Russian Nagant

[oldfort]

I'm new to GBO. I believe that the Nagant revolvers are still some of buy best buys out there in the now drying up milsurp market. I have several. If you expect a 5# DA trigger pull, don't buy one. If you are looking for a nice old piece of history complete with flap holster, lanyard, and kit, under $100, they will fill your bill. Mayhap the perfect pickup/4-wheeler handgun. Per advise from Iner-Ordinance (I-O Inc now), I only use Fed .32mag JHP's in mine now with no improvements. They shoot fine, to the point of aim, and I've had no problems removing cases. I have never read of any problem with them. I-O did not recommend shooting lead bullets in the Nagant, due to shaving. Good luck.

[1911crazy]

Did you change the cylinder to 32acp?  Or are you shooting 32 mags i'm not too familiar with this round.  I just went and looked is it a 32 H&R mag round your using?

I hope the nagant becomes available again soon i wish i purchased more of them.

[oldfort]

I use the .32H&R Mag in Fed JHP in the standard factory cylinder. This was recommended by I-O on their site after they ran tests on .32 ammo for the Nagant and their findings were that .32mag JHP will work fine. They do not advise using lead bullets like .32 Longs because of the shaving. Before I used it, I did a lot of reading to compare the bullet diameters and pressures of the 7.62 Nagant and the .32 H&R Mag. They are very similar. I would never recommend using a different cartridge in a firearm unless I had verification and had done it myself.

FWIW, I found that the .32 acp cylinder cost almost as much as the revolver and is a pipsqueak. These are not target revolvers. Good luck.

[Duckdog]

I have 7 of them and I only shoot lead bullets, as I cast and reload for them.  I have never had any issues with lead shaving, but one can see some leading near the forcing cone. This can be prevented by a light coating of Lee Liquid Alox bullet lube on the cylinder face, forcing cone, and top strap.  It makes cleaning them a breeze.  I agree, this is one of the better surples deals out there.

[S.S.]

was their a disclaimer with I-O's advice to fire the wrong ammunition in these guns?
They are looking at a big liability problem when one of these guns blow up.
True they are sturdy revolvers at the proper operating pressure, but they will let go.
They make these claims to move these guns that there is little ammo for
out of their warehouse. They do not want to get stuck with them. However many times
somone gets away with over pressure rounds being fired is a crap shoot  Maybe it
will never blow, but be expecting it to go every time you squeeze the trigger.

[Hank08]

The problem wouldn't be the gun blowing up but the .32 H&R case is smaller and bulges when fired.  It could split and send some hot gases back toward the shooter, usually this doesn't happen but if reloaded enough times it could.  I have the extra cylinders for mine and
shoot lead in both the .32 S&W long and the .32 H&R mag. both very accurate.  At one time there was .30 mauser cylinders available but haven't seen them for awhile.
H08

[GRIMJIM]

You can still get milsurp ammo but I believe it is corrosive. Fiocchi makes it too but it's pricey.

[1911crazy]

Is the bore 7,62 like .308" ??  If it is a cylinder in 7,62x25 would be neat. Cheaper ammo.

I just purchased 100 rounds of new 7,62 nagant brass to load.  I have two boxes of new ammo but i would like to stock more of it.

[coyotejoe]

The best use for a Nagant is just to show off what was probably the dumbest idea ever adopted as a military handgun. So far as actually shooting .32 H&R in the Nagant chamber, not only is the chamber greatly oversize at the rear, .361" vs .335", but since the chambers have no throat they are also greatly oversize at the front. Mine measure .330-.331" at the mouth and wobbling a .312" bullet through that would make accuracy hopeless. The bullet will be nowhere close to straight and centered when it hits the bore and the bore has no forcing cone. I wouldn't worry about pressure, it's probably quite low since gas will be lost around the bullet in the greatly oversize chamber. I got one of the .32 ACP cylinders for 49 bucks and rechambered it to .32 H&R. It works but I still get 6" groups at 25 yards which is about what it does with the original cylinder and the Russian match ammo. There is good reason Nagants are cheap, they are pretty much wall hangers of no real practical value.

[Gerry N.]

There are folks with different ideas, expectations and results.  I got a rebuilt (1939) Nagant for pocket change as a promo from Century Arms quite a while back.  An hour of research in my tattered old copy of "Cartridges of the World" informed me that the 7.62mm Nagant Cartridge was a shoo-in for both .30 M1 Carbine and .32-20.  So I gambled ten bucks on 100 Remington .32-20 cases which I sized and loaded in my Lee Carbide .30 M1 Carbine die set.   I loaded Speer HBWC bullets made for .32 revolvers over .3 CC of Unique (Nominally 2.7 Grains).  Knowing full well that it isn't the "correct" ammunition, I shot it anyway, finding it a pleasant load to shoot, the empties falling from the cylinder of their own weight, no leading after the first 100 shots and accuracy meeting my hopes at minute of pop can out to about 25 yards.   So far case life seems to be unlimited,  with 10 loadings and no case failures.  Yet.

