The Russian Cosmonaut Gun,Starting in 1986 Russian Cosmonauts began to carry a special gun into spac

The Russian Cosmonaut Gun,Starting in 1986 Russian Cosmonauts began to carry a special gun into space.  These guns were not meant to fight off space aliens or any other kind of intergalactic threat, but were meant as an emergency survival weapon.  Often Russian missions involved landing in remote areas of Siberia.  Pickup and recovery could take a while, especially if they happened to be off course resulting in being stranded in the remote Siberian wilderness. In addition if they had to abandon a space ship or space station and their escape pod landed in the middle of the wilderness on some far off continent, rescue and recovery could take days or even weeks. Thus they were issued a special survival weapon to fend off predators or hunt for food.The TP-82 was a simple three barreled break open firearm that sported two calibers.  The upper two barrels were smoothbore and chambered for a special 12.5x70mm (40 gauge) shot shell ideal for hunting small game.  The bottom third barrel was rifled and chambered for the 5.45x39mm rifle cartridge which could be used for larger animals in a pinch.  Included with the gun was a detachable buttstock which also doubled as a sheath and contained a small  machete.The TP-82 was issued to Soviet and Russian Cosmonauts from 1982 up to 2006.  In 2007 the Russian Space Agency’s store of the rare 12.5x70mm shotshell ammunition expired in terms of shelf life and no more was manufactured.  Since then Russian Cosmonauts are issued regular semi automatic pistols with their emergency gear. -- source link

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