Nagant M1895 revolver, Tula

What this entry covers

ATF lists "Russian (U.S.S.R.), Nagant revolver, Model 1895, cal.’s 7.62 Nagant and .22 all variations, mfd. by the Tula Arsenal, Tula, Russia, after 1898."¹ The wording sets three limits: the Model 1895, manufacture by the Tula Arsenal, and a date after 1898. The date condition on this page reflects that ATF phrase¹. It also names .22 revolvers; Modern Firearms records that sporting revolvers in 7.62mm and .22LR were later built on the Nagant mechanism⁴.

Some Model 1895 revolvers fall outside those words. The first revolvers delivered to Russia between 1896 and 1898 were made in Belgium by Nagant³. In the Second World War, revolvers were made at Tula "and other plants"², and Littlegun records the last wartime production at the Sestroretsk factory in 1944–45³. Whether a revolver from another maker fits this entry depends on the ATF wording above. The Mosin-Nagant rifles have a separate line on the same page¹.

Identifying it

Littlegun notes that Tula revolvers carry their year of manufacture under the arsenal's name on the left of the frame, and that serial numbers started again at 1 each year, so the serial and the year should be read together³. Imperial-era revolvers carry the Cyrillic name of the Imperial Tula Arms Factory, and controllers' initials under the imperial eagle³. Littlegun also records that a hammer acceptance mark was replaced by a five-pointed star at the end of the 1920s, when the front sight changed shape³.

The revolver was made in two versions: single action for other ranks and double action for officers^2,4. Many single-action revolvers were later converted to double action, so unconverted ones are scarcer³. Large numbers, many of them refurbished, reached the American market after the Soviet collapse; unaltered early examples without an importer's mark turn up less often².

Common confusions

• Belgian and early revolvers. Revolvers from Liège, or made in 1898 or earlier, are outside an entry limited to "mfd. by the Tula Arsenal" and to manufacture "after 1898"^1,3.
• Other countries. Sweden and Poland also adopted the Nagant revolver⁴. The entry is headed "Russian (U.S.S.R.)"¹.
• Start of Tula production. Sources differ: Littlegun and Modern Firearms date it to 1898^3,4, and American Rifleman to 1899².

History

The Nagant brothers of Liège developed the revolver. Its distinguishing feature, introduced by Léon Nagant in 1892, is a gas seal: the cylinder closes up against the barrel as the hammer is cocked, and the mouth of the unusually long cartridge case bridges the joint^2,4. Russia adopted the revolver in 1895, and it replaced the Smith & Wesson No. 3². The TT-30 pistol nominally replaced it in 1930, but the revolver stayed in production through the Second World War². Sources differ on when production ended: Littlegun gives 1945 as the last official production³, and Modern Firearms says about 1950⁴.

Further reading

• Littlegun's page³ has photographs of Belgian, Imperial and Soviet acceptance marks and explains the dating by year and serial.
• American Rifleman's "This Old Gun" column² covers the gas seal and the single- and double-action versions.
• Modern Firearms⁴ describes the mechanism and the later .22 sporting revolvers.