What could be better than that from a cool looking old war horse that I paid less than $50 for?  I've read lots of posts about folks fitting cylinders chambered in different cartridges with results ranging from OK to Disastrous and expenses from $50 to $Oh. My. God! and change.   

I like my old Nagant and will continue loading for and shooting it.

Gerry N.

[mrussel]

Its all about what you expect. When I buy an old gun in a obsolete caliber,I expect an old gun in an obsolete caliber. I expect to have to make ammo for it. I started reloading to save money. I quickly found that not only can I save money,I can make better ammo. After that,I found that not only can I save money,and make better ammo,I can make ammo,better than factory,cheaper than I could buy (even if it was available) ,in chamberings that are no longer available. Now the only question is,do I like the gun. Whether or not the ammo is available is irrelevant. Actually,its getting to be part of the fun making oddball cartridges. In fact,Ive been looking at the Nagants recently,BECAUSE they use an odd ball cartridge.

[coyotejoe]

I'm new to GBO. I believe that the Nagant revolvers are still some of buy best buys out there in the now drying up milsurp market. I have several. If you expect a 5# DA trigger pull, don't buy one. If you are looking for a nice old piece of history complete with flap holster, lanyard, and kit, under $100, they will fill your bill. Mayhap the perfect pickup/4-wheeler handgun. Per advise from Iner-Ordinance (I-O Inc now), I only use Fed .32mag JHP's in mine now with no improvements. They shoot fine, to the point of aim, and I've had no problems removing cases. I have never read of any problem with them. I-O did not recommend shooting lead bullets in the Nagant, due to shaving. Good luck.

Graf & Sons, Midway and several other sources have 7.62 Nagant ammo in stock at this time. Midway's price for PRVI brand is $25.99 per box of 50 compared to $34.49 for Black Hills .32 H&R mag or Federal .32 H&R at $15.49 for 20 rounds. There clearly is no excuse for using the wrong ammo in the Nagant now that the correct ammo is not only available but is even cheaper than the make-do stuff. Both the Prvi and Fiocchi brass is boxer primed and reloadable with bullets of .308-.312" diameter. I don't understand why people insist on taking the roundabout and dangerous approach when the correct ammo can be had..

[mrussel]

I'm new to GBO. I believe that the Nagant revolvers are still some of buy best buys out there in the now drying up milsurp market. I have several. If you expect a 5# DA trigger pull, don't buy one. If you are looking for a nice old piece of history complete with flap holster, lanyard, and kit, under $100, they will fill your bill. Mayhap the perfect pickup/4-wheeler handgun. Per advise from Iner-Ordinance (I-O Inc now), I only use Fed .32mag JHP's in mine now with no improvements. They shoot fine, to the point of aim, and I've had no problems removing cases. I have never read of any problem with them. I-O did not recommend shooting lead bullets in the Nagant, due to shaving. Good luck.

Graf & Sons, Midway and several other sources have 7.62 Nagant ammo in stock at this time. Midway's price for PRVI brand is $25.99 per box of 50 compared to $34.49 for Black Hills .32 H&R mag or Federal .32 H&R at $15.49 for 20 rounds. There clearly is no excuse for using the wrong ammo in the Nagant now that the correct ammo is not only available but is even cheaper than the make-do stuff. Both the Prvi and Fiocchi brass is boxer primed and reloadable with bullets of .308-.312" diameter. I don't understand why people insist on taking the roundabout and dangerous approach when the correct ammo can be had..

 I have to agree. The first rule of firearms is,only fire the correct ammo in your gun. There is also re-loadable brass readily available. Ive heard that some of it isnt quite as long as the originals,so it doesnt get the gas seal,but it IS proper,safe ammo to use. (IF and ONLY if you do your part right and don't try to get 357 velocities out of an old gun that should not have pressures over around 11000psi in it.) Ive actually thought that it might be possible to make brass of the correct length by swaging down a 357 Maximum case and then trimming the rim on the lathe. I think I would have to be extra careful though. I bet the 357 Max brass will be a lot stronger and thicker than the original stuff which means less internal volume and also might mean that signs of over pressure that I might otherwise see will not be visible until I am WAY past the safe operating limit of the gun. (That comes to mind from a message I was reading about a guy who was talking about making some really hot +P loads for his 45 using 45super brass. My first thought was,that he was going to end up working up a load in the 45 super pressure ranges,because that's what the cartridge could take before showing signs of over pressure.)

[coyotejoe]

GOOD GRIEF!!!

[mrussel]

I'm new to GBO. I believe that the Nagant revolvers are still some of buy best buys out there in the now drying up milsurp market. I have several. If you expect a 5# DA trigger pull, don't buy one. If you are looking for a nice old piece of history complete with flap holster, lanyard, and kit, under $100, they will fill your bill. Mayhap the perfect pickup/4-wheeler handgun. Per advise from Iner-Ordinance (I-O Inc now), I only use Fed .32mag JHP's in mine now with no improvements. They shoot fine, to the point of aim, and I've had no problems removing cases. I have never read of any problem with them. I-O did not recommend shooting lead bullets in the Nagant, due to shaving. Good luck.

 Where can I find one?