This crazy Soviet shotgun used rejected aircraft cannon barrels

ks-23 soviet shotgun
The KS-23 is the largest-bore shotgun in use today (Russian Military Review)

Soviet weapon designers came up with interesting ideas like the TP-82, a triple-barreled shotgun-pistol-machete carried by cosmonauts. When Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) needed a shotgun to suppress prison riots, they found exactly what they needed in rejected aircraft cannon barrels.

short-barrel soviet shotgun
A short-barrel KS-23M without a buttstock (reddit.com/r/weirdweapons)

Designed in 1971, the KS-23 is a pump-action shotgun that fires an enormous 23mm round. For reference, a 12-gauge shotgun shell is nominally 18.5mm in diameter. Moreover, the rifled barrel of the KS-23 meant that it was technically designated as a carbine. As previously mentioned, KS-23 barrels were made from rejected barrels produced for the GSh-23, a twin-barreled 23mm auto cannon fitted to military aircraft like the MiG-23 fighter and Su-25 attack plane.

su-25 23mm gun pods same as for soviet shotgun
The Su-25 can carry 23mm gun pods (U.S. Army photo)

Although manufacturing flaws prevented the barrels from acceptance for use on on GSh-23, they were deemed acceptable for the lower-stress firing of shotgun rounds. The 23mm barrels were cut down to 20 or 14 inches depending on the KS-23 variant they were fitted to.

The KS-23 was capable of firing a variety of rounds through its massive barrel. Since it was designed for riot control, tear gas grenades, flashbang rounds, and less-lethal plastic and rubber bullets were commonly employed. However, it could still fire lethal buckshot with effective ranges of 10 or 25 meters depending on the round. A solid steel slug was also available that was designed to destroy a car’s engine block at a range of 100 meters.

As if the KS-23’s 23mm bore wasn’t enough, two add-on muzzle mortars were designed. Attaching to the front of the shotgun, these devices allowed the user to fire either a 36mm or 82mm tear gas grenade. The KS-23 is still used by the Russian Border Guard Service as well as former Soviet states including Armenia, Kazakstan and Ukraine.

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Miguel Ortiz

Senior Contributor, US Army Veteran

Miguel Ortiz graduated from San Diego State University and commissioned as an Army Officer in 2017. His passion for military culture and history led him to freelance writing. He specializes in interesting and obscure military history. When he’s not writing, Miguel enjoys traveling and watch collecting.