect bore and I got it with a new, unissued Turk Mauser on a coupon deal from Century about ten years ago upon getting  getting my C&R.  I paid $59.95, shipping included, for the pair.

Either you got a one of a kind Izhevsk  (Circled Triangle with an arrow) or a 1939 Tula (Star with Arrow)...   

They are very neat revolvers.  I have owned quite a few but never got around to trying to reload them.