Posted: 6/3/2011 5:38:38 AM EDT
| What types of troops would have carried the 1895 Nagant Revolver? Just officers? Grenadiers? Machine gun crews? Artillery? |
Theoretically officers...the TT-33 had replaced the Nagant in front-line service by the start of the war, so the nagant was given to anyone who they couldn't find a tokarev for, but I suspect lower-ranking first, so some vehicle and weapon crews (though AFAIK, not infantry machingunners officially, they had a carbine or nada). The Soviets pretty much issued NCOs SMGs almost from the get go, and carbines to enlisted support troops. That leaves vehicle crews, because Russian tanks made ours look positively spacious. While they had lots of officers, it's still a relatively small number compared to the sheer size of their armed forces. Also nagants having unique ammunition to issue probably meant that first line combat units avoided it. I'm not sure about the VVS (air force) but I understand that the NKVD(the biggest user of pistols  ) prefered semi-autos.
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The double action was used for rear eschlon officers, mostly as a badge of authority and ceremony. Any officer near the front got a tt-33.
Higher ranking NCOs were issued single action nagant revovlers this was a long old practice that had not ended during WWII once again mostly as a badge of authority. Tank crews were issued tt-33s, nagants, and the folding stock ppsh43 depending on unit and time we are discussing. |