"Man, what are you doing with a gun in space?"
 

Short answer: to shoot wolves.

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0704-JULY_ASTRO

I think that the author might have been referring to this gun when he said double barrel shotgun.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...-82-space-gun/

Interesting.

Now though according to an article that firearm has expired and has been replaced with a handgun.
I doubt American counterparts have such measures.

""Man, what are you doing with a gun in space?""
http://www.imfdb.org/w/images/thumb/...on_P7M13-2.jpg

Now though according to an article that firearm has expired and has been replaced with a handgun.

I doubt American counterparts have such measures.

Well, that mission in question was a few years ago, so it could've been replaced by a handgun by now. But if we're talking about surviving in the wild, I would think a shotgun/carbine/machete combo would be more useful, albeit more heavy.

Back in 1999, during the anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, there was this one show that claimed that the Apollo Astronauts carried a handgun. If it true, I wondered if it was a pistol, revolver, or a Gyro Jet.

David.

Maybe it was the Callahan Fullbore Autolock like Jayne carries ;)

I suppose the only reason would be if they were stuck on the moon and couldn't return they'd have a quick way to die instead of starving or suffocating. But I'd think a cyanide capsule would be much lighter. Or, they could just open the hatch.

It's been stated that astronauts never carried cyanide pills; blowing the hatch was deemed to be faster and less painful.

Why would they carry a Gyro jet handgun? Those were innaccurate and kinda pointless.

They didnt have any recoil so shooting one in zero gravity wouldnt send the shooter flying backwards.

Weren't they the ones that went on the moon where there is gravity?

I dont think that there is enough gravity on the moon to shoot a gun and not be propelled backwards a little bit.

Well the point of firearms being supplied to Cosmonauts/Astronauts was not for use in space but for re entry in the untamed wilderness as the article states.

Also If I was in space I wouldn't want a Gyro Jet, at short ranges the Gyrojet is known to be ineffective because it needs distance to accumulate velocity due to the rocket powered rounds.

Um, gyrojets have less recoil, not none.

You can't have no recoil under Newtonian physics.

You can have no perceived recoil, by either throwing something of equal mass in the opposite direction at the same time, having an open tube that doesn't restrict the propellant, or venting your propellant to push the weapon foward to balance the recoil pushing it back.