Stricken with buyer's remorse, aka help me love my Nagant revolver

[GatorFarmer]

I could not find a reasonably priced beater shotgun today. Instead, I purchased the first Nagant revolver I had seen in the flesh for a while. I paid 185, which looking on gunbroker is a bit high, but not wholly unreasonable if you figure in that I'd have had shipping and a transfer fee.

I first read about these way back in the mid 80s as a kid, long before they were commonly imported en masse from Russia in later years. It was an article in Combat Handguns or some such about obscure house guns, anx how the author had a Nagant. It stuck in my head and I wanted one.

I did not buy one when they were cheap and plentiful. Now they are drying up and I do not imagine they will get any cheaper. So I bought the sole example I have seen in a while. It is a Century Arms import that left a Soviet factory in 1945.

Another $20 got my three cardboard boxes, 14rds in each, of unknown surplus ammo. There is no writing at all on the little boxes

Huh. Ghastly double action pull. Single action pull that is merely terrible. Expensive ish ammo that is uncommon and under powered....

Maybe I should have made an offer on that top break H&R in .32 S&W I saw... or bought a Hi Point.

I guess my new toy is an interesting piece of history. It may have been there for the fall of Berlin or the Soviet invasion of Manchuria after all. It is also somewhat mechanically interesting. But is it actually good for anything in terms of practical use?

 

[i1afli]

I've been tempted to get one of these on a few occasions...I believe that you just talked me out of doing so. Thanks.

 

[snuffy51]

Can't really lose much, its only money.

Tie it in a small tree, pull the trigger with at least 20 ft. of string. If it doesn't blow up, good deal. Another gun is always good. I've bought several, most people would consider real beaters, that survived my "test" and turned out to be fun, just throw in the truck, shooters and some that "were" junk for the just in case might actually have a part box. Can't make a living on it but is fun.

 

[reddog81]

It's a great gun to work on maintaining good sight picture and strengthening your trigger finger. If you can shoot that gun accurately in double action you can shoot anything.
Trying to reload the rounds is also a very unique and interesting exercise. I believe I use 32 s&w long expander die , a 357 seater die and 30 carbine crimp die.

 

[tops]

You could have went out on the town and spent $200. and not have anything to show for it the next morning. Now you have a gun to show for your money. Looks to me like a better investment than a chunk of beef and a bottle of kickapoo juice. Larry

 

[alwslate]

Back when they were more plentyful I looked at many on the auction
sites that were cheap and looked like new and was tempted. But I
talked myself out of buying one by thinking about what else I could
get for the same or a little more money. Like an old K frame S&W in
the common 38 spl or something similar. Going to a gun shop or gun
show with cash burning a hole in your pocket often leads to buyer's
remorse.

 

[GatorFarmer]

I have, to be fair, never heard of anyone coming to harm with a Nagant or having one fail catastrophically. The Russians do build solid guns. Some people fire these with .32 SW Long or .32 HR Mag rounds with various results reported. They also did serve in both WW1 and 2, the Russian Civil War and other conflicts.

I will shoot up a few rounds of the mystery surplus tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[murphydog]

An odd but interesting piece of history. If you find a .32 ACP aftermarket cylinder for it you'll probably shoot it more.

 

[texmex]

Maybe this will cheer you up.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO6q_mFjEUg[/ame]

 

[LVSteve]

Didn't know there was an album version of that tune.

 

[cgt4570]

You can make your own reloads with resized .32-20 brass or you can shoot .32 H&R Mag as-is. .32 S&W Long tends to bulge a bit but you can wrap a layer of scotch tape around it to prevent that. As for the trigger pull, take the grips off and wedge a .38 cal wadcutter between the mainspring and frame. That will take some tension off the mainspring and lighten the pull a bit.

 

[Roadtrash]

I have one that I've never fired. My uncle brought it back from WWII, took it off a Russian officer that had been killed.

 

[STCM(SW)]

I have one but the better half won't let me shoot it till Christmas..
Ammo was not bad, about $24 I think.
Only reason is it has a built date of 1941.
My birth year.

I have Lee dies, brass and original bullets to load it with if I live that long... LOL!

 

[PatriotX]

Get a suppressor for it.

 

[Andyd]

Buyer's remorse

I am very familiar with it. I didn't need a .22 l.r. lever action but got the Uberti 1866 nevertheless. It had a few issues that I addressed and it is now a fun-gun.

After all, time heals all wounds.

 

[Collo Rosso]

I guess my new toy is an interesting piece of history. It may have been there for the fall of Berlin or the Soviet invasion of Manchuria after all. It is also somewhat mechanically interesting. But is it actually good for anything in terms of practical use?

Now you know why the Soviets used human wave tactics.

 

[ralph7]

I had one that would rotate the cylinder, but not drop the hammer in double action.
That firing pin is just in time for Halloween.

Mine's gone, don't miss it.

 

[Rick_A]

When it comes to cheap revolvers, I'd rather have a shooter grade model 10.

The Nagants are ugly, quirky guns.

But hey, I like guns, and it qualifies.

 

[Grayfox]

Many years ago a friend gave me one of these as a Christmas present. Yeah, they were that cheap back then. It came with the holster, tool kit and lanyard too. He wouldn't tell me exactly what he paid, but I know the whole package was less than $75.
At the time ammo was very hard to find and darned expensive. So I picked up a .32acp cylinder for about $25. I don't know if anybody still offers the cylinders, but regular 7.62 Nagant ammo has become much more available in the last few years and is reasonably priced.
Its fairly easy to take apart and will definitely benefit from a bit of internal polishing. But even so, the trigger is still plumb awful.
Over all it is a unique, historical piece that's actually a lot of fun to shoot. It does draw attention at the range and gets some interesting conversations started. About half the fun is watching someone totally unfamiliar with the Nagant try to shoot the thing.
No, its not a target gun and I sure wouldn't use it for self defense. But it is an interesting range toy and a hoot to shoot.

BTW: In the last year or so I've seen several of these at gun shows priced at $225. So you actually did pretty good on yours.

 

[deadin]

No, its not a target gun

I seem to remember a "Target" version of the Nagant being offered a few years ago. It had adjustable sights and some kind of a semi-ergo grip.