Nagant M1895
The
Nagant M1895 Revolver was designed and produced by a Belgian industrialist, Léon Nagant. It was adopted, in various forms, by the police and military services of
Sweden (in 7.5 mm. calibre),
Poland,
France (in 8 mm.), and, most importantly,
Russia, as the
model of 1895. Léon Nagant and his brother Emile were well known in the Russian czar's court and military administration because of the important part they had played in the design of the Russian service rifle, the
Mosin-Nagant model of 1891 The Nagant M1895 became the standard issue
side arm for Russian army and
police officers, later including the special services, the
NKVD and the
KGB.
Production began in Liege, Belgium, but was soon moved to Russia. The revolver began to be replaced by a more modern, semi-automatic pistol, the
Tokarev, in 1933, but it was still produced and used in great numbers during the "Great Patriotic War" (
World War II). Its distinctive shape and name helped it achieve cult status in Russia, and in the early 1930s the presentation of a Nagant M1895 revolver with an embossed Red Star was one of the greatest honours that could be bestowed on a Party Member. Production and usage continued until 1950, making it one of the longest-serving side arm in modern military history, however not longer than the
Webley Service Revolver (1887-1963) and the
Colt M1911 (1911-1984). It is still in use with the Russian Railways and various remote police forces.
Technical Characteristics
Virtually all other (non-gas seal)
revolvers have a small gap between the cylinder and the barrel; this is necessary to allow the cylinder to revolve, presenting a new, loaded chamber for firing. This, of course, necessitates the bullet's jumping this gap, which may have an adverse effect on accuracy, especially if the barrel and chamber are misaligned, and also presents a path for the escape of extremely high-pressure, high-temperature gases from behind the bullet (note: anyone who allows unprotected skin to come near this gap during a revolver's firing will get an unforgettable lesson). Although at the moment this feature is considered not very important in revolvers, back in 1895 before the emergence of small, inexpensive and effective semiautomatic pistols the advantages of the new scheme were worth fighting for.
The M1895 has a unique mechanism which, as the hammer is cocked, first turns the cylinder and then moves it forward, closing the gap between the cylinder and the barrel. The cartridge, also unique, also plays an important part in sealing the gun to the escape of propellant gases. The bullet is deeply seated, entirely within the cartridge case, and the case is slightly reduced in diameter at its mouth. The barrel features a short conical section at its rear; this accepts the mouth of the cartridge, completing the gas seal. By sealing the gap, the velocity of the bullet is increased by 50 to 150 ft/s (15 to 45 m/s), approximately, at the muzzle.
This closed firing system is similar to that of semi-automatic handguns and this means that the Nagant revolver, unlike other revolvers, could be effectively fitted with a
silencer, as indeed it was[
1]. During
World War 2, a small number of Nagant revolvers used by Russian recon and scout troops were outfitted with silencers known as the "Bramit device." The NKVD were known to use the silenced Nagant for assassinations. Silenced Nagant revolvers, modified in clandestine metalshops, also turned up in the hands of
Viet Cong guerrillas during the
Vietnam War, also as assassination weapons. There is an example of a silenced Nagant M1895 in the Museum in
Langley, Virginia.
However, the success had its price. Nagant revolvers had to be reloaded one cartridge at a time through a sliding door with the need to manually eject each of the used cartridges. Therefore, reloading was labourous and time consuming. However, the loaded revolver was more safe to carry around and could stay loaded for longer periods of time. This was a major factor in the longevity of the weapon: such feature made the weapon a good choice for the people who had to carry the gun a lot but didn't need to fire it often, like officers or policemen. This, the ability to use silencer plus a large amount of "free" Nagant revolvers available from Russian army reserves put the weapon on the short list of options whenever a self-defence gun was needed.
The Nagant M1895 was made in both
single-action and
double-action models before and during
WWI; they are known colloquially as the "Private model" and the "Officer's model", respectively. Production of the single-action model seems to have stopped after 1918, with some exceptions, including examples made for target competition. Most single-action revolvers were later converted to double-action, making original single-action revolvers rather rare.
Cartridge
|
7.62x38R (7.62 Nagant) cartridge, shown next to a .32 S&W Long Cartridge and a .22 LR cartridge for comparison. |
The Nagant M1895 fires a unique cartridge, the 7.62 mm Russian Nagant, also known as 7.62 x 38 mm Rimmed or "Cartridge, Type R." The bullet is deeply seated, below the mouth of the cartridge, and the cartridge crimp reduces the diameter of the mouth; this helps complete the gas seal. The 7.62 mm calibre was chosen, in part, to simplify the tooling used in barrel making; the Russian service rifle of the time featured an identical bore diameter. The calibre is not great in
stopping power, though flat-nosed bullets improve its performance, slightly, in this respect; these revolvers were beloved for their ruggedness and repairability, not their ballistic performance. Fiocchi of Italy manufactures cartridges in this chambering; they fire 98gr.
FMJ bullets at about 850 ft/s (260 m/s), which works out to an energy of 157 ft·lbf (213 J). Correct cartridges are hard-to-find and expensive in the US and Australia. The M1895 will safely chamber and fire .32 S&W Long ammunition, although the round is considerably weaker, and will not complete the "gas seal" resulting in less accuracy than the 7.62x38R round.
At the moment, a variant of Nagant redesigned for use with 9 mm cartridges is manufactured in Ukraine under brand name "SKAT-1" .
*
Modern Firearms: Nagant model of 1895 (Belgium - Russia)*
Know Your Nagant M1895 Revolver
