TP-82
| TP-82 | |
|---|---|
|
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| Type | Combination gun |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1986–2006 |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Igor Aleksandrovich Skrylev |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 2.4 kg (with stock) |
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| Cartridge | 5.45×39mm (below) and 12.5×70 shotgun shells (above) |
| Barrels | 3 |
| Effective firing range | 200 meters |
| Feed system | Break-open |
| Sights | Iron |
The TP-82 (Russian: ТП-82) was a triple-barrelled Soviet pistol that was carried by cosmonauts on space missions.
It was intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness. The TP-82 was the result of cosmonaut Alexy Leonov's concerns after being stranded in the Siberian wilderness when his Voskhod capsule malfunctioned. He was concerned that the 9-millimetre pistol that was provided in the survival kit would be ineffective against the Siberian wildlife, namely bears and wolves.
The upper two smoothbore barrels used 12.5×70 mm ammunition (40 gauge), and the lower rifled barrel used 5.45×39mm ammunition. The pistol could be used for hunting, to defend against predators and for visible and audible distress signals. The detachable was also a machete that came with a canvas sheath.
TP-82s were carried regularly on Soviet and Russian space missions from 1986 to 2006. They were part of the Soyuz Portable Emergency-Survival Kit (Носимый аварийный запас, Nosimyi Avariynyi Zapas, NAZ). In 2007, the media reported that the remaining ammunition for the TP-82 had become unusable and that a regular semi-automatic pistol would be used on future missions.
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