The M1895 Nagant Revolver

I do have a preference for revolvers, especially old ones¹. When it comes to actually shooting, I prefer something reliable and rugged, like a Smith & Wesson, Colt or Ruger. But when it comes to collectables, I have a real affinity for the unusual and the baroque. For instance: I'd really like a .455 Webley (or better yet, a Webley-Folksberry semi-automatic revolver!) But those can get expensive. 

For the fan of unusual, complicated, obsolete revolvers on a budget, there's always the M1895 Nagant.  This is one of the worst sidearms ever issued to regular troops. It's slow to load (and unload), and has the heaviest double-action pull of any revolver I've ever come across. It uses a very unusual design, with a brass cartridge that actually protrudes beyond the front of the cylinder. When the gun is cocked, or the trigger is pulled, the cylinder moves forward until it touches the forcing cone of the barrel. The front of the cartridge is inserted into the barrel, and when fired, it expands, making a gas seal. This feature adds a lot of complexity to the design without providing much of an advantage for the regular soldiers who carried them, although it does make the 1895 Nagant one of the very few revolvers that can be silenced. 

There's a good deal of original Russian 7.62 Nagant ammunition to be had, priced anywhere from $0.35/round to as high as $0.80. Enough of these are in circulation that you can also buy newly made ammunition for them from Prvi Partizan for $21.95/50. Reloaders can buy dies that will allow them to load .32-20 cartridges to fit, although such cartridges won't have the gas seal feature. There are even newly-made cylinders available that will allow you to fire .32 S&W or .32 ACP cartridges in your M1895- if you really want to.

Originally issued to the Imperial Russian Army, it was later used by Soviet troops, and in shortened version is was a favorite of various secret police units, from the Cheka to the NKVD. Despite the availability of better designs (and the Soviets were not shy about copying weapons that worked well) it stayed in production all the way through WWII. On the plus side, it's a very rugged gun. Firing a low-pressure cartridge and being heavily overbuilt, it was reliable, if not terribly accurate. For back of the head executions in the basement of the Lubianka prison it was accurate enough. 

I came very close to buying an example I saw at Gander Mountain today. It was $149, which didn't seem high, as distributors like J&G Sales are selling similar arsenal refinished models with dark bores for $99. (Most also have select bores for $20 more.) I walked around the store for a while, thinking it over, but decided to hold out for a better example with a shiny bore.  There are a lot of them around, and I'm sure I'll find a nice example before too long. Of course, if I'd kept my C&R license (I let it lapse years ago without ever having used it) I could order one direct. Hmm.

Followup: I eventually did buy one, and I've since learned that there were also .22 caliber models and a target model!

¹ Seen on the Internet: 

"With a revolver in hand, I feel like Eliot Ness pursuing Al Capone, or Indiana Jones chasing a Nazi tank on horseback, or Phillip Marlowe going down the mean streets of L.A. With a semiauto in hand, I feel like I'm holding a hair dryer."