1895 Nagant pistol

[slim1836]

Just purchased an 1895 Nagant pistol today. Being shipped from Maine to Texas next week.

I have no experience with this piece, but I know I want to cast boolits and reload for it.

I am aware .32 S&W ammo can be shot through it and may give it a try, but my casting and reloading ultimately will be with the 7.62x38R cartridge.

Any feedback with load data, dies, molds, or brass conversions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Slim

[slim1836]

Shameful bump, someone must have had some experience with this pistol.

Slim

[jh45gun]

I had a couple sold them to friends kinda wish I still had one . Still might some day again but anyway I shot some factory ammo but I just shot 32 mag out of mine. If it was me to do it over again I would buy a 32 cylinder that they make for them and shoot 32 mag out of it.

[swheeler]

Slim; I bought one of those about 6-7 years ago, never shot any 32S&W in it but shot 32H&R mag, 1 box. I think Deputy Al, NV Curmudgeon and Crazy Mark all did quite a little shooting with theirs also. Hope mine is in the safe somewhere, haven't seen it in a few years. I loaded Lees 100 gr and Hornady's 90 gr HBWC. I bought 250 Starline brass and 100 RP 32-20 brass, still have all the RP brass and some of the Starline 7.62x38R, quite a few split and were discarded. This is the ONLY pistol brass I have ever annealed. I can give you some data to start with, but don't think you can find Starline 7.62x38R brass anymore??

Starline brass 7.62x38R/trimmed to 1.455", COAL 1.455", cci 500 primer
100 gr Lee cast .313"

HERCO- 3.3 to 4.0, 776-972 fps
WSF-4.0 to 4.6, 693-967 fps
AA#2-2.8to 3.0- 800 fps

Hornady 90 gr HBWC with above brass, primer
AA#2- 2.8 to 3.0 822-1073 fps

32/20 brass, 100 gr Lee, cci 500, COAL 1.505" (cylinder just rotates) light crimped over ogive

UNIQUE-3.2 -657 fps
SR 4756-3.2- 546
AA#2-3.0- 754
SR 7625- 783 fps
WW 231-3.2 -725 fps

This is all I have but should get you started, enjoy that trigger!

[WRideout]

I got one of those for Xmas a few years ago. The factory ammo was pretty anemic, but I kept the brass. With a little research, I found out that the 30 carbine dies work on the original brass, so I acquired a set from a forum member. That's when the fun began.

I used a Lee 30 cal mold, 100 gr, homemade lube, Prvi brass, Win SP primers, and unique. I first ran it through some pressure tests using data from the book for 32-20. I got up to 5.5 gr Unique without any trouble extracting, but the recoil was somewhat brisk. I did find out that when I resize in the normal manner, the boolits back out of the case during recoil, and block the cylinder from rotating.

I finally figured out that using the 30 cal expander ball on the RCBS dies left the cases a little too big to hold the boolits in. Because this round can't be crimped in the normal sense, the finished size of the case is critical. I replaced the decapper/expander with one from a 6.5 die set, so I knew the cases wouldn't be touched by the expander. Then I resized, primed, charged, and seated the boolits just so that the nose was even with the case mouth. A pass through the taper crimp die completed the load.

I eventually dropped down to 5.3 gr Unique, mostly because I don't care for excessive recoil. With this load, my gun seems to be accurate enough, and I no longer have function problems. It is a lot of fun to shoot. Sometime in the future, I will try making more cases out of .223 as I have read about. Always something new to try. Hope this helps.

Wayne

[slim1836]

Thanks to all who replied, it has been a help.

I will save my stock brass, look for .223's, and 32-20's. Don't know which direction I'm headed yet but may try them all.

Slim

[slugthrower]

Starline 32-20 , with a 95 gr. wadcutter , over 3.0 grs. of bulloseye. Boolit seated just deep enough for cylinder to rotate.

[x101airborne]

I did a little writeup on using 32-20 brass reformed in lee's nagant from 32-20 dies. RCBS 90 grain roundnose and 3.0 reddot gave ragged tiny groups at 15 yards, light recoil, no bullet creep, and cases just fall out. I did have to modify the pistol to work with the thicker rim of the 32-20 brass though. Do a search for 7.62 nagant and the writeup should come up.

[Rio Grande]

Make the little extra effort and load the correct 7.62x38r brass. You will be glad you did.

I've shot .32 long and also cases made from 32-20's in Nagants and would not do so again.
I will affirm that it is easier to load the proper 7.62x38r cases and the revolver shoots better that way too because the long case...

1) guides the bullet into the rifling. The barrel has an oversize area just before the rifling which is designed to accommodate the case.
2) the brass entering into that portion of the barrel helps with cylinder/barrel alignment. That is part of the design.
3) there is no cylinder/barrel gap with the proper brass and that not only stops lead 'spitting' thru the gap, but also increases velocity. You will also be amazed at how clean the cylinders remain after shooting.

