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The KS-23 (Karabin Spetsialniy 23mm Карабин Специальный 23мм, meaning "23mm Special Carbine") is a Russian rifled shotgun designed for suppressing prison riots.

History[]

After the Soviet government cancelled the purchase of certain 23mm 2A7 anti-aircraft gun barrels meant for the ZSU-23-4 SPAAG due to manufacturing defects, they decided to repurpose the barrels as shotguns in the form of the KS-23. It has been in service in various counter-terrorist groups in Russia since the 1970's, including the MVD, FSB (KGB), Spetsnaz and the Russian Ground Forces, though it is being replaced by the Saiga 12K in the RGF. No other country was reported to have used the KS-23, but some ex-Soviet nations are reported to have KS-23s in their arsenals.

Design[]

The KS-23 is a pump-action shotgun with a rifled barrel. Its bolt has four locking lugs. In spite of the weapon being a shotgun, the KS-23 is classified as a carbine in Russia due to its rifled barrel.

Renown[]

The KS-23 is well known for being the largest caliber shotgun used in service by any country. The caliber it uses, the 23×75mmR, is the largest known shotgun bore cartridge to be used by any military; this equates to about 6.27 gauge using current British and American standards, or 4 gauge when using current European standards.

Ammunition Variations[]

The KS-23 is capable of firing a variety of different munitions.

  • "Shrapnel-10" («Шрапнель-10») - Buckshot round with a 10-meter effective range
  • "Shrapnel-25" («Шрапнель-25») - Buckshot round with a 25-meter effective range
  • "Barricade" («Баррикада») - Cartridge with a solid steel projectile capable of destroying the engine block of a car at a distance of up to 100 meters
  • "Volna" («Волна», meaning "Wave") - Inert cartridge used for education and training
  • "Volna-R" («Волна-Р», meaning "Wave-R") - Cartridge with a less-lethal rubber bullet
  • "Strela-3" («Стрела-3», meaning "Arrow-3") - Cartridge with a less-lethal plastic bullet
  • "Cheremukha-7" («Черёмуха-7», meaning "Bird Cherry-7") - Tear gas grenade with a CN agent
  • "Siren'-7" («Сирень-7», meaning "Lilac-7") - Tear gas grenade with a CS agent
  • "Zvezda" («Звезда», meaning "Star") - Flash-bang round
  • PV-23 (ПВ-23) - Blank (grenade launching) cartridge

Variants[]

  • KS-23 - The original version.
  • KS-23M Drozd - Variant with detachable wire buttstock and shorter barrel.
  • KS-23K - A bullpup version of the KS-23 that uses a detachable box magazine instead of a tube magazine.
  • TOZ-123 "Drake-4" (ТОЗ-123 «Селезень-4») - Civilian market version of the KS-23, featuring a smoothbore barrel instead of the rifled barrel and is chambered in 4 gauge instead of the normal 23×75mmR shells. 30 of these guns were imported into the United States as the BFG-1, before it was banned by the Clinton administration.

External Links[]



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