Nagant M1895
{{Short description|Revolver used in the Russian Empire}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name = Nagant M1895
| image = Nagant Revolver.jpg
| caption = A Nagant M1895 produced in 1941 by the Tula Arsenal with its 7.62×38mmR ammunition
| type = Revolver
| service = 1895–present{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
| wars = Boxer Rebellion
Russo-Japanese War
World War I
Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Civil War
Finnish Civil War
Estonian War of Independence
Polish-Soviet War
Spanish Civil War
Winter War
World War II
Chinese Civil War
Hukbalahap Rebellion
Korean War
Vietnam War
Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)
| designer = Léon Nagant
| number = ~2,000,000
| length = 10.5 in (235 mm)
| action = Double action, Single-action
| image_size = 300
| is_ranged = yes
| used_by = See Users
| design_date = 1886
| manufacturer = Nagant, Soviet Arsenals (Tula & Izhevsk), Państwowa Fabryka Karabinów{{cite web | author=Tadeusz Kozieł | title=Przemysł zbrojeniowy w Polsce w latach 1918-1939 |trans-title=Arms industry in Poland between 1918 and 1939 | year=2007 | work=konflikty.pl | url=http://www.konflikty.pl/a,597,Pozna_nowozytnosc,Przemysl_zbrojeniowy_w_Polsce_w_latach_1918-1939.html | access-date=2013-08-08 |language=pl}}
| production_date = 1895–1945
| variants = See Variants
| weight = 1.8 lb (0.8 kg), unloaded
| part_length = 4.5 in (114 mm)
| cartridge = 7.62×38mmR
.32 ACP (aftermarket cylinder)
| rate = 14–21 rounds/min
| velocity = 1100 ft/s (335 m/s){{cite web|url=https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/the-model-1895-nagant-revolver/|title=The Model 1895 Nagant Revolver|first=Philip|last=Schreier|date=July 18, 2022|website=Shooting Illustrated: An Official Journal Of The NRA}}{{cite web|url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-1895-nagant-revolver-a-look-back/|title=The 1895 Nagant Revolver: A Look Back|first=Dave|last=Campbell|date=August 9, 2020 |website=American Rifleman}}
| range = 50 yds (46 m){{cite web|url=http://www.chuckhawks.com/nagant_revolver.htm |title=Dossier Nagant Revolver |publisher=Chuckhawks.com |access-date=2010-07-20}}
| max_range =
| feed = 7-round cylinder
| sights = Fixed front post and rear notch
}}
The Nagant M1895 is a seven-shot, gas-seal revolver designed and produced by Belgian industrialist Léon Nagant for the Russian Empire.
The Nagant M1895 was chambered for a proprietary cartridge, 7.62×38mmR, and features a gas-seal system, in which the cylinder moves forward when the gun is cocked, to close the gap between the cylinder and the barrel, providing a boost to the muzzle velocity of the bullet and allowing the weapon to be suppressed. Its design would inspire the Pieper M1893 carbine{{cite web|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/mexican-pieper-revolving-carbine/|title=Mexican Pieper Revolving Carbine|first=Ian|last=McCollum|date=January 28, 2015|website=Forgotten Weapons}} and Steyr 1893 revolver.{{cite web|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/steyr-1893-gas-seal-trials-revolver/|title=Steyr 1893 Gas-Seal Trials Revolver|first=Ian|last=McCollum|date=December 26, 2018|website=Forgotten Weapons}}
History
The Nagant was designed by Léon Nagant, whose brother Émile had also taken part in designing the Mosin–Nagant rifle.{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=8}} The Nagant M1895 was adopted as the standard issue sidearm for the Imperial Russian Army and police officers, where it replaced earlier Smith & Wesson models such as the Model 3.Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 248.
Production began in Liège, Belgium; however Russia purchased the manufacturing rights in 1898, and moved production to the Tula Arsenal in Russia, and was soon producing 20,000 examples per year.
