On this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday, we revisit the M1895 Nagant as it has returned from its trip to Tornado Technologies to have the barrel threaded. It was roughly 5 months ago that I sent in my revolver to be threaded for a little suppressed fun in the future. While that seems like a long time for a barrel to get threaded, we will look at what contributed to that and see what is next in the saga surrounding the purchase of an old Nagant and getting it to the point of a fully suppressed wheelgun. Let’s dive in!

hunting down the M1895 Nagant

Being the wheelgun lover that I am, it was close to 1 year ago that I got the fantasy of owning a suppressed revolver. What better flex is there to show your friends that you own one of the few and only revolvers in history that can be successfully suppressed? So, I was on the hunt to find an M1895 Nagant. With COVID afoot, all of the area gun shows by me were cancelled which are usually ripe for older and more odd firearms. As fortune would have it, someone traded in an M1895 Nagant to my gun shop which I quickly bought for myself. So, the journey began.

• Wheelgun Wednesday: Suppressed Revolver? Nagant M1895 Adventures
• Wheelgun Wednesday: Tornado Technologies Nagant Barrel Threading

In our previous articles covering the M1895 Nagant, we looked at why it is even possible with this revolver to be able to successfully suppress it. Also, we assessed my choice of Tornado Technologies being the company to thread my revolver. Both of those articles can be re-read above.

Tornado technologies – good things come to those who wait

As alluded to earlier, I sent in my revolver to be threaded by Tornado Technologies out of Oregon approximately 5 months ago. My excitement and child-like wonder of being the coolest kid at my gun club with a suppressed revolver slowly began to fade each month that passed. As to not become discouraged, I re-read my own Nagant revolver articles and was reminded of this nugget of wisdom from myself:

So, if the gunsmithing task at hand takes a little bit longer than expected do not freak out. My father taught me from a young age that you can either ‘get something done, or you can get something done right.’ You obviously want the latter. Do not put a gunsmith under a 24-hour or arbitrary time constraint because you failed to plan ahead adequately. That simply pushes for sub-par work to be performed, and you to be disappointed in the end.

Who would have believed I had such sage advice hiding inside me? Nonetheless, I was disheartened and irked that it took so long for my revolver to be threaded because the period of time I waited was not something I expected. So with all of that being said, I reached out to Tornado Technologies to see if they had a better explanation. There are always two sides to every story and I wanted to hear theirs.

tornado technologies – improving amid chaos

I do not recall the 1st person I talked to at their customer service, but they were understanding and polite. That original individual got me connected with Mike at Tornado. I explained my grief not trying to sound like a “Karen” over the phone yet earnestly wondering “why the slower than anticipated lead time?” He listened empathically and once I was done explained a lot.

Mike stated that most firearms or barrels people send in for threading services are running in a 6 – 8 week time frame simply because of the sheer volume of work they are doing at the moment. Some projects are significantly faster, but in general, that is the current expected turnaround. Comparative over year-to-year, they are doing 10x the amount of work volume; thus far, in 2021 as opposed to 2020! So, they are definitely working as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Speaking of efficiently, while they are authentically swamped they have been simultaneously looking at ways to improve the barrel threading process for Nagant revolvers. Previously it was a 1-hour run time to thread a Nagant and that has been dramatically improved. Tornado Technologies has invested in new machines and tooling where the entire firearm is rotated in a stationary machine now as opposed to a threading machine head whirling and rotating around the gun. These new machines also operate at slower RPMs to do their work as best as possible.

My mild grief was completely removed when I heard how genuinely busy they are and that they were actually looking to make improvements to the threading process for Nagant revolvers during COVID no less. Mike also mentioned that the Nagant is especially delicate (or should be considered with more care) because the barrel alone is not being threaded, but also a small sliver of the front sight is being purposefully removed as well.

Something else that Mike shared is that in the near future an online payment system to expedite part of the ordering process will be implemented as well. That should shave a small amount of time off of how long you are without your firearm.

m1895 Nagant – what’s next?

So, I obtained my Holy Grail by finding an M1895 Nagant revolver last. I then proceeded to get it threaded. The last piece to the puzzle is to choose the perfect silencer to hush this little puppy. I do own a SilencerCo Hybrid which would work, but it would also be comically large for my revolver. Maybe a Q Erector 9 or Dead Air Odessa 9 would be exactly what I need. Until next time, thanks for joining us on Wheelgun Wednesday and as always share all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.