Nagant 7.62 Revolver Operation

[Moccasin]

I hope you can actually see the difference in the location of the cylinder in these pictures. For anyone not familiar with this revolver the cylinder moves to close the gap between it and the barrel as you cock the pistol. The movement of the cylinder coupled with the unique design of the ammunition is supposed to make a gas seal that increases the velocity of the bullet. The Nagant revolver is the only one I've ever seen that does this.

In this pic you can see the table through the gap.


In this pic the gap has closed.


And this is the ammo it uses. The bullet is seated inside the casing, the crimp at the end of the casing expands to complete the seal.

[TJB63]

Hey Moc,

As a New Member I'll try to keep it short.

Just thought I'd let you know, You can get away with firing .32 Longs and .32 H&R Magnums out of these guns. The actual Nagant 7.62x38R is hard to find and expensive when you do. They are also hard to shoot double action, the ones I own must have something in excess of a 20lb pull, So I only shoot them single action.

It's an interesting design and in theory is one of the few (if not the only) revolvers that a Silencer would actually work on, unlike the old 60's and 70's cop shows of cans on .38 S&W's.

Nice post and great pics BTW

TJB

[Moccasin]

TJB,

I was aware of that but had not thought to post that .32 Longs and .32 H&R Magnums could be used in them. There is also a conversion cylinder available which accepts, I believe, .32 ACP. My particular pistol will not accept the conversion cylinder though. The dealer I bought it from had tried to convert it but couldn't so he markerd it down a little.

I haven't had trouble finding the 7.62 Nagant round, I ordered 2 boxes of HotShot early last week and received it 3 days later. At $24.00 per box it is a little more expensive than most other handgun ammo but that's OK since I wanted the gun because it and the ammo are unique. I think the 7.62 Nagant is actually easier to find now than most other ammo.

[TJB63]

Hey Moc,

I forgot all about the .32 ACP conversion cylinder, I've heard they are hit or miss and require fitting to get to work right. The cheapest I've ever seen them was around $60 - Which is what I paid for the gun, So I never thought it frugal to get one.

I haven't bought any .32 mags or longs in awhile, I guess they are way overpriced like all other ammo. I may have to track down some of the Nagant ammo and give it a try. Is it a full powered load? I had a box of the Yellow stuff for target shooting, basically a wad cutter, recoil was so light, there was no fun factor.

They are very interesting guns with lots of history behind them, and best of all they are still cheap. With a C&R they can be had for $80, probably cheaper if I did some searching.

TJB

[Moccasin]

TJB,

Somewhere I thought I had read Nagants made either before or after a certain year couldn't use the .32 ACP conversion cylinder, I figured mine fell into that category. If I can locate that again I'll post the info.

As far as I know the 7.62 Nagant HotShot round is a full power load. I haven't fired mine so I'm not sure how much recoil these rounds have.

[Tinygnat219]

Ok.

I used to shoot a brace of these Nagants in Cowboy Action so I have a bit of an opinion on the whole .32 Long and .32 H&R Magnum options in a Nagant.
The truth is you can fire the .32 S&W Long rounds. Just expect a LOT of leading up by the forcing cone. My Nagants would tend to lead up pretty fierce after about 50 rounds or so. I kept a set of dental picks with me and on a lunch break, I'd pick off some of that lead.

For .32 H&R DO NOT fire this in a Nagant. I tried this one time and it's the only time I have had the SH** scared out of me when firing a handgun. The lead bullet hit the forcing cone and then shavings of lead splintered off and cut up my left hand pretty bad. I know there are some folks out there that insist it's ok. However, they are foolish if they continue this practice.

BTW, 7.62X38R has come down in price. Southern Ohio Gun has it for 23.95 for a box of 50. That's about equal to 9MM these days.

[TJB63]

Thanks for the Info Tiny,

What you say makes a lot of sense, Is the Nagant ammo you mentioned the Full Power loads, or is that Yellow Box Wadcutter junk. I had some of that and wasn't impressed at all, Felt like I was shooting a Cap Gun.

TJB

[Tinygnat219]

TJB,

The ammo I was referring to is the "Hotshot" ammo. The Yellow boxed stuff is loaded much weaker. In general, the "hottest" loads for the Nagant I have found are the Fiocchi loads, but they are also 10 bucks more a box on average. I'd recommend the "Hotshot" ammo.

[TJB63]

Thanks Tiny,
I'll look for some at the next show. I still have some of that Yellow box stuff around here somewhere, It was that Unimpressive to shoot.
TJB

[Tinygnat219]

Thanks Tiny,
I'll look for some at the next show. I still have some of that Yellow box stuff around here somewhere, It was that Unimpressive to shoot.
TJB

TJB,

I got it from Southern Ohio Gun for 23.95 a box.

25 shipped.

[vchawk]

Thanks,Tiny,for a moment there I was thinkin' someone was going to recommend firing the 327 federal in the nagan!Yowzaa!