On my shopping list was a Smith and Wesson model 36 "Chief's Special" and I got a nice one, in 38-Special, with its original box. Probably 1960's vintage, so I had to do the 4473 thing.
The other gun was the ubiquitous Nagant. They're still under $150, people! And C&R eligible; they'll send it direct to your door by UPS Next Day Air. What's your excuse for not having one?
And look at that firing pin!
It loads like, well, what it is: a nineteenth century revolver. There is a loading gate on the right side. The ejector rod is swung into position and pushes out the spent casing. You can see the tip of the ejector rod peeking out of the cylinder, above.
The ammo is unique. The mouth of the case protrudes beyond the cylinder. When the gun is cocked, the cylinder is moved forward a couple of millimeters to form a gas seal with the barrel.
So to facilitate maximum plinkage, a replacement cylinder is available to convert it to 32-ACP. Here's a video of a guy trying one out. He did not seem too impressed.
With an effective gas seal, this is one revolver that might be suppressed effectively, and it has been done:
I was disappointed that there seemed to be no S&W M&P 9mm compact magazines at the show. Also on my shopping list were a pair of Peltor earmuffs to protect my aging hearing. Maybe later. As for the mags, I'm on the waiting list at Cheaper Than Dirt. Hey, it worked for the Ruger 22/45!
Posts
5 comments:
Nagant ammo has dropped a lot in price. My dad had one with the 32acp cylinder, traded away now.
aimsurplus dot com has ammo.
Why not buy a full size M&P mag?
Man, that thing has the weirdest looking grips I've ever seen!
Very nice, both of them -- and I say that as one Nagant revolver owner to another!
The SA trigger pull on that thing is...almost acceptable. But despite being a Belgian design, they have the Russian virtues of simplicity and reliability. And when was the last time you heard of an ND with a Nagant?
(The Smith is seriously enviable!)
MSJ: I wanted the 12-rd mags for concealed carry. There was a serious lack of ANY S&W mags at the show. Absolute carloads of XD mags, however.
DrJ: The shape of the grips of both guns is oddly similar in the photo. I didn't notice it at first. A couple of days ago they auctioned off Bonnie Parker's Colt Detective Special. From the photos, her gun had a "full tang", that is, the metal of the grip is exposed at the base. I have a CDS that has the base covered by the wood grips.
RX: The Dulles show is big, but not as big as the Indy 1500. Next time I'm in town I'll bring the Model 36 so you can try it out.
My father is a good shooter and he also use this Gun along with other rifles.
Post a Comment