soviet mars pistol

March 02, 2017, 06:47 AM

SBrooks

soviet mars pistol

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/...sian-space-revolver/

Something cool they created for their astronauts to carry. Cylinder over barrel position allows for longer barrel length.

March 02, 2017, 07:45 AM

ohioup

Thanks for posting. I never knew of such a thing.

March 02, 2017, 08:04 AM

Hound Dog

quote:
So why they even needed a gun for astronauts? The main purpose of such а gun is the survival role. The need of such firearm became clear when in 1965 “Voskhod-2” spacecraft had to do an emergency landing. The two crew members of Voskhod-2 had to wait two days until they were found and evacuated. So when you land in the middle of nowhere, you need something to hunt with and defend yourself from predators. At that time astronauts were issued Makarov pistols, which didn’t fit the survival gun role very well. In 1979 Alexey Leonov (the same man who first was in the open space) officially pointed the need of such a gun.

Interesting article.

Although, it's not really a 'space gun;' in that it wasn't designed to be used IN space. It's a really neat design, though. . .

March 02, 2017, 08:16 AM

redstone

I think Leonov mentions this in his book Two Sides of the Moon. (iirc)

But I have never seen a picture of it, what an awesome piece of history and I am glad they have it in the museum. Thanks for a fun read this AM

This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson

March 02, 2017, 10:01 AM

RogueJSK

quote:
Originally posted by Hound Dog:
Interesting article.

Although, it's not really a 'space gun;' in that it wasn't designed to be used IN space.

That distinction belongs to the Rikhter R-23 23mm autocannon, known to have been mounted on at least one Soviet space station (Salyut 3) and possibly more.

It was for protection against "American space-based interceptors". 32 rounds were provided. The gun was test-fired during one of the missions.

March 02, 2017, 10:11 AM

PASig

So it's a Soviet cosmonaut SURVIVAL gun, not a "space" gun. Didn't the original M-16 start out this way as a survival rifle for USAF pilots?

March 02, 2017, 10:14 AM

RogueJSK

quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
Didn't the original M-16 start out this way as a survival rifle for USAF pilots?

No, that's a separate, earlier Armalite design: the AR-5. This was a bolt action takedown rifle designed by George Sullivan in 1954, and adopted by the USAF in 1956 as the MA-1 survival rifle.

The M-16/AR-15 was based on the AR-10, an unrelated rifle designed by Eugene Stoner for Armalite starting in 1955.

Prototype AR-10s:

March 02, 2017, 10:39 AM

KMitch200

I stll like these - the newer ones had a loop covering the "trigger". The older ones you could use with heavy mittens on. 22Hornet / .410 combo.

March 02, 2017, 12:04 PM

Il Cattivo

^^^ The Russian version came out looking a little more like the Savage 24.

http://www.bluebookofgunvalues..._94_410_Bore_Rimfire

Which is a little odd. I think a three-barrel combo in 5.45x39 and some odd metric shotgun round finally made the cut, and there had to be a better buttstock for it than a sheathed machete with a funky blade shape.