Curious Relics #129: Officer or Soldier? – Nagant M1895 Revolver Part II
Welcome, if you are a newcomer to this fun bi-weekly segment of AllOutdoor.com! Last time around we kicked off a new series covering the Nagant M1895 revolver with a full breakdown of its history from Belgian drawing board to American gun shows. If you missed Part I, give it a read first since it sets the table for everything we are doing in this series. Today we are covering variations, manufacturers, and dating. Let’s dive right in!
Curious Relics Coverage on AllOutdoor
- Curious Relics #124: US Carbine Caliber .30 M1 – The M1 Carbine – Part I
- Curious Relics #125: US Carbine Caliber .30 M1 – The M1 Carbine – Part II
- Curious Relics #126: The M1 Carbine Part III – Dating The Originals
- Curious Relics #127: The M1 Carbine Part IV – Specs, Range Time, & Final Thoughts
Welcome to our recurring series of “Curious Relics.” Here, we want to share all of our experiences, knowledge, misadventures, and passion for older firearms that one might categorize as a Curio & Relic – any firearm that is at least 50 years old according to the ATF. Hopefully along the way you can garner a greater appreciation for older firearms like we do, and simultaneously you can teach us things as well through sharing your own expertise and thoughts in the Comments. Understanding the firearms of old, their importance, and their development which lead to many of the arms we now cherish today is incredibly fascinating and we hope you enjoy what we have to share, too!
Variations: Nagant M1895
Honest answer here? There are not a lot of meaningful variations to cover. The Nagant M1895 was one of those guns that got adopted and then basically left alone. The army’s attitude toward it was less “let’s improve this” and more “let’s just keep making it.” That said, there are two distinct models worth knowing about and a few changes that happened over the production run that collectors care about.
The first and most significant distinction is the officer versus soldier model. The officer version is a standard double-action revolver, meaning you can either cock the hammer manually for a lighter single-action pull or pull straight through in double-action. The soldier model is single-action only. You have to manually cock the hammer between every shot. The Russian military brass felt that enlisted men could not be trusted with double-action capability – the concern being ammo waste and accidental discharges. Outwardly the two guns are nearly identical. The only reliable way to tell them apart without handling the gun is to cock the hammer and look at it directly. The double-action model has a small nose on the hammer that enables the double-action function. The single-action model does not. This trips people up constantly when buying off pictures online, so keep that in mind.
“Nagant 1898 Single Action.” Little Gun, littlegun.be/technique/a%20technique%20nagant%201898%20gb.htm. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
One nuance worth noting: early Belgian production from 1895 to 1898 was mainly single-action revolvers issued to troops. Officers who wanted the double-action version had to purchase it themselves, either directly from the Nagant firm or through the arsenal. Those early officer-purchased Belgian double-action guns do not carry Russian military markings, which makes them genuinely difficult to identify today. After Tula took over production both variants were produced side by side until around 1917 to 1918, when the single-action model was phased out entirely following the Revolution. From that point it was double-action only. Worth noting is that many surviving single-action examples you will find in collections today have been converted to double-action during the Soviet refurbishment programs of the 1960s and 1970s, so the single-action-only guns are considerably scarcer than production numbers alone would suggest.
Beyond the action type the gun changed very little across its production life. Tula did make a few small tweaks when they took over from Belgium: the front sight went to a simpler half-moon profile to prevent snagging on holster draw, grip checkering was made coarser, and the butt cap construction was simplified. In the late 1920s the front sight changed again to an elliptical notched style. The ejector rod was later made in two pieces to simplify manufacture. That is genuinely about it for physical changes across fifty years of production.
Manufacturers: Nagant M1895
Three manufacturers made the M1895 in any real quantity.
Fabrique d’Armes Emile et Leon Nagant in Liege, Belgium handled initial production from 1895 to 1898. Roughly 20,000 revolvers came out of Belgium before Russia purchased the manufacturing rights and tooling. Belgian examples carry Liege proof marks including the stylized ELG in an oval with a crown, plus Nagant’s own acceptance stamps. These are the rarest examples and the most collectible for that reason.
“Four Soviet Nagant Model 1895 Double Action Revolvers.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1044/549/four-soviet-nagant-model-1895-double-action-revolvers. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
Tula Arsenal was the primary manufacturer from 1898 through 1945 and accounted for the overwhelming majority of all Nagants ever produced. The sideplate marking changed several times across the Tsarist, revolutionary, and Soviet periods, which I will get into in the dating section below. Tula is what most collectors will encounter.
