Went to a gun show with the older son. And, don't give me any of
that male bonding crap. Bought a Nagant revolver, for some strange
reason. Has the most interesting wood grips I've ever seen - four
piece. There's a piece on each side of the grip, nicely, coarsly,
checkered. Then there's a rectangular piece on the front of the grip,
and another on the rear, both also checkered. Got a nice deal, not
great on it. Apparently completely arsanel refinished at the end of
WWII, and put away. It looks new. Interesting tidbit, it's the ONLY
revolver that can successfully be used with a sound moderator/sound
suppressor (silencer in slang). Trigger pull is horrible in DA, feels
like about 20-30 lbs.

Also during the weekend, I figured out how to lay out an octagon
with equal sides. With my software, took less than 5 minutes, start to
finish. My software consists of a pencil, ruler, graph paper, and my
brain. LOL

Then, because the tolerences are going to be a lot closer than one
of my usual jigs, I also figured out what I need to do to make a jig to
accurately lop off the corners of a square, to make my octagon. Need a
jig because I need to make 32 (bases for chess ieces), at a minimum.
I'd been thinking about using my power mitre saw to make the cuts, but
decided a small saw sled for the bandsaw would work out better. This
one took about the same amount of time to figure out - one piece of ply
for the base, one piece of stock for the runner in the slot, then three
pieces on top to hold the square for cutting. The only real hard part
will be accurately gluing the first piece on top, as that pretty much
sets the accuracy for the rest - to insure maximum accuracy, I'll glue
just one part at a time. Always nice to come up with something new,
totally on my own. So, not a bad weekend at all.



JOAT
So Many Cats So Few Recipes,

J T wrote:
Interesting tidbit, it's the ONLY
revolver that can successfully be used with a sound moderator/sound
suppressor (silencer in slang).

Never having heard of a revolver that could be successfully suppressed,
I had to go Google it.
Fascinating design; from wiki:

Most other (non-gas seal) revolvers have a small gap between the
cylinder and the barrel; the small gap between the cylinder and barrel
is necessary to allow the revolver's cylinder to revolve, presenting a
new, loaded chamber for firing. This necessitates that the bullet jump
the gap when fired, which may have an adverse effect on accuracy,
especially if the barrel and chamber are misaligned, and also presents a
path for the escape of high-pressure and high-temperature gases from
behind the bullet. 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 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 50 to 150 ft/s (15 to 45 m/s).

This closed firing system meant that the Nagant revolver, unlike other
revolvers, could be effectively fitted with a suppressor, as indeed it
was [1]. During World War II, a small number of Nagant revolvers used by
Russian recon and scout troops were outfitted with a variety of sound
suppressor known as the “Bramit device.” The Cheka/NKVD/KGB were known
to use the silenced Nagant for assassinations. Silenced Nagant
revolvers, modified in clandestine metal shops, also turned up in the
hands of Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam War as assassination
weapons. There is an example of a silenced Nagant M1895 in the CIA
Museum in Langley, Virginia.

On Nov 20, 11:39 am, DS wrote:
J T wrote:

Interesting tidbit, it's the ONLY

revolver that can successfully be used with a sound moderator/sound
suppressor (silencer in slang).

Never having heard of a revolver that could be successfully suppressed,
I had to go Google it.
Fascinating design; from wiki:

Most other (non-gas seal) revolvers have a small gap between the
cylinder and the barrel; the small gap between the cylinder and barrel
is necessary to allow the revolver's cylinder to revolve, presenting a
new, loaded chamber for firing. This necessitates that the bullet jump
the gap when fired, which may have an adverse effect on accuracy,
especially if the barrel and chamber are misaligned, and also presents a
path for the escape of high-pressure and high-temperature gases from
behind the bullet. 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 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 50 to 150 ft/s (15 to 45 m/s).

This closed firing system meant that the Nagant revolver, unlike other
revolvers, could be effectively fitted with a suppressor, as indeed it
was [1]. During World War II, a small number of Nagant revolvers used by
Russian recon and scout troops were outfitted with a variety of sound
suppressor known as the "Bramit device." The Cheka/NKVD/KGB were known
to use the silenced Nagant for assassinations. Silenced Nagant
revolvers, modified in clandestine metal shops, also turned up in the
hands of Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam War as assassination
weapons. There is an example of a silenced Nagant M1895 in the CIA
Museum in Langley, Virginia.

