In 1884 Leon and Emile Nagant were comissioned by the Swedish government to design a new side arm for their officers. The trials that year had examined a Swiss M1882 and a Norwegian 9mm Nagant, and concluded that the Swiss revolver's accuracy and power, combined with the Norwegian simplicity and compactness would make for an ideal side arm for Sweden. Nagant set out to design what would become known as the Swedish M1887 service revolver, chambered in the 7.5mm Ordnance cartridge. Production began in 1887 in Belgium, with 2,600 delivered to the Swedish government by 1897. So we find 2,600 of them today with Belgian proof marks, some pre-1893, and others post-1893, however ALL OF THE BELGIAN- PRODUCED M1887'S ARE ANTIQUE, as none were made in Belgium after 1897. In that year, Nagant moved its manufacturing capacity of the Swedish M1887 to the factory at Husqvarna. During its first year, the newly established production line manufactured 350 M1887's for the Norwegian government, before concentrating on domestic production in 1898. For this reason, only the Swedish (Husqvarna) marked M87's with a serial number from 1 to 350 are considered antique in Canada. At this point one needs to be aware of the "other" M87 produced by Nagant in Belgium: it is the M87/93 manufactured for Norway. This gun is identical to the Swedish model except that it has a half-round front sight with a notch instead of the rectangular front sight of the Swedish model. The M87/93 was produced in Belgium until 1900, and only those with a serial number below 4900 are considered antique in Canada...
One of the weaknesses identified early on was the fact that the cylinder of the gun could be rotated with the hammer in the fired position. This is also evident in many of the early double action revolvers of the late 19th century - F&W, Iver Johnson, and even some Colt revolvers have this feature. If the gun does not have a rebounding hammer, this is not an issue, as the firing pin either rests on the spent primer, or in between two cartridges, preventing rotation. The Swedish M87, with its rebounding hammer, does not stop the cylinder from rotating when the hammer is down. Already a year after its inception, the Swedish Lieutnant Tor Fabian Tornell of Carlsborg, Sweden had his patent attorney William Thompson of London file for a patent (no. 8331) for an improvenment to the design of revolvers. This was a general patent for a trigger-actuated cylinder block which would prevent a cylinder from rotating at any time other than when actuated by the hand and trigger. It would make sense to conclude that he had the Nagant revolver first and foremost in mind, although his invention could be easily incorporated into other revolver designs. The Swedes duly took notice of this improvement, and approved it for use on the M87 in 1891, however only a few of the newly ordered (still Belgian-made) M87's were fitted with Tornell's improvement. The invention consists of a two-piece trigger separated by a spring which allows the forward part to click into a notch milled into the periphery of the cylinder, preventing it from rotating. When the trigger is pulled, the forward half moves to the rear to engange the rear half of the trigger, unlocking the cylinder. This modification would have been simple to incorporate, without any modification to the frame and only minimal extra milling work to the cylinder. A few "experimental" specimens were produced, but the modification was never widely applied, and none of the later Husqvarna-made revolvers used this feature. I am not aware of any other manufacturer who may have made use of this patent.
Norwegian Contract Nagant M87/93: half-round front sight with notch differentiates it from the Swedish model
Belgian-made Swedish M87 with rectangular front sight
Tornell modification: the two-piece trigger
Modified trigger requires no additional milling on the frame.
Conventional M87 made at Husqvarna
Conventional milling of the frame. No difference to the Tornell modification.
Tornell Modified Cylinder: stop notch milled into conventional cylinder
Conventional M87 Cylinder
One of the weaknesses identified early on was the fact that the cylinder of the gun could be rotated with the hammer in the fired position. This is also evident in many of the early double action revolvers of the late 19th century - F&W, Iver Johnson, and even some Colt revolvers have this feature. If the gun does not have a rebounding hammer, this is not an issue, as the firing pin either rests on the spent primer, or in between two cartridges, preventing rotation. The Swedish M87, with its rebounding hammer, does not stop the cylinder from rotating when the hammer is down. Already a year after its inception, the Swedish Lieutnant Tor Fabian Tornell of Carlsborg, Sweden had his patent attorney William Thompson of London file for a patent (no. 8331) for an improvenment to the design of revolvers. This was a general patent for a trigger-actuated cylinder block which would prevent a cylinder from rotating at any time other than when actuated by the hand and trigger. It would make sense to conclude that he had the Nagant revolver first and foremost in mind, although his invention could be easily incorporated into other revolver designs. The Swedes duly took notice of this improvement, and approved it for use on the M87 in 1891, however only a few of the newly ordered (still Belgian-made) M87's were fitted with Tornell's improvement. The invention consists of a two-piece trigger separated by a spring which allows the forward part to click into a notch milled into the periphery of the cylinder, preventing it from rotating. When the trigger is pulled, the forward half moves to the rear to engange the rear half of the trigger, unlocking the cylinder. This modification would have been simple to incorporate, without any modification to the frame and only minimal extra milling work to the cylinder. A few "experimental" specimens were produced, but the modification was never widely applied, and none of the later Husqvarna-made revolvers used this feature. I am not aware of any other manufacturer who may have made use of this patent.
Norwegian Contract Nagant M87/93: half-round front sight with notch differentiates it from the Swedish model
Belgian-made Swedish M87 with rectangular front sight
Tornell modification: the two-piece trigger
Modified trigger requires no additional milling on the frame.
Conventional M87 made at Husqvarna
Conventional milling of the frame. No difference to the Tornell modification.
Tornell Modified Cylinder: stop notch milled into conventional cylinder
Conventional M87 Cylinder
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