The Nagant was designed by Léon Nagant, whose brother Émile had also taken part in designing the Mosin–Nagant rifle.[7] The Nagant M1895 was adopted as the standard issue sidearm for the Imperial Russian Army and police officers, where it replaced earlier Smith & Wesson models such as the Model 3.[8]

Production began in Liège, Belgium; however Russia purchased the manufacturing rights in 1898, and moved production to the Tula Arsenal in Russia, and was soon producing 20,000 examples per year.[8]

It was produced in two versions: a double-action version for officers, and a cheaper single-action version for the lower ranks.[9] Seven Nagant revolvers were used by communist revolutionaries to kill the Russian imperial family and their servants in July 1918.[10] After the Russian Revolution, only the double-action version was made.[9] Nagant revolvers were used by the NKVD and Red Army units until the end of World War II, with a total of 2,000,000 produced.[11] The Nagant began to be replaced by the Tokarev semi-automatic pistol in 1933, and was formally replaced by the Makarov in 1952, though Nagant revolvers continued to see limited use in the Korean War and Vietnam War.[12]