One of my big stops when reading thrillers is the author having the
guy screw a silencer on a revolver. Then again, Robert Ludlum has been
a best seller for decades and never learned the difference between a
"handle" and the "hilt" of a knife. But, hey, maybe it's splitting
hairs to expect a writer to know at least a little about the things he
includes in his novel. It's a bit like reading "The DaVinci Code" and
realizing Brown had never even been around a fistfight in his life,
never mind been in one (nothing wrong with that, mind, but he SHOULD
have done some research...now, he never will: IIRC, that low end
mediocre book sold 52 million copies [read this as the sour grapes it
is]).

I'm like JOAT in that this the only one I've ever even heard of that
works so a suppressor might be used. Interesting. Gimmicky. I wonder
how reliable these things were/are?

Wed, Nov 21, 2007, 6:39am (EST-3) (Charlie*Self)
doth sayeth:
snip I'm like JOAT in that this the only one I've ever even heard of
that works so a suppressor might be used. Interesting. Gimmicky. I
wonder how reliable these things were/are?

From what I've read, quite reliable. The Rooshians even turned a
few into target revolvers, because they were so accurate. However, I
believe the target models were all converted to single action, because
of the very heavy double action trigger pull. They were rebarreled
also. Mine looks very solid and quite well built. You gotta figure
it's reliable, because they issued it from about 1895 to the 1950s;
they're not one to stick with a weapon that isn't reliable, or at least
sturdy enough to use as a club if it does break. What they were not is
quick to load, unload, and reload. You open a gate and put in one round
at a time. Close the gate, then fire the seven rounds double or single
action. Then to unload the empties, you open the gate, unscrew the
loading rod, pull the rod out as far as it will go, use your thumb to
push the rod to the side, use the rod to punch out an empty, rotate the
cylinder to the next, empty, repeat until all chambers are clear. Push
the loading rod back under the barrel, push the rod back in, screw the
rod back in. Load. It was definitely not intended for extended gun
fights. But when you needed it, you could count on it working. No
delicacy there at all.



JOAT
Cats - The Other White Meat

On Nov 21, 7:02 pm, (J T) wrote:
Wed, Nov 21, 2007, 6:39am (EST-3) (Charlie Self)
doth sayeth:
snip I'm like JOAT in that this the only one I've ever even heard of
that works so a suppressor might be used. Interesting. Gimmicky. I
wonder how reliable these things were/are?

From what I've read, quite reliable. The Rooshians even turned a
few into target revolvers, because they were so accurate. However, I
believe the target models were all converted to single action, because
of the very heavy double action trigger pull. They were rebarreled
also. Mine looks very solid and quite well built. You gotta figure
it's reliable, because they issued it from about 1895 to the 1950s;
they're not one to stick with a weapon that isn't reliable, or at least
sturdy enough to use as a club if it does break. What they were not is
quick to load, unload, and reload. You open a gate and put in one round
at a time. Close the gate, then fire the seven rounds double or single
action. Then to unload the empties, you open the gate, unscrew the
loading rod, pull the rod out as far as it will go, use your thumb to
push the rod to the side, use the rod to punch out an empty, rotate the
cylinder to the next, empty, repeat until all chambers are clear. Push
the loading rod back under the barrel, push the rod back in, screw the
rod back in. Load. It was definitely not intended for extended gun
fights. But when you needed it, you could count on it working. No
delicacy there at all.

JOAT
Cats - The Other White Meat

Sounds a lot like their modern day cameras and lenses. Nothing really
fancy, some nice touches, a bit clumsy to work with, but they do work
and keep on working. (Quick note: AFAIK, current Russian cameras--
film, I don't know of any digital yet--are, what shall we call it, off-
takes from earlier Japanese and German designs. The Nagant does not
sound like even a semi-copy, except in that it's a revolver.)