The Mosin-Nagant rifle was developed late in the nineteenth century for the Imperial Russian military, the Tsarist brass having finally admitted that the old single-shot Berdan rifle needed replacing. Basically the design was a combination of the ideas of a Russian officer named Mosin and those of the Belgian Nagant brothers; just how much each contributed is a matter of debate. The result was the long rifle seen in photos from the Revolution. Shorter versions were developed for mounted troops.

The Communists kept the old rifle and continued to produce it with only a few changes, mainly shortening the barrel a bit and modernizing the sights. In 1938 a carbine version was introduced for cavalry and support troops; and that is what we have here. Fifty bucks from a company in Florida, complete with neato accessories:

The round two-cap can next to the cartridge pouches is an original Red Army issue field maintenance container, with one compartment for oil and the other for cleaning solvent. The odd-looking flat gadget with the oblong hole and the notches is a combination tool for disassembly; the small end is a screwdriver and the notches are used to adjust the firing pin stroke. The other stuff goes with the cleaning rod which is carried under the barrel.

Katyusha is a superb weapon in many respects, being very handy and well-balanced, and solidly constructed; the sights are easy to use, even with my deteriorating eyesight, and the stock fits me pretty well. The bolt action isn't the smoothest in the world, and the trigger pull is no more than adequate, but it's OK.

I'm afraid, though, she's got a couple of really big problems. One, the cartridge - roughly equivalent to our .30-06 - is just too powerful for a short, light piece like this. The muzzle blast is enough to stun a buffalo, and the recoil is nothing short of brutal. I let a friend of mine fire a few rounds one day last summer; a big, broad-shouldered ex-Marine who lifts weights, he shouldered it confidently and took aim, but when it went off his eyes got big. "God, it's like a cannon," he said. You could see it pushing him back with every shot.

Lighter loads would solve the problem, and for some time I considered getting the necessary equipment and working up a load that would reduce recoil yet remain effective - something a little more powerful than the .30-30 Winchester, perhaps - but I gave up the idea, because there remained another problem less easily solved.

The Mosin safety simply is not worth a damn. It consists merely of a knob at the back of the bolt, which you are supposed to pull back and turn to one side to lock the firing pin, reversing the process to release it. Not only is this inherently clumsy and slow, it's also extremely difficult; you have to have a grip like King Kong to operate the God-damned thing at all.

And it's dangerous; and not just because your fingers might slip. I found out the hard way: the safety knob must be grasped with the thumb and fingertips, like this:

Because if you grasp it the natural way, like this -

- you run the risk of nerve damage to your forefinger. This happened to me, about the fourth or fifth time I tried to operate the Mosin safety; the pain was excruciating as the nerve was crushed - and then it quit hurting, and now, a year later, that part of my right forefinger still has no feeling.

Some have experimented with modifying the main spring to make the safety easier to operate; and I suppose you could do some sort of exercises to build up your fingers. But you'd still have a slow and awkward arrangement. By the time you got the safety off, anything you proposed to shoot - or anyone - would have left the area; or, in the case of an "anyone", blown your head off.

The whole design echoes a classically Russian philosophy: "Is not safe. Is gun." Which is an admirable concept in some ways, but I'm afraid in this case I decided I better retire Katyusha to wall-hanger and occasional target-range duty.

Too bad, because I do love her. She's a piece of history, after all; she was made the same year I was born - 1942 - and she served during the bloodiest war in the history of her nation and the world. And that Russian birch stock is really beautiful wood. Sometimes I take her down and just hold her; I like the way she feels.