The KS-23 (Russian: Карабин специальный, 23 мм (Special Carbine, 23 mm)) is a Soviet pump actionshotgun that fires 23×75mmR cartridge, which is equal to 6.27 gauge using the British and American standards of shotgun gauges and approximately 4 gauge using the current European standards. It was designed in the 1970s for suppressing prisonriots. The KS-23 began to see use during the mid-1980s by several MVD forces.
The shotgun is commonly available in two variants: Traditional wooden buttstock and the pistol-gripped one with a side-folding stock.
