It was purportedly (and probably in actuality) intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness, although allegedly was intended as a defensive weapon against in-space attacks by the US space program.
I can’t seem to read the article, so forgive me if they answer this question, but how would a gun work in space? Most firearms I’m familiar with use oxidation reactions to propel ammunition. Were the shells filled with self-oxidizing propellant, or did they just use a completely different system?
Fun fact! All gunpowder is self oxidizing
I guess today is a learning day for all of us! I knew gunpowder contained nitrates, but I didn’t realize that was its purpose, or that it allowed it to work in a vacuum.
basically all explosives are fuel combined with it’s own oxidizer
Pretty much anything explosive need to be self oxidizing. If air can’t get in to continue to feed the burning of the material (which never can during an explosion) than the oxygen needs to come from another source.
Firearms generally work in space at least once.
A semi-auto probably won’t cycle correctly in zero G, and any gun will likely overheat from the first couple shots in a vacuum, but you can always get one shot out.