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KS-23
The KS-23 (Karabin Spetsialniy, "Special Carbine") is a Russian shotgun that fires 23mm shells (equivalent to 6.27 gauge or 4 gauge in the metric bore system used in some parts of Europe), making it most powerful shoulder-fired shotgun in use today. The guns themselves are mechanically based on the Winchester Model 1200, and the barrels are made from cut-down rejected 2A7 antiaircraft gun barrels, intended for ZSU-23-4 self-propelled AA guns. Since it uses a rifled AA gun barrel, it is officially designated by the Russian military as a carbine, but in functional terms it is a pump-action shotgun. The KS-23 can fire a variety of loads including shot and slugs, and is also used with a cup adaptor and blanks to fire rifle grenades.
The KS-23 was originally designed in the 1970s for suppressing prison riots. The original idea implied the usual 12 gauge, but since the gun was intended for non-lethal purposes, it was decided to equip it with a rifled barrel of a larger caliber, for larger-capacity charges and for better accuracy. The first serial guns were produced in 1981, and the KS-23 was officially adopted by the Soviet police in 1985. It was largely replaced in police use by the KS-23M (modernized) in 1990.
In 1995, a new box magazine-fed bullpup version, the KS-23K, was developed for use by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The KS-23K is a rather mysterious model; in fact, aside from using the same ammunition, it is technically unrelated to the original KS-23. It is also unclear how its claimed pump-action action mechanism works; most likely, the barrel and the action are a single conneccted group, and the barrel can move inside the gun (like the AN-94), so the entire barrel can be pumped back and forth. No further information on the production and use of the KS-23K exists, and it was likely that the KS-23K remained a prototype weapon, and its production was discontinued. Parallel to the KS-23K, the TsKIB SOO developed their own 23mm box magazine fed shotgun, known as the OTs-28. The OTs-28 also did not enter service, because it was more expensive to produce than the KS-23K.
A civilian version, the TOZ-123 "Drake-4," was designed by Tulsky Oruzheiny Zavod in 1996. This variant features a smoothbore barrel. Imports of the TOZ-123 to the United States were banned during the Clinton Administration. Demand for Drake-4 was low, and its production was soon discontinued. The Molot Bekas is another civilian verseion of the KS-23, chambered for 12 & 16 gauge.
Specifications
(1981 - present)
- Type: Shotgun
- Caliber: 23mm (6.27 gauge)
- Weight: 8.49 lbs (3.85 kg)
- Length: 41 in (104 cm)
- Barrel length: 20 in (51 cm)
- Capacity: 3+1 (KS-23 & KS-23M), 7 (KS-23K)
- Fire Modes: Pump-Action
The KS-23 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living Target (Zhivaja mishen) | A criminal | KS-23 | 1990 | |
| Sheriff's Star (Zvezda sherifa) | Police | KS-23 | 1992 | |
| Antikiller 2: Antiterror | SOBR personnel | KS-23M, firing tear gas grenades | 2003 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.62 High Calibre | KS-23M | 2008 | ||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | 2010 | |||
| Firearms: Source | 2011 | |||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | KS-23 | w/ Soviet dovetail mount | KS-23M | 2016 |
| Survarium | KS-23 & KS-23M | 2017 |