It was produced in two versions: a double-action version for officers, and a cheaper single-action version for the lower ranks.{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=9}} Seven Nagant revolvers were used by communist revolutionaries to kill the Russian imperial family and their servants in July 1918.Rappaport, The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg (2009), p. 181 After the Russian Revolution, only the double-action version was made. Nagant revolvers were used by the NKVD and Red Army units until the end of World War II, with a total of 2,000,000 produced.{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=10, 40}} The Nagant began to be replaced by the Tokarev semi-automatic pistol in 1933, and was formally replaced by the Makarov in 1952, though Nagant revolvers continued to see limited use in the Korean War and Vietnam War.{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=Dave |title=The 1895 Nagant Revolver: A Look Back |url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-1895-nagant-revolver-a-look-back/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=American Rifleman |language=en}}
Technical characteristics
The M1895 has a 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, plays an important part in sealing the gun to prevent 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 15 to 45 m/s (50 to 150 ft/s.) This feature also eliminates the possibility of injury from gases escaping through the gap, which can injure a finger if the user holds the gun with a finger positioned beside the gap.{{cite web|author=Published on Nov 11, 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nucg5VAff4c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/nucg5VAff4c |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Mythbusters Revolver Cylinder Gap |publisher=YouTube |date=2012-11-11 |access-date=2020-05-07}}{{cbignore}} The Nagant's sealed firing system meant that the Nagant revolver, unlike most other revolvers, could make effective use of a sound suppressor, and suppressors were sometimes fitted to it.{{cite web |date=2000-09-18 |title=Silenced 7.62 mm Nagant Revolver |url=http://guns.connect.fi/gow/nagant.html |access-date=2010-07-20 |publisher=Guns.connect.fi}}File:Nagant-holstered.jpg
The disadvantage of this design is that Nagant revolvers were laborious and time-consuming to reload, with the need to manually eject each of the used cartridges, and reload one cartridge at a time through a loading gate. At the time the revolver was designed, this system was obsolete. In British service the Webley Revolver used a top-break cylinder and star extractor to simultaneously eject all spent cartridges and in American service the Smith & Wesson Model 10 employed a similar system but with a swing-out cylinder. The Nagant with its side-loading gate, and ejector rod to remove spent cartridges individually in succession was for all its novelty, outdated as a military revolver in this regard. However, the Nagant design did have the advantage of requiring less machining than more modern formats.
The Nagant M1895 has a heavy trigger pull (about 12 lbs for single and 20 lbs for double).
Cartridges
= Russian =
{{main|7.62×38mmR}}
File:7.62NagantCartridge.JPG 7.62mm Nagant is also known as 7.62×38mmR (Rimmed) or "Cartridge, Type R". The projectile is seated below the mouth of the cartridge, with the cartridge crimp sitting just above the bullet. When fired, the crimp expands into the forcing cone, completing the gas seal and ostensibly increasing muzzle velocity by approximately 75 ft/s.
Aftermarket cylinders for .32-caliber can be installed, allowing the Nagant to safely fire .32 H&R Magnum or .32 ACP{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}. Shooting any ammunition other than the 7.62×38mmR cartridge with the original cylinder can cause bodily injury from bullet shrapnel or escaping gas, and the excessive pressures produced by some .32 ammunition could also cause catastrophic failure of the cylinder or frame.
Proper fitting ammunition can be reloaded from .32-20 Winchester brass by using the Lee Nagant die set or .30" carbine dies and 9mm Luger shell-holders in the reloading press. This allows the reloaders to work up a load that fits their needs and is specific for the Nagant. While this eliminates the bulged/split/stuck cases experienced when using .32 S&W and .32 H&R, the gas seal that made the Nagant famous will still not fully function as the .32-20 is not long enough to protrude past the cylinder like the original Nagant ammunition.
