Most revolvers, Hollywood and novelists notwithstanding, cannot be effectively equipped with a silencer at the muzzle, as part of the sound and fury of the explosion is expelled to each side of the handgun where there is a gap between the cylinder and the barrel, as illustrated by the following photo:
The exception is the Belgian-designed Russian-made seven-shot M1895 Nagant revolver, which has a unique mechanism which shoves the cartridge forward from the cylinder into the barrel itself. This configuration prevents any gases or flames from escaping except at the muzzle where they belong and where they can be suppressed by a silencer. It also increases the velocity of the bullet, as none of the energy from the blast is being dissipated out of the sides of the weapon.
The Nagant was made from 1895 through 1945 and saw intensive use in World Wars I and II. It is renowned for being extremely rugged, extremely reliable, and extremely slow and awkward to reload. It also features one of the hardest triggers to pull of any sidearm made. Due to both its suitability for a silencer and the practices of the Stalin regime in general, probably more Soviet subjects were killed by the revolver than were enemy soldiers. Nagants, along with an American-made Colt M1911 and a German-made "broomhandle" Mauser, were the handguns used on the Russian royal family in 1918.
The Nagant revolver depicted below is one of many fascinating items being rotated through a three-year series of exhibits on World War II at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas. The museum also has as part of its standard exhibits quite a few unusual and interesting small arms from that conflict.
No comments:
Post a Comment