TP-82

TP-82
Type Combination gun
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1986–2007
Production history
Designer Igor Aleksandrovich Skrylev
Specifications
Weight 2.4 kg (with stock)
Cartridge 5.45×39mm (below) and 12.5×70 shotgun shells (above)
Barrels 3
Effective firing range 200 meters
Feed system Break-open
Sights Iron

The TP-82 (Russian: ТП-82) was a triple-barrelled Soviet pistol that was carried by cosmonauts on space missions.

It was intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness. The TP-82 was the result of cosmonaut Alexy Leonov's concerns after being stranded in the Siberian wilderness when his Voskhod capsule malfunctioned. He was concerned that the 9-millimetre pistol that was provided in the survival kit would be ineffective against the Siberian wildlife, namely bears and wolves.[1]

The upper two smoothbore barrels used 12.5×70 mm ammunition (28 gauge), and the lower rifled barrel used 5.45×39mm ammunition. The pistol could be used for hunting, to defend against predators and for visible and audible distress signals. The detachable buttstock was also a machete that came with a canvas sheath.

TP-82s were carried regularly on Soviet and Russian space missions from 1986 to 2007. They were part of the Soyuz Portable Emergency-Survival Kit (Носимый аварийный запас, Nosimyi Avariynyi Zapas, NAZ). In 2007,[2] the media reported that the remaining ammunition for the TP-82 had become unusable and that a regular semi-automatic pistol would be used on future missions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Simpson, James (2015-02-03). "Soviet Cosmonauts Carried a Shotgun Into Space". War Is Boring. Archived from the original on 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  2. ↑ "TP-82 : Russian space pistol / shotgun / carbine / flare gun no longer being carried into space". The Firearm Blog. 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2016-12-14.


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