Thread: Nagant Rolling Block action. Anyone got one ?

So here is a Nagant ( Belgium ) rolling block action



I got this in a bundle of gun gear.
It's really rather ingenious and well made.
The bottom lever opens the action and brings the hammer to full cock in one action.
The breech block pivots on the front pin.
The hammer and lever are two separate parts that share the rear pin

It has the hammer spur broken off. Easy fix
the bottom tang is bent and broken at the tang screw hole
The lever latch at bottom tang doesn't catch properly because of the tang being bent.

But it is a very cool action and is currently a very nice paperweight on my desk.

Does anyone have a similar action on a functional rifle ?

This looks to be about a rook rifle sized action and the extractor size suggests 320 Rook or 32-20
There are much bigger Nagant actions on the internet I have seen up to 450 3 1/4" BPE size
This one is cast iron also

and the retailers "T Bland" are marked on it being Thomas Bland and Sons

I've never seen one but saw it written up somewhere (a De Haas book?) and was of the same opinion - ingenious! It must have "come along" at the wrong time not to have been developed further.

Originally Posted by Tentman

I've never seen one but saw it written up somewhere (a De Haas book?) and was of the same opinion - ingenious! It must have "come along" at the wrong time not to have been developed further.

Yeah it raised the DeHaas alarm with me straight away and i found it in his second single shot volume

I would love to find a fully functional example
My guess is it didn't transition into nitro powder loads as well as the falling block BP designs did