Izhevsk Arsenal produced Nagants from 1942 to 1945 after the Tula factory evacuated ahead of the German advance. As covered in Part I, early Izhevsk production initially used Tula-style markings before switching to their own triangle-and-arrow logo. Izhevsk examples are wartime guns by definition.
There was also a small amount of production at GOMZ in Leningrad during the siege, though these are exceptionally rare and documentation on exact quantities is thin. Poland produced their own licensed version, the Ng30, at Radom using original Belgian tooling from roughly 1928 to 1935.
Dating: Nagant M1895
Dating a Nagant is actually one of the more straightforward exercises in the Soviet milsurp world, and that is because the year of manufacture is stamped right on the sideplate. You do not have to cross-reference serial number tables or guess from features. Flip the gun over, read the date. That said, there are enough wrinkles to make it interesting.
The sideplate is the left-side panel that covers the lockwork. The arsenal mark and year are both stamped there. The serial number is on the left side of the frame forward of the cylinder. On Belgian examples the serial runs with no prefix, same as early Russian production. Up until around 1938, Tula serial numbers were straight numeric with no Cyrillic prefix. From 1938 onward you will see two Cyrillic letters ahead of the number. If your gun has a Cyrillic prefix and it is dated before 1938, that is a sign the sideplate or serial may have been restamped during a rebuild.
Speaking of rebuilds: the refurbishment programs of the 1960s and 1970s left a mark on the majority of guns in American collections. A rebuilt gun will typically show a rectangle stamp on the frame, sometimes with a horizontal slash through it depending on the era of the rebuild. Pre-war guns that went through rebuild will usually have later-production parts mixed in. Cylinders are especially commonly replaced. If there is no OTK acceptance mark on the face of the cylinder, it has been swapped. Grips on rebuilt examples are almost always the coarser postwar checkering pattern or bakelite panels. Original fine-checkered walnut is a sign of an unrefurbished gun. The bluing on original unrefurbished examples tends to be a brighter, deeper blue. Post-refurb finish is duller and more even. Small parts like the trigger and hammer on original guns will often show fire bluing. That burns off or gets refinished on the rebuilt guns.
On Tsarist-era examples made between 1898 and roughly 1912, the sideplate reads “Imperial Tula Arms Factory” in Cyrillic, with the Tsarist eagle proof mark visible on the right side of the frame near the loading gate. From 1912 to 1918 the marking changed to “Imperial Tula Arms Factory of Peter the Great” to honor the factory’s bicentennial. After the Revolution the eagle was removed and markings were simplified. By 1921 the RSFSR initials appeared, replaced by USSR markings in 1924. In 1929 the text-based markings gave way to the familiar five-pointed star with an arrow inset, which remained the Tula mark through the end of production.
For WWII-era guns, the г character after the year is a useful identifier. If the sideplate date reads 1943 with a г following it, that is an Izhevsk-produced gun. If it just says 1943 without the г, that points to actual Tula production from the new Factory No. 536. Early 1942 dated guns are interesting in that they often carry Tula-style star markings on the sideplate but have Izhevsk-marked parts throughout, reflecting the chaotic transition period when Izhevsk was still tooling up using Tula’s equipment and inventory.
“Izhevsk Model 1895 Nagant Double Action Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/2074/248/izhevsk-model-1895-nagant-double-action-revolver. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
When checking matching numbers, look at three places: the frame, the inside of the sideplate, and the face of the cylinder. All three should match on an original unrefurbished gun. Mismatches on the cylinder especially are common since cylinders were frequently replaced either during wartime repairs or postwar rebuild.
A couple of years stand out for collectors. Pre-WWI examples in any condition are desirable and bring a premium. The year 1934 is particularly rare since Tula was busy retooling for TT-33 Tokarev production and very few Nagants came out that year. WWII-dated guns from 1942 and 1943 are the most commonly encountered, and the wartime quality issues discussed in Part I are often visible on these examples in the form of rough machining and wider tolerances.
“Two World War II Era Soviet TT-33 Tokarev Semi-Automatic Pistols.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1048/579/two-world-war-ii-era-soviet-tt33-tokarev-semiautomatic-pistols. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
End of Part II: Nagant M1895
Well folks, that covers the variations, makers, and dating on this one. Next time we will get into specifications and aftermarket parts, and after that we will wrap up the series with range time. Till then keep an eye out and I hope to see you back here soon!
In closing, I hope our Curious Relics segment informed as well as entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We did not just realize how guns were supposed to look and function. It was a long and tedious process that has shaped the world we live in. So, I put it to you! Is there a firearm out there that you feel does not get much notoriety? What should our next Curious Relics topic cover? As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.
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