This is a continuation of the article about carbines of the KS-23 family. The first part is HERE.
Soviet realities
After analyzing typical situations, one of the tasks assigned to the gunsmiths was the accuracy of the weapon, allowing it to hit a 50x50 cm square at a distance of 100-150 m. Another task was to create a grenade that creates a cloud of tear gas with an intolerable concentration of about 30 cubic meters. m. That is, the new weapon was required to be able to fire grenades at sufficiently long ranges and with good accuracy, ensuring that the first grenade hit the window of a building or a car from a distance of one and a half hundred meters.
To increase the firing range and accuracy of the battle, a longer barrel and a full-fledged butt suggested itself, and in addition, it would be nice to provide for the possibility of installing an optical sight. A fairly large sample of weapons was looming, and it was, at least, impractical to create it with a single shot. And instead of once again adjusting the rocket launcher to the needs of the customer, it was decided to develop a weapon for him “from scratch”.
Initially, to replace the signal pistol, an experimental smooth-bore magazine gun was developed for 12-gauge cartridges. Then a smooth-bore pump-action carbine of the original design SSK-26 (special rifle complex, 26 mm) with a box magazine for hunting cartridges of the 4th caliber (26, 5 mm) was created.
The design feature of the SSK-26 was reloading, which was activated by moving the forearm along with the barrel. Moreover, the reflection of the spent cartridge case occurred when the barrel moved forward (and not backward, like all other pump-action shotguns). When moving back, the barrel seemed to be “put on” the next cartridge. Thanks to the original scheme with a movable barrel located under the magazine, it was possible to abandon the sliding bolt and thereby obtain a tangible gain in the magazine capacity (6 rounds 12/76 or 7 rounds 12/70) in weight and dimensions of the weapon. By the way, subsequently the SSK-26 reloading mechanism was used in a pump-action shotgun with a supra-barrel tube magazine RMB-93 and in its civilian modifications RMO-93 "Lynx".
During the tests of these samples, experts from the Ministry of Internal Affairs concluded that the 23 mm caliber can provide optimal efficiency, and to obtain acceptable accuracy, the barrel should be rifled.
Birth
Work on the creation of a new weapon complex began in the 70s of the last century, at the Research Institute of Special Equipment of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The basis for the new ammunition was a 4-caliber sleeve from the same rocket launcher, but taking into account the rifled barrel of the weapon, the caliber of the cartridge was made slightly smaller, and it became known as 23 mm.
After a whole series of studies and experiments on the basis of the 26-mm cartridge "Cheryomukha-4", shots with chemical grenades equipped with CN tear gas "Cheryomukha-6" and "Cheryomukha-7" were developed.
The effective firing range of these ammunition was about 150 meters. At the maximum range, the grenades pierced two sheets of glass (a double-glazed window), and from a distance of 40-50 m, the grenades were able to pierce a 30-mm wooden board or steel sheet up to 1 mm thick.
26-mm cartridges “Cheryomukha-7” with remote gas grenades of different years of production. Marking Ch-7/89 stands for “Cherryomukha-7” 1989 onwards. And marking Ch / 7-90 as "Cherryomukha-7" 1990 release. Complete confusion with color coding … Restructuring, the beginning of the recession …
In the end, they decided to abandon the protruding detachable box magazine in favor of a tubular under-barrel magazine (apparently for the sake of compactness), and gunsmiths began to develop a classic pump-action weapon with a longitudinally sliding forend, a fixed barrel and the usual principle of reloading: yourself”, loading - forend“from yourself”.
As already mentioned, in order to improve the accuracy of shooting, the barrel of the weapon was decided to be rifled. Ten grooves give the projectile a rotational movement, which ensures sufficient firing accuracy at an aimed fire range. For the new weapon, the possibility of installing an optical sight was provided, and to simplify and reduce the cost of production, shortened and lightweight barrels from 23-mm aircraft guns were used.
Rifled barrels of carbines of the KS-23 family. With a barrel from GSH-23. Straight hand "Tunguska" …
Domestic gunsmiths wanted to create a pump that would surpass their foreign counterparts. I believe that in some ways they managed to surpass them: at least in terms of the power of the ammunition used, the variety of their damaging effect and the possibility of using barrel attachments. And the rest is a classic of the genre.
Incidentally, this is one of the first shotguns developed in the USSR according to the "pump-action" scheme. And if we talk about serial samples, then the first.
The barrel is locked by turning the bolt with four radial lugs.
The carbine is powered by a cartridge feed mechanism, which feeds them alternately from a tubular under-barrel magazine with a capacity of three cartridges.
They wrote about the existence of the KS-23-2 version, in which the magazine capacity was increased to 4 rounds, but apparently it remained as a prototype. Perhaps we are talking about the extension cords of the underbarrel magazines, which are produced, for example, by the Taktika-Tula enterprise.
How the magazine of the KS-23 carbine is loaded with cartridges is shown below in a series of photographs that KardeN kindly allowed to use.
As in most weapon systems, in the KS-23 carbine it is also possible to manually feed the cartridge directly into the chamber. Firstly, it allows you to quickly and silently load the weapon, and secondly, it is possible to feed ammunition with a different type of action into the barrel: not gas, but knockout. To do this, move the fore-end back to open the ejector window, insert the cartridge into it, then move the fore-end back to the extreme forward position by moving the fore-end. In this case, the cartridge is sent to the chamber, the bore is locked and the weapon is ready to fire.
