Nagant: why Russian and Soviet officers did not like him

  • Jul 31, 2021
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The revolver of the Nagant system is one of the most famous examples of hand-held firearms of the first half of the 20th century. It will be difficult to find a corner on the planet where this Belgian revolver would not be known. They were actively used in pre-revolutionary Russia, and then in Soviet. Nevertheless, despite the prevalence, there were a few things for which Nagan was not very much loved.

Nagant is a serious weapon. / Photo: pinterest.com.
Nagant is a serious weapon. / Photo: pinterest.com.
Nagant is a serious weapon. / Photo: pinterest.com.

The seven-shot revolver of the Nagant system was created by the Belgian brothers-designers Emil and Leon Nagant in 1895. At the end of the 19th century, Russia began to rearm. For the role of the main rifle of the country, the Mosin three-line model of 1891 was chosen. Russia did not have its own pistol, and therefore it was decided to purchase for officers, gendarmes and cavalry Belgian revolvers, since their characteristics for the most part corresponded to the then the requirements of the military.

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They also used weapons during World War II. / Photo: fotostrana.ru.
They also used weapons during World War II. / Photo: fotostrana.ru.

However, there were two important things that naturally irritated all people who used this weapon. Nagan's first major problem was his extremely hard descent, which was frankly not good in most situations. Too hard descent negatively affected the accuracy of shooting, required a lot of skill in aiming and made the Nagan extremely unfriendly towards newcomers. As a result, the combat effectiveness of the already not very accurate hitting revolver suffered. Only a very experienced shooter with a firm hand could hit the target at a distance of 50 steps.

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Recharge problems were severe. / Photo: Twitter.
Recharge problems were severe. / Photo: Twitter.

The second major flaw was the reloading system. There are three main systems for loading revolving weapons. The first is placing ammunition under the plug. The second is placing ammunition in the tilted magazine. The third is the placing of ammunition in an open store as a result of "breaking" the structure of the weapon.

So the revolver of 1895 was charged. / Photo: home.gamer.com.tw.
So the revolver of 1895 was charged. / Photo: home.gamer.com.tw.

So the main problem of the revolvers of 1895 was that the drum in them did not tilt back in any way, which made impossible fast loading of cartridges, and also made it impossible to use revolving cassettes with cartridges. The Nagant was charged one cartridge at a time, which was put into the drum on the right side after pushing back the fixing plug. Worse, since the revolver did not fold back the ammunition supply, the shooter did not have the opportunity to quickly empty the drum from the spent cartridges. To do this, it was necessary to push them out one by one, having previously transferred the ramrod to the lever mode. The situation was complicated by the specific shape of the revolver sleeves, which often got stuck in the drum after the shot.

It is not very difficult to understand. / Photo: home.gamer.com.tw.
It is not very difficult to understand. / Photo: home.gamer.com.tw.

Thus, reloading the revolvers of 1895 was another task. The most advanced shooters were trying to get an extra drum. It was loaded with cartridges in advance, after which the drum was replaced in a combat situation. This required sleight of hand, since it was necessary to carry out an incomplete disassembly of the pistol (to pull out the axial mechanism holding the ammunition supply). Ironically, this reloading with disassembly and reassembly often took less time.

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This is a 1910 revolver. / Photo: aquaworldonline.ru.
This is a 1910 revolver. / Photo: aquaworldonline.ru.

The revolver loading mechanism was modernized only in 1910. The revolver then had a normal leaning-back drum. However, for Russian shooters, this mattered very little, since most of the weapons that went through the First World War, the Revolution and the Civil War were old models from 1895.

Continuing the topic, read about why the Mauser K96 pistol is called "sniper", and whether he could land a target 1 km away.

Write in the comments what do you think about this?

Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/111120/56716/

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