KS-23

The KS-23 (Karabin Spetsialniy, "Special Carbine") is a Russian shotgun, and the most powerful shoulder-fired shotgun in use today, firing 23mm shells which are equivalent to 6.27 gauge (or 4 gauge in the metric bore system used in some parts of Europe); the guns themselves are made from cut-down rejected 2A7 antiaircraft gun barrels, intended for ZSU-23-4 self-propelled AA guns. Since it uses a rifled antiaircraft gun barrel it is officially designated by the Russian military as a carbine, but in functional terms is a pump-action shotgun. It is able to 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 designed in 1971 for suppressing prison riots and officially adopted for use by Soviet police in 1985. It was largely replaced in police use by the KS-23M (modernized) in 1990. In 1995 a new magazine-fed bullpup version, the KS-23K, was developed for use by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

A civilian version, the TOZ-123 "Drake," 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.

KS-23 with a fixed wooden stock - 23mm

KS-23M - 23mm

KS-23K - 23mm

Specifications

(1971 - 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 (KS-23 & KS-23M), 7 (KS-23K)

• Fire Modes: Pump-Action

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The Russian KS-23 shotgun appears in the following:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
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