TP-82: The Gun Cosmonauts Carried On Space Missions

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taliv

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slashdot.org said:
James Simpson has an interesting story about the TP-82 survival pistol that Russian cosmonauts carried into space with them on missions between 1982 and 2006. But calling it a pistol is slightly misleading—the TP-82 was essentially a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun with a short-barreled rifle added onto it. Having a gun inside a thin-walled spacecraft filled with oxygen sounds crazy, but the Soviets had their reasons. Much of Russia is desolate wilderness. A single mishap during descent could strand cosmonauts in the middle of nowhere. In March 1965, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov landed a mechanically-faulty Voskhod space capsule in the snowy forests of the western Urals 600 miles from his planned landing site. For protection, Leonov had a nine-millimeter pistol. He feared the bears and wolves that prowled the forest—though he never encountered any. But the fear stayed with him. Later in his career, Leonov made sure the Soviet military provided all its cosmonauts with a survival weapon. For the Soviets, the weapon was a case of "better safe than sorry," and from 1986, it was a permanent fixture in the portable survival kits of every Soyuz mission. "Astronauts of all nationalities—including Americans—have trained with the TP-82," writes Simpson. "And still today, before they ride the Soyuz to space, they must complete a Russian survival training course in the Black Sea and the Siberian forest."
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pretty cool, huh? but kind of an odd configuration

links to more detailed articles are on the story at slashdot.org
 
Oh, I was guessing it was to protect them from the reavers but Siberian beasts sounds more plausible I suppose.
 
12.5x70 SxS shortbarreled shotgun/psitol, with a 5.45x39 barrel beneath.

What gauge would 12.5x70 even be similar to?

1280px-TP-82.jpg
 
Please be carefull reading slashdot.com. The site is user moderated and many comments are WAY off topic and just short of personal attacks. It is nothing like what we have here.
 
The shoulder stock on that survival weapon could be detached and after the cover was removed could be used as a machete.
 
U.S astronauts also originally were to carry a firearm into space but the idea was abandoned. Remember the Rem. Nylon 66? That was one of the candidates.
 
Sbr... Aow??

Why no officer, this is my machete with an extended, dogleg handle.

Gotta love the security measure in the display case. What's on the wall? Nany-cam?

Todd.
 
That thing is particularly crude looking, more clubbish than anything. Plus, it must weigh a ton. Rocket scientists couldn't do anything better than that? No setting for stun? :rolleyes:
 
Being in space or on a different planet or moon would definitely affect the ballistics now wouldn't it?
Imagine shooting a high brass magnum 12 guage, the kick from it on the moon would probably send you backwards quite a ways.
 
sigsmoker said:
Being in space or on a different planet or moon would definitely affect the ballistics now wouldn't it?

Imagine shooting a high brass magnum 12 guage, the kick from it on the moon would probably send you backwards quite a ways.
Click to expand...


Considering the lack of oxygen, my guess is that the primer would not even ignite the powder.
 
Considering the lack of oxygen, my guess is that the primer would not even ignite the powder.
Click to expand...

Thinking the same thing myself after posting I had to look on the internet and found that the saltpeter in gunpowder is in itself oxygen rich. I also learned that sound does not travel in a vacuum so it would be quiet too.
 
rogerjames said:
Considering the lack of oxygen, my guess is that the primer would not even ignite the powder.
Click to expand...

No external oxygen is necessary to detonate a primer.

sigsmoker - Thinking the same thing myself after posting I had to look on the internet and found that the saltpeter in gunpowder is in itself oxygen rich. I also learned that sound does not travel in a vacuum so it would be quiet too.
Click to expand...

Modern propellants (smokeless power) does not contain saltpeter.
 
Being in space or on a different planet or moon would definitely affect the ballistics now wouldn't it?
Imagine shooting a high brass magnum 12 guage, the kick from it on the moon would probably send you backwards quite a ways.
Click to expand...

This little gizmo was for Cosmonauts that landed in remote areas on reentry to Earth. Siberia to be exact.
 
The scenario was electronic systems failure, off-course, landing in Siberia, surrounded by wolves, waiting to be located/rescued.

It happened once w/o the survival weapon. Once it was issued, it never happened again.
 
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