= 7.5x22mmR Nagant =
The Luxembourgish, Swedish, and Norwegian Nagants used a different cartridge, the 7.5 mm Nagant. This ammunition is dimensionally similar but not interchangeable with the 7.5mm 1882 Ordnance (aka Swiss 7.5mm revolver).{{cite web |url=http://www.vsms.org/Forum/Seite_23/23_7.5mm_CH_Ordonnanz.pdf |title=Data |publisher=www.vsms.org |access-date=2020-05-07 |archive-date=2019-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819104843/http://www.vsms.org/Forum/Seite_23/23_7.5mm_CH_Ordonnanz.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite book|author=Frank C. Barnes|title=Cartridges of the World: A Complete Illustrated Reference for More Than 1,500 Cartridges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjhy8uv196IC&pg=PA335|year=2012|publisher=Gun Digest Books|isbn=978-1-4402-3059-2|page=335}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} They lack the gas-seal lock of the Belgian and Russian models.
=9.4x22mmR Nagant=
The black powder cartridge used in Nagant's original gas-sealed revolver design.
Year of introduction: 1878.
Bullet Diameter: 9.25 – 9.30mm (.364 - .374"). Round-nosed lead bullet with paper patch.
Bullet Weight: 11.95-12.3 grams
Case diameters,
Neck: 9.90 – 10.20mm (.389 - .401" inch)
Head: 10.75 – 10.90mm (.423 - .429" inch)
Rim: 12.00 – 12.35mm (.472 - .486" inch)
Berdan primer
Cartridge overall length 33.30 – 34.50mm (1.311 – 1.358 inches)
Cartridge weight 11.95 – 12.30gm (184.41 - 189.81 grains)
Variants
= Russia =
== Military ==
- Nagant "Private's model" («солдатский» наган) - a single-action version for non-commissioned officers and soldiers
- Nagant "Officer’s model" («офицерский» наган) - a double-action version for officers
- suppressed Nagant{{cite book |author=Jeff Kinard |title=Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004 |isbn=1-85109-470-9 |page=161}} with sound suppressor known as the "BRAMIT device" (BRAtya MITiny - "Mitin Brothers") - produced since 1931 for Soviet reconnaissance and scout troops
== Civilian ==
- TOZ-36 (ТОЗ-36) - since 1962Terčový revolver TOZ-36 // «Střelecká revue», 4, 1970
- TOZ-49 (ТОЗ-49)Terčový revolver TOZ-49 // «Střelecká revue», 10, 1978
- KR-22 «Sokol» (КР-22 «Сокол») - .22 LRЕ. Александров. Под малый калибр. // «Калашников. Оружие, боеприпасы, снаряжение», No. 8, 2010. стр.48-49
- Nagant 1910 - An improved version with a swing-out cylinder. It was never accepted into service and had poor civilian market sales.{{cite web |title=Nouvelle page 0 |url=http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20nagant/a%20nagant%201910%20gb.htm}}{{cite web |title=The Belgian 1910 Swingout Cylinder Revolver |url=http://russianrevolvers.com/n_Belg1910.html |website=russianrevolvers.com}}
- "Shadow-7" ("Тень-7") - Carbine variant with a 450mm barrel, produced in 2020 by Russian company Test-Oruzhie, chambered for 5.45×18mm.{{Cite web |title=Самозарядный карабин "Тень-7" калибра 5.45х18 |url=https://test-guns.ru/shop/oruzhie/nareznoe-oruzhie/samozarjadnyj-karabin-ten-7-kalibra-5-45h18/ |website=Test-Oruzhie}}{{Cite web |last=H |first=Hrachya |date=11 December 2020 |title=Russian M1895 Nagant Carbine Chambered in 5.45x18mm |url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2020/12/11/russian-m1895-nagant-carbine-chambered-in-5-45x18mm/ |website=The Firearm Blog}}
=Belgium=
Nagant M1878 Belgian Officer's Revolver [9.4mm Nagant] - Single Action / Double Action trigger. 6-shot cylinder.
Nagant M1883 Belgian Infantry Revolver [9.4mm Nagant] - Simplified Single Action Only trigger version. 6-shot cylinder.
Nagant M1886 Belgian Officer's Revolver [9.4mm Nagant] - Simplified Double Action Only trigger version. 6-shot cylinder.
