Ready on the Right--Ready on the Left--Ready on the firing line
Nice mauser picture. I used to litigate along the Upper Mississippi and one day was in Galesburg, Illinois to take prep a witness for a deposition. He was an engineer and right next door to his engineering firm was an old vacant looking building with a sign that said Guns on it.
Well, I had 45 minutes or so to spare before I needed to be at my next appointment, so I decided to pop my head in. It was Simpson's Ltd and to say I was blown away by their collection of Luger's is an understatement. In addition to the 10,000 Lugers, they have a huge selection of surplus firearms as well as the usual popular new guns.
Very much worth the visit if your in that part of the country.
Hi folks, Seth here. Deniese has quite a bit of history there on two counts. Got a lot to say, so with the software's 1,000 character max, I'll have to break this into several comments.
First, design. The nagant uses a clever idea which solves the problem of gas leaking from between cylindar and barrel. The cylindar moves forward just before it comes into battery pressing itself against the back of the barrel. The cartridge also helps in this. It features a long case with the bullet sunk completely down inside it, then severely necked. The case protrudes about 1/8th inch beyond the chamber mouth, so when the cylindar moves forward, the case enters the barrel, completely sealing the gap. Interesting idea, but considerable work for a cartridge no more powerful than a .32 S&W Long.
Now for the history, cultural history. I'm sure everyone knows about the game of Russian Roulette, where one loads a revolver with a single cartridge, spins the cylinder, puts it to his head and pulls the trigger. The odds of blowing your brains out with a conventional 6-shot revolver are 17%. But the Russian officers who carried Nagants discovered one pecular quirk of this weapon. According to an article in Man at Arms magazine some years ago, if the weapon is clean, well oiled and in excellent condition, with the loading gate open to release the cylinder for loading, the cylinder spun freely enough that the weight of a single cartridge would cause the cylinder to stop with the cartridge on the bottom. So, if held on its side with the loading gate down, the clockwise rotating 7-shot cylinder would give you a nice cushion of empty chambers before the round went off. Mind you, I'm only telling you this as an interesting annecdote, I have no intention of investigating this and I hope n
Denise,
One of the vendors at the gun show at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH two weekends ago mentioned the show you just attended in Wilmington.
Foolish me, I thought I could find information through GOAL or NRA webpages... Alas, I could not... Where did you hear about this show?
Thanks!
Hi Jay G,
This year we got a $1.00 postcard from the show operator since we attended last year. To the best of our recollection, we learned it about it last your when we picked up one of the flyers on a table at probably the Springfield show. We like the Wilmington show more than the Rockingham Park show (too crowded), so we usually go to Wilmington. Thanks.
Ah. So I probably should fill out those silly "door prize" thingies, eh?
FYI, there's a big show in Marlboro, MA on March 12th & 13th.
Sometimes SOG has cylinders that shoot .32ACP for these little hot rods - I got mine in a package deal with the gun for about $110 tax and shipping several years ago. I think the cylinders are under $50. I have seen them from other vendors, but the names escape me at the moment. It makes shooting these old war horses a bit cheaper.
I want one of these. Just so I can hold it and see the action work.
Ok, ok, I'll shoot it, too...
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