[Doug Bowser]

I rechambered mine to .32-20. The only roblem is, you have to load the rounds about 1/10" short. 93 gr Lee RN with 4.2gr Unique. By the way, you have to countersink the rims about 2/100" to let the thicker .32-20 rims headspace

Doug

[showmad]

I'm going to try the Lee nagant dies an 32-20 brass route.I have about 300 rds of russian surplus 7.62x38r but everything I've read so far points to the 32-20 as a more cost effective route.Appreciate all the input on this thread just want to experiment an shoot this weird looking but fascinating revolver.

[jrayborn]

I just got my Starline brass today, still waiting on the dies and Trailboss. Plan on giving the Nagant a workout next weekend.

[Chicken Thief]

Double action as crisp as pushing a grand piano up a dirt road :)
I shoot a Norwegan M95 and use 32-20 brass, i have to seat the boolit down so deep i "crimp" the bullet in place by pushing the case part way up in the 30. carbine sizing die again.

[wills]

Lee and RCBS both make dies, if I remember correctly, one intended for factory brass, the other for resized .32-20’s.

[MasS&W]

I've had some limited experience with this revo. My main issue with it is the 20+ lb double action pull. Great historical value though.

[buck1]

32-20 brass is the way to go.
Here a link to when I got mine.....
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=101678&highlight=1895+nagant

[nwellons]

And now for something completely different. The Nagants were used a lot in WWI with black powder because of a shortage of smokeless. I worked up a load using standard Nagant cases and 1cc of FFFg Goex (about 14 g.) This gives the necessary full case of powder under a Lee 311-100-2R boolit. It takes some die fiddling around to get it right (I use .30 carbine dies mainly).

Here is the kicker - I get 1250 fps with low standard deviation. It took a lot of experiments to get consistent velocity. I found that it takes magnum small rifle primers to get consistency. Small pistol and small rifle primers gave velocities in the 300 fps range and magnum small pistol got me the 1200 range on many but also 300s, 400s, and 700s' mixed in with the 1200 fps. Max and min of 5 shots with the magnum small rifle was 1237 and 1256. Powder is measured with a Lee dipper so I think that is excellent.

I'm not a target shooter but it is great for plinking and I plink at a 100 yd range so I can shoot my .42 Russian Berdan BP cartridge rifle along with my Mosins. It is fun to shoot, easy to clean, and you can't beat the smoke and smell.

[Brett Ross]

I have had success using Privi once fired and reloading with the gas seal until the neck splits, than cutting down and reloading with out. below are both prosesses i use

Procedure for reloading 1895 Nagant 7.62x38R, using Lee Dies in a 4 hole turret press
With Gas Seal
Set up
1. In position 1, of the 4 hole turret set up the powder thru expander die, setting are
a. Raise Ram and thread in die until touching the shell holder, than back out “1 full turn”
2. Position 2, place the Lee, Universal flaring Die.
a. Adjust to give small flare on case mouth
3. Position 3, place The Lee Bullet Seating Die.
a. Thread Die until touching shell holder, adjust the bullet seating knob down all the way ( it can get tight toward the end, the beginning of knurled part of the knob will be almost inside the die housing).
4. Position 4, place the Lee full length resizing die
a. Thread die until touching shell holder, and back out 4 turns.
5. In non-existent position 5 place the Lee Bullet seating die for the 7.62x25
a. Thread die until touching shell holder
b. Back bullet seater out all the way
Reloading
1. Lube case
2. Do No full length resize
3. Use Lee Universal Flaring Die to bell the mouth slightly
4. Use Lee Powder Thru Expanding Die to dispense powder and prime now ( this will expand the case down the length a bit)
5. Use Lee bullet Seating Die to seat the bullet fully and begin the gas seal (using the crimping portion of the bullet seating die)
6. Use the Lee Full Length Sizing Die to crimp the bullet in place and size the case to fit the chamber.
7. Use the Lee 7.62X25 Bullet seating die (with the seater back out fully) to finish off the gas seal to you and your Nagants taste

Procedure for reloading 1895 Nagant 7.62x38R, using Lee Dies in a 4 hole turret press
Without Gas Seal
Set up
1. In position 1, of the 4 hole turret set up the powder thru expander die, settings are
a. Raise Ram and thread in die until touching the shell holder, and back out “1 full turn”
2. Position 2, place the Lee, Universal flaring Die.
a. Adjust to give small flare on case mouth
3. Position 3, place The Lee Bullet Seating Die.
a. Thread Die until touching shell holder, and back out 1/4 turn, adjust seating depth to 1.50 OAL
4. Position 4, place the Lee full length resizing die
a. Thread die until touching shell holder, and back out 4 turns.
Reloading
1. Cut and trim case to 1.260
2. Lube case
3. Do not full length resize
4. Use Lee Powder Thru Expanding Die to dispense powder, and prime now
5. Use Lee Universal Flaring Die to bell the mouth slightly
6. Use Lee bullet Seating Die to seat the bullet and adjust to give a light crimp, OAL 1.50
7. Use the Lee Full Length Sizing Die to crimp the bullet in place and size the case to fit the chamber.