=Luxembourg=
In the 1880s, Luxembourg purchased a total of 190 Nagant revolvers, with the standard model chambered in 7.5mm, and the Gendarmerie receiving a black powder 9.4x22mm variant which could also affix a spike bayonet.{{Cite web |last=McCollum |first=Ian |date=2020-06-15 |title=Luxembourg Model 1884 Gendarmerie Nagant |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/luxembourg-model-1884-gendarmerie-nagant/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=Forgotten Weapons |language=en-US}}File:Nagant 7.5mm cartridge.jpg
=Norway=
Designated the M1893, and based on the Swedish M1887.{{Cite web |title=Nagant M1893 (Norwegian issue) |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30029105 |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}
=Poland=
Poland designed approximately 21,000 Nagant wz. 30 revolvers for police use from 1928 to 1939.{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others. Osprey Publishing |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=61–62}}
=Serbia=
=Sweden=
Chambered in 7.5mm, the Swedish M1887 notably does not have the same gas-sealing feature of the Belgian or Russian Nagants.{{Cite web |title=Swedish Nagant Revolver |url=https://www.nramuseum.org/guns/the-galleries/world-war-i-and-firearms-innovation/case-32-wwi-america-and-the-allies/swedish-nagant-revolver.aspx |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=NRA Museum}}
Users
- {{Flag|Belarus}}: officially retired from service in December 2005.[http://lenta.ru/news/2005/12/08/ppsh/ Белоруссия сняла с вооружения винтовку Мосина и ППШ] // LENTA.RU от 8 декабря 2005 Used as a training weapon{{cite book|last1=Jowett|first1=Philip|title=Finland at War 1939–45|last2=Snodgrass|first2=Brent|date=5 Jul 2006|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9781841769691|series=Elite 141|page=45}}
- {{Flag|Belgium}}{{cite web|title=M1895 Nagant Revolver|url=http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareNagant.htm|access-date=2012-09-11|archive-date=2019-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722143324/http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareNagant.htm|url-status=dead}}
- {{CHN}}: Used by the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War{{cite book |last1=Lai |first1=Benjamin |last2=Guoxing |first2=Zhao |title=Ground Forces in the Korean War 1950–53 (1): The North Korean People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army |date=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-6102-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2rxEAAAQBAJ |page=115 |language=en}}
- {{flagcountry|Czechoslovakia|variant=1918}}:In use after independence{{Cite web |title=Czechoslovak Weapons of World War II: part 1: Czechoslovakia was well-armed and fortified before World War II, but appeasers in Britain and France pulled the rug out, making "Munich" a synonym for betrayal. - Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Czechoslovak+Weapons+of+World+War+II:+part+1:+Czechoslovakia+was...-a0501831675 |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=www.thefreelibrary.com}}
- {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Greece|state}}: Περίστροφον M1895 {{cite web | url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/vintage-saturday-ancient-superpower/ | title=Vintage Saturday: Ancient Superpower | date=26 April 2014 }}{{cite web | url=https://foverbey.tripod.com/m1895_nagant.htm | title=M1895 Nagant }}
- {{Flag|East Germany}}{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=61}}
- {{Flag|Finland}}{{cite book|last1=Jowett|first1=Philip|title=Finland at War 1939–45|last2=Snodgrass|first2=Brent|date=5 Jul 2006|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9781841769691|series=Elite 141|page=45}}
- {{Flag|Georgia|1990}}{{cite book|author=Small Arms Survey|url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/B-Occasional-papers/SAS-OP06-Georgia.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112185639/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/B-Occasional-papers/SAS-OP06-Georgia.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 12, 2011|title=Politics From The Barrel of a Gun|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1998|page=40|author-link=Small Arms Survey}}
- {{Flag|Kazakhstan}}: Used by security guards as late as 1996Постановление Правительства Республики Казахстан No. 1060 от 28 августа 1996 года "О внесении изменений и дополнений в некоторые решения Правительства Республики Казахстан"
- {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}{{cite web |title=Nagant Suppressed |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvF4yurWSc0 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}
- {{Flag|Laos}}Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). {{ISBN|978-0-7106-2869-5}}.
