robert.furtkamp.com / guns / Model 1895 Nagant revolver

My life must now be near complete. I'd been waiting a long time to find the final piece in my Communist Officers of Oppression(TM) sidearm collection: a 1895 Nagant revolver. Finding one that looked like it hadn't been through six wars, shot the Czar, and then held up dozens of liquor stores wasn't exactly easy, but my local gun dealer came through yet again with this gem.

It's a 1945 dated, last year of production piece that hasn't seen much if any use. The revolver itself is a very strange design, featuring a seven-shot cylinder. "Do you feel lucky, punk? Did I fire five shots or did I fire six?"-type engagements mean you'll always have an extra punch line, and as an added bonus, it will fire both the ammuntion the Russians intended and .32 Smith and Wesson Long, a pistol caliber largely forgotten in the sands of time.

As if that wasn't enough, this may be the only gas-seal revolver ever made - the cylinder slides forward with each shot forming a gas seal with the barrel. What that means to those playing along at home is that the pistol can effectively be silenced, not that anyone without an ATF permit to do so would ever consider it. No, certainly not.

I'm debating whether to use this gun in some cowboy action shooting matches, since it qualifies on all counts as far as I'm aware: fires lead bullets under 800 fps, is a pre-1900 design, et cetera.

I think it's time for Comrade Officer Ivan to take to the local cowboy circuit, honest.