Some weapon systems allow you to quickly replace one type of used ammunition for another. For example, I removed the knockout from the chamber and inserted a shotgun instead. In KS-23 this is not possible. But the civilian version of the carbine ("Bekas"), created on the basis of the KS-23, already has this opportunity. I will return to "Bekas" in one of the following parts.
Appearance of USM carbines of the KS-23 family in different angles
But let's go back, remember the American trail and compare the bolts and trigger action of the Winchester 1300 rifle and the KS-23 carbine.
It is not for me to judge the degree of similarity, I will only remind you that in the world there are many schemes for locking the barrel, firing mechanisms and mechanisms for removing the sleeves. Until now, disputes do not subside: whether M. T. Kalashnikov copied the German Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle or not, and whether N. F. Makarov copied the German Walther PP pistol or not. And if copied, then to what extent. I decided not to talk about plagiarism, otherwise it turns out that most of the samples of modern weapons were copied from John Browning.
To ensure safety, carbines of the "KS-23" family are equipped with a button-type safety device and a locking lever that fixes the fore-end in the rearmost position and prevents it from moving. Thus, the occurrence of emergency situations when the hammer is cocked or when the cartridge is in the chamber is prevented.
Extract from the operating instructions KS-23
Safety button (in front of the trigger) for carbines of the KS-23 family. Behind the trigger guard - a lever that blocks the forend
The locking lever is used whenever it is necessary to remove a spent cartridge case or send a cartridge into the chamber.
How to use:
a) turn off the fuse;
b) press the tail of the locking lever with your thumb and with a sharp movement “towards yourself” bring the fore-end to the extreme rear position, then with an energetic movement “away from you” return it to the extreme forward position.
The cartridge is in the barrel, the weapon is loaded and ready to fire. You can aim and pull the trigger or put on the safety. To fire the next shot, release the trigger and repeat it all over again.
The sights of the KS-23 are open and consist of front sight and rear sight. The front sight is movable, installed on a base with an anti-reflective notch and is displaced only in the horizontal plane.
The rear sight is non-adjustable, it consists of a section of a dovetail-type sighting strip, which, in turn, is located on the upper part of the receiver. This makes it possible to install alternative sighting devices. If necessary, an adapter with a Picatinny rail can be installed on the dovetail bar.
Still from the documentary: special forces soldier
aiming from a KS-23 equipped with a PU telescopic sight.
(video at the end of the article)
Let's recall the American track again and compare the sights of the Winchester 1300 rifle and the KS-23 carbine.
Adjustable rear sight on Winchester 1300.
[center]
As I wrote above, unlike the KS-23, the Win 1300 receiver
made of aluminum alloy, by high pressure casting. [/center]
Removable barrel Winchester 1300. Apparently, the standard front sight is unregulated.
The stock of the KS-23 carbine is made of wood, and the stock has a rubber shock-absorbing butt pad.
A new model of weapons was adopted under the designation KS-23 (special carbine, 23 mm), and in the mid-1980s it began to enter the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs units. Immediately after its appearance, the KS-23 has established itself as an effective tool both for combating riots and for arresting dangerous criminals. For 30 years, he was in service with the security forces of the USSR, and after its collapse continues to serve not only in the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation and similar structures in some CIS countries.
Operating countries
* USSR - Ministry of Internal Affairs.
* RF - Department of Internal Affairs, Internal Troops and Border Troops, Tax Police.
* Ukraine - special forces "Berkut".
* Armenia - Ministry of Internal Affairs.
* Kazakhstan - Ministry of Internal Affairs, employees of correctional institutions of the Ministry of Justice, disciplinary military unit of the Ministry of Defense.
* Uzbekistan - customs committee.
* Moldova - Department of Penitentiary Institutions.
I am sure that this is an incomplete list of the operating countries. I believe that since the KS-23 was in service with the power structures of the USSR, then a certain number of carbines were in each of the union republics. And after the collapse of the USSR, they did not disappear.
In the classification of small arms, the KS-23 carbine is a curious incident. According to GOST 28653-90 "Small arms. Terms and definitions", small arms are considered rifled weapons with a caliber of less than 20 mm (over 9 to 20 mm exclusively). Since the KS-23 has a caliber of more than 20 mm, then from the point of view of GOST it can already be considered small-caliber artillery.
But this is not the first and, apparently, not the last incident in the classification of weapons. Remember the confusion with the designations of modifications of the Mauser rifle of the 1898 model: the rifle adopted in 1935 was named "Karabiner 98-k" (Kurz - "short"), the carbine was called "Gewehr 98" (Gewehr - "rifle") and a shortened The rifle for parachute and mountain infantry units was also called the “Gewehr 33/40” rifle. That is, the Germans officially called the rifle a carbine, and vice versa.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Sources of information:
Skrylev I. KS-23: Our police carbine.
Mischuk A. M. 23-mm special carbine (KS-23).
Degtyarev M. The birth of "Snipe".
Blagovestov A. From what they shoot in the CIS.
Monetchikov S. B. Infantry weapons of the 3rd Reich. Pistols.