- {{Flag|Mali}}: People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad{{cite book|author=Small Arms Survey|url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2005.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109192749/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2005.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 9, 2010|title=Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19-928085-8|page=166|chapter=Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones|author-link=Small Arms Survey|chapter-url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2005/en/Small-Arms-Survey-2005-Chapter-06-EN.pdf}}
- {{Flag|Norway}} {{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjhy8uv196IC&pg=PA335 | title=Cartridges of the World: A Complete Illustrated Reference for More Than 1,500 Cartridges | isbn=9781440230592 | last1=Barnes | first1=Frank C. | last2=Mann | first2=Richard A. | date=5 October 2012 | publisher=Krause Publications }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{Flag|Poland}}
- {{Flag|Russia}}:{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=4}} Remains in limited service; used by some law enforcement units until 1998;Постановление Правительства РФ No. 1584 от 30 декабря 1998 года "Об утверждении перечня боевого ручного стрелкового и иного оружия, боеприпасов и патронов к нему, а также специальных средств, состоящих на вооружении службы судебных приставов Министерства юстиции Российской Федерации" by postal service security guards until 2003;Постановление Правительства Российской Федерации No. 248 от 24 марта 2000 года «Об обеспечении служебным оружием, патронами к оружию и специальными средствами должностных лиц организаций федеральной почтовой связи» and by Okrana and later by the Ministry of Internal Affairs until 2006Приложение No. 2 к Приказу Министерства внутренних дел Российской Федерации No. 611 от 4 августа 2006 года «Об утверждении перечней специальных средств, видов, типов и моделей огнестрельного и газового оружия, патронов и боеприпасов к нему, норм обеспечения ими работников военизированных и сторожевых подразделений ФГУП "Охрана" МВД России»«Организации и их территориальные подразделения могут использовать до вывода из эксплуатации по техническому состоянию… 7,62 мм револьвер системы "наган"… иное боевое оружие, ранее приобретенное в установленном порядке и не включенное в настоящий перечень.»
Постановление Правительства Российской Федерации No. 460 от 22 апреля 1997 г. «О мерах по обеспечению юридических лиц с особыми уставными задачами боевым ручным стрелковым оружием» (в ред. от 29 мая 2006 г.) - {{Flag|Russian Empire}}: Adopted on 13 May 189513 мая 1895 года // журнал "Мастер-ружьё", No. 5 (122), май 2007. стр.92
- {{Flag|Kingdom of Serbia}}
- {{Flag|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}}{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2022 |pages=65}}
- {{Flag|Soviet Union}}
- {{Flag|Spanish Republic}}{{cite web|title=Spanish Civil War, Pistols (1936–1939)|url=http://republicanos.bravehost.com/1english.html|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124072826/http://republicanos.bravehost.com/1english.html|archive-date=2005-11-24|work=Republicanos}}
- {{Flag|Sweden}}
- {{Flag|Ukraine}}: Used by railway security guards"''В Донецке вооруженные люди в управлении военизированной охраны Управления Донецкой железной дороги завладели... 4 пистолетами ТТ и 5 револьверами «Наган»
[http://www.unian.net/politics/934059-v-donetske-boeviki-zavladeli-orujiem-upravleniya-ohranyi-jeleznoy-dorogi.html В Донецке боевики завладели оружием управления охраны железной дороги] // УНИАН от 28 июня 2014 and industrial security guards as late as to 2017[https://www.061.ua/news/1745079/v-zaporozskoj-oblasti-iz-sejfa-predpriatia-ukrali-nagan-foto В Запорожской области из сейфа предприятия украли "Наган", - ФОТО] // "061.ua" от 31 июля 2017
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Nagant M1895}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120319203622/http://alex---1967.narod.ru/waffe/437514_vzr_shem_nagan.JPG Exploded Parts Diagram of M1895 Nagant Revolver]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20091113091239/http://50ae.net/collection/nagant/ Nagant 1895 Pictorial]
{{WWIRussianArms}}
{{WWIIUSSRInfWeapons}}
Category:.32 H&R Magnum firearms
Category:Double-action revolvers
Category:Revolvers of the Russian Empire
Category:Revolvers of the Soviet Union
Category:Single-action revolvers
Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1895
Category:World War I Russian infantry weapons
Category:Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia