"Sputnik" - Testing Rare Soviet Shotgun Slugs
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- There is very little information on the internet regarding these old Soviet shotgun slugs, especially in English. They in fact, pre-date the internet. However, that doesn't mean someone out there can't tell us more about these. I was lucky to get 4 of them, sent from Russia by Lars (with love). I doubt there are any of these in existence in the U.S. so this is a very rare glimpse at these historical slug.
Be sure to check out Lar's channel:
/ moscowprepper
Check out my Facebook page. We sometime will auction off some of the artifacts that we have shot to support the channel:
/ taofledermaus
You did a great job on this video, Matt too for that Matter :) Thank you for linking to my channel!
Thank you Lars!
Fuck yeah Lars, u da man
+TAOFLEDERMAUS When i heard tetris orchestra in the background i started dying XD... Good job on that one!
+Pass Port Everybody is opsessed with tetris! That song is Russian folk, usually played by Red Army
+Viktor Kager One does simply not like tetris
Bullet "Vyatka" is intended for big game hunting - elk, deer, bear, wild boar
Very helpful thanks
Халиль Разиньковпоясни что нужно пояснить
Oh for crying out loud. Its ALWAYS a big game slug xD
Dragon Butt What else would you use a slug for?
funcounting
Stopping vehicles.
When you have unique slugs like this, you should make casts of them so you can test them multiple times.
Dagnabbit! I was just going to suggest that. You beat me to it
well, he could try, but part of the round is the Soviet plastic on the back. So he'd have to cast the projectile, and then cast/3D print the plastic bit, and then attach them.
+Joe Roth or, like he said in the video, just buy the plastic pieces. those are pretty universal. .. I think. I could b wrong though..
He replied to someone else and said he would, but he doesn't have a foundry to do it.
+BioVirulent it's lead, you can basically melt it with matches
Well, the vest will stop it, but it will cave in your fuckin chest cavity.
+LegitIceCube It'll pull your innards out through yer bunghole
+CreaturePlaysGames It'll spew yer lunch out yer yapper
+CreaturePlaysGames
It'll put your bunghole through your innards.
+Murica 1776 it will make your bum hurt m8
or it will just rip your shirt a little....
Here is a transalated chunk from the instructions for the bullet:
Bullet "Vyatka" is intended for big game hunting - elk, deer, bear, wild boar. It consists of a lead frame and a plastic stabilizer. The body has a teardrop shape, six centering ribs, the inner hole and the central core. Stabiliser consists of a plastic cylinder having a narrow obturating belt . The end of the rod is expandable and this keeps the bullet togethere during its flight.
Bullet "Vyatka" is easy to load and a plastic band provides reliable obturation when firing. "Vyatka's" strength is the increased flight speed, improved flight stability, better accuracy, increased penetration and expansiveness and reduced ricochet.
Bullet can both be loaded into a paper and in plastic shell, cap - "Zhevelo" gunpowder - "Sokol" (falcon). A charge of gunpowder in sub-zero temperatures and plastic obturator for the 12 gauge - 2.3 g, with two cardboard strips total thickness of 3 mm - 2.5 g; at plus temperatures weighed in both cases should be reduced by 0.1 g
Before you load the "Vyatka" cartridges, each bullet should be measured in the widest part, in order to ensure that the bullet passes through the choke. Centring fins are easily rumpled, thus passing through the choke.
Weight of "Vyatka" bullets varies slightly in different batches - from 30 to 35 g for the 12 gauge and 24-26 g for the 16 gauge. This is a significant disadvantage, because bullets may behave differently based on the weight.
thanks! the most most information I have seen so far!
I love the cooperations between channels on YT. Great video as usual!
thank you!
Thanks Tao and crew, and thanks Lars for sending those.
That plate shot was interesting, the slug acted more like it did a plastic flow upon impact.
I don't recall seeing any other slugs do that.
thanks for the nice words!
Found something bout that bullet on our russian gun forum :)
Sorry for my english translation:
The Food Program of the USSR for the period until 1990, the task "to ensure in the shortest possible time a steady supply of the population with all types of food " , including meat . Among the main areas of implementation of the Food Program of the USSR one of the most important is the " struggle for economy and thrift , reducing losses and improving the quality of agricultural products ."so that,that bullet was invented because of that
so basically what I think your trying to say is, these were handed out by the U.S.S.R. so people could hunt for large game ensuring everyone had meat?
+Elwood Sherman yes.That bullet was invented to provide people with meat,as they were more effective in hunting.
Because the USSR direction was about making every branch larger (even hunting)
+Elwood Sherman there were 3 or 4 new types of bullets (exept for sputnik and Vyatka).
I'll see if there are any in my garage
That's pretty neat, thanks for sharing.
that is very interesting! The US did something similar for the Inuit in Alaska, since they relied on meat so heavily for sustenance. Though in their case, they got .22s
I love these videos. I actually forgot all about this channel. I'm glad I came back.
thanks!
You should start casting all the odd slugs so you can remake them later if you wanted.
These ones are still sold in russia
Hopefully no one carries a valuable cd behind their vest! Another awesome video Jeff! :D
ayyyyyyyy
What are you doing here? go make some fake stuff accidents :b
Haha, I can't believe I still that that old CD. Thanks for watching guys!
Thanks Lars! And awesome to see space and firearms combined, two of my favorite things in one vid ;).
Hey. It's always a pleasure to watch your videos. The lead plate is always a favorite to witness actual deformations. Everyone loves the monster gummy bear (of course) but... I just loved seeing those pickles go flying about - *THAT* was just marvelous! Thanx very much.
thanks!!
Thank you for finding a new channel for me, that i probably would never have stumbled upon myself :)
It's an old "Vyatka" big-game slugs. They deal a lot of damage, but are known for having a different weight and ballistics for each batch produced. Last time i saw them on sale at around 2002.
I identified them as Vyatka slugs 0:31
Well Jeff, to give you some insight. During the space race, the USSR was a bit too eager to get there first, and they wanted to put a satellite up there to prove it. So wtihout having to build a rocket or any spacecraft, they simply named this the sputnik (in russian meaining satelite" and shot these up into the sky as many times as possible hoping one would get into space.
+Jacob Summer I found in humorous
+Jacob Summer that was comedy gold.
Well it is kinda sad... But still funny
+Fyodor Chernych are you that stupid that you actually thought axe xavier was being serious when he wrote that?
+Jacob Summer I actually found it funny, Last year the ISS was hit by one of these
And of course the Tetris music(I did not read the comments below, so no doubt I am the 100th person to mention this)! Thanks Tao, as always, a very entertaining one!
Hey! Great video and I'm a subscriber of Survival Russia . I enjoy both channels as many others and thank you both.
Nice!
I think what detered the slug from welding to that lead plate was the lead oxide layer which had formed on the slug, you can see this pretty good in the shots you got from the slugs. It acts like a protective coating, which prevents reactions from happening.
Oh it's a small world! I'm actually subscribed to Survival Russia for 6 months now. He is a very good person.
Need to be careful around them AR-15 Bazookas, they can give you PTSD ya' know.
5.56, not even once
ayy he gets the meme
Some liberal reporter fired an AR and claimed he got "temporary PTSD".
+Anzu Wyliei a reporter fired an AR-15 and claimed that it bruised his shoulder and gave him PTSD... a .223 caliber gun with so little recoil young children can fire it without getting bruised or even drifting off target too bad. He made it sound like he fired a .50 BMG.
EDIT: A .50 BMG without recoil compensation.
gotta be careful with them assault rifle 15's they'll make you imagine some stuff and give you ptsd. best stay with those peacekeepers.
Finally something to watch besides test tubes.thanks for this. maybe shoot test tubes
Tetris theme song in the background
Did you know Tetris was considered state property and the creator never got paid directly for his work?
+williwonti wow no I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. I just recognized it from the basshunter song.
The name of the song is Korobeiniki (check out the Red Army Choir version) :D
+Martin Kokošinek you're the first person I've seen that knew this I thought I was the only one
+Martin Kokošinek took the words right out of my mouth, I came here to see your reply!
Very cool slugs he sent you. Quite a bit force behind them. Even with a vest, you definitely don't want to get hit with one of those. I'll be sure to check out the guy's channel. Cheers and nice shooting as always
thanks!
As far as I know, Russian shotgun slugs are all pretty much intended for large game or boar or as a precautionary measurement for running into a bear while hunting something else. My guess for that slug not welding itself into the led plate is that pure lead is a sort of lubricate in itself. Hardening the lead mixing it for an example with antimon propably decreases the lubricative features of the metal. But then again, this is just an enlightened guess :) Thanks for the video guys! As a pump shotgun owner, building a Remington 870 Supermagnum to work both as a waterfowl- and a boar gun with just changing the barrel and putting a quick attach red dot, these videos offer me a ton of interesting info about shooting slugs and their ballistic behaviour both in flight and terminal.
.29 cents!.......obviously no expense was spared......I'm binging all your old videos this weekend and having a great time.
"Why did it come towards us?" The bullet needs time to decelerate and ditch it's energy into the fluid, so the energy density of the interaction will increase towards the rear(That is until either A. the bullet comes to a stop, or B. The bullet exits.). That means the most force when it eventually explodes is at the far end away from you, so it propels the can towards you instead of away.
The name of it is "Vyatka"
o that comment you made right before 9:19 about how the shell usually bonds to the lead, that reminded me of something called explosive welding, where you can create new alloys of 2 metals that wouldn't normally be able to be alloyed. i'd love to see a youtuber that does that (subtle eh? :P)
afterthought: it's usually done with extremely powerful plastic explosives though, so might not be the best idea :P
because of the roughly spherical shape my guess would be hunting. maybe they could be military issue hunting rounds for survival during war time, as rationed supplies would only go so far. There is no way to identify them as military slugs other than asking someone who served back then, this is just my guess.
"I em Heavy Veppons Guy..."
"And this is my weapon."
+kittysrule556 nastasha
SANDVICH
WHO TOUCHED SASHA?!?!
Do do do dooo com sing Wit me
"AR-15 Bazooka" LOL! That's a good one!
The line of truth was very kind today haha. Perfect music choice too.
Many viewers hate the truth. They'd rather call the shooter names. lol Thanks for shooting Matt!
I love that they are your typical American. But are super unbiased and love all rounds and firearms
You guys should make molds for these type of rounds. Their odd, in this case historic, and people would probably pay good money for newly made slugs or just the molds themselves.
A very interesting design with the tail fin stabilizers.
Ask for some more and maybe file the fins off to make a round ball. I bet it would be one hell of a knuckle ball affect.
HAHAHH!!! LARS!!!! I follow him on social media and watch all his vids!! AWESOME AWESOME CHANNEL!!!!
Hi Jeff! Wow strange behaviour from the last slug you tested. As for me, I've always shot them no problem, clean holes at 50 meters in the paper, with a proper fast charge. Be sure to test them in a fully smoothbore/no choke, as I seem to see a mangled wad behind it.
4:23 Crushing your sternum and stunning your heart into not beating.
This is why I subscribed years ago. Blowing shit up with random projectiles. What more you want? lol
thanks!
Hey Jeff, would you be able to do a comparison between having a full vest strapped onto your target dummy versus just having a piece of Kevlar taped to its chest. I have a feeling there would be significantly less material damage with the vest properly held in place.
Yeah but... that CD was empty anyway.
I laughed so hard when all those pickles spread so nicely on the ground. :)
In Soviet Russia gun laws were very strict, that slug was most likely for hunting, since the main military weapon was an AK, and the shotgun ammo was most likely a spread, since they needed effectivity, as in take one shot and 7 enemies down.
Just a suggestion; you could have perhaps applied some sort of lacquer or varnish to one or two of the slugs to negate some of the chips and blemishes. That way, you could have shot 2 of them in their original state and compared their flight patterns to the ones you had 'smoothed up' as it were. This is something I suggest you do with any physically compromised mystery slugs you get in the future.
NIKO! IT'S YOUR COUSIN! WANT TO GO BOWLING?
I think the slug was a type of testing to see what it would be like to shoot a fin stabilised round from a hand held gun, just by looking at it, I'm probably waaaaaay off
Interesting! Thanks for sharing.
thank you for the nice words!
The song at the beginning is called Russian Winter
Every shooter Geoff finds has the coolest tattoos
Nick's friend has a cool Spock tattoo on his calf. lol I need to show that .
The pickle shot cracked me up. Guess I'm weird like that. - Ed
I'm guessing that the reason they didn't fly especially straight was due to the old plastic boost thingies. Old plastic gets brittle, so I'm thinking they broke unevenly as the gun was fired, resulting in uneven force. Due to their shape, it's possible that this caused the lead fins to deform against the inside of the barrel, meaning the slug was slightly off axis as it exited the barrel. Also, the way the back of the slug is tapered may have caused some interesting turbulence as gasses escaped around it right as it exited the barrel. Would that slug be subsonic?
Can you do a video about how "bulletproof" the liquid metal mercury is? Liquid would be cool, but i would be truely impressed if it was frozen
I still can't shoot mercury or shoot at it. It's very hazardous.
+TAOFLEDERMAUS how safe are you in your other videos? It looks pretty half assed. No offense.
Don't be a dick. No offense.
+TAOFLEDERMAUS im just wondering how safe you are with it. Arent the fumes alone very harmful? Ive never seen a video on what you do and how you handle it and get it back in the tubes. Like after the cornsyrup and when you mix it with stuff, do you throw it away or do you find some way to purify it again?
Yes he spills mercury everywhere, but refuses to shoot it just to be a dick with us. Come on, man.
Is that a stain boy tattoo on Matt's arm!? ^o^ if so that's awesome!
I think the reason the LED slug did not well it's up to the other slug is because there was a different metal in either one
I like the classy tetris theme playing in the background.
when the slug hits the led ingot. u can see the spark
I love that ar15 bazooka reference. I hope he didnt get ptsd
This video gave me a temporary form of PTSD. Made me anxious and irritable for hours after watching it.
Very impressive slug. Lots of stopping power.
I'd be really interested to see if the damage done was changed by putting a proper vest on the dummy. Would it's resistance to wadding up change the effects of the impact noticeably?
so let me get this straight. These sputnik rounds were designed and distributed so grandma babushka can have meat on the table without having to wait in line to get what probably isn't in the store? The USSR sounds a whole lot different than I heard when I was a kid.
"Shotguns in Siberia" vs. "handguns in Moscow". Still a bit surprising.
+RonJohn63 love your avitar Dr Strangelove
you didn't wait in line at the store to buy meat... you waited in line to get your ration ... as everyone was 'equal', everyone ate the same.. they got their daily amount and that was it... while those higher up got fine Italian cured meats .. peasants and office workers alike got the same crude protein ... setting prices in a store would mean that premium items would arise.. and if anyone had anything "premium" than that would be non-equal.. and in "paradise" everyone is equal ... their is no jealousy, there is no envy, there is no crime whatsoever .. (you can see why it failed and why china is no longer a communist state.. rather an autocratic monarchy of sorts.. communism doesn't work.. outside of mindless robots anyways.. )
+Phil Verhey That's not how Communism works.
Of course the USSR sounds much different than what was said once in the west. It just good politics to smear your enemies, making it out that there is nothing good about them.
That being said, the USSR wasn't some grand experiment and noble country. It did an evil thing for every good thing, if not more so. It doesn't mean it was entirely wrong, but it certainly wasn't entirely correct. I certainly wouldn't have been able to live there. Then again, I wouldn't be able to live in the States either.
You should make casts whenever you get these rare slugs, so they can be replicated later..
These were part of an experimental Soviet space program where they wanted to test the aerodynamics of the Sputnik. So they would shoot these slugs into the air until they left the atmosphere. The idea being only the most aerodynamic shape would b capable of this.
why do i feel like you guys live in central California haha, the back grounds look so familiar to some of the places i have traveled by on my way to work haha
What happens if you dip a piece of iron/copper/etc. in a mercury nitrate solution? Since it's a less reactive metal, it should plate out, but how would that look?
Plumbum, the old name for lead. Just slip it into a video occasionally to add that bit of "Je ne sais quoi" lol
Kudos on the grams, it's a small world.
It's considered riot control non-lethal(for the shooter) slug in Soviet Russia.
Isn't that a Russian folk song playing as background music?
its called Korabushka.
Some people comment before reading previous comments. Simple as that.
It's the song from Tetris
*****
Welcome to UA-cam. Don't get too worried about it.
The song at the beginning is called Russian Winter
Haha, my it looks like my 3d nuke slug :)
Totally!
Those were interesting slugs. I would have been tempted to make a mold of one so more could be cast.
"Brenneke" rifled slugs were/are used against boar in central europe. Guns used for that kind of shooting tended often to be doubles with a small bore rifle barrel also, commonly below the midpoint of the twin shotgun barrels. The latter was to finish off the shot boar with a head shot from close quarters if the slug didn't kill it outright. These guns are called "drillings". I'm sure you know what the Brenneke was so won't add comment on what those are like (were like? - don't know if they're still in use or not.)
Maybe these are a russian version of the Brenneke? I've not seen these before, either in practice or indeed in ballastics books. Possibly used in the home market against either bear for defence or boar as above? The tumbling could be down to your ballistics not suiting the aerodynamics requirements of the slugs - ie if you're pushing to be past sonic speed could be that induced the irregularities? Worthwhile experiementing with lower velocities - the impact delivery would still be suffiicient to maim/kill these large tough animals.
Should have made a cast of it before shooting so you could remake them if needed.
those Sputnik slugs are awesome
"Sputnik"(Спутник) is a round bullet with special shoulder to go through full choke. This bullet is Vyatka (Вятка - a small town in Russia). This bullet is still produced by a number of firms in Russia, it is still popular among hunters because it is one of the cheapest. Slugs are popular in Russia because there are some law limitations on rifled barrel weapons. All this Russian bullets, that you test are for civil hunting use, this stuff is not military
3:30 Yes. That is the 'Tetris Theme'. But before it was, it was a Russian Folk Song. So yeah.
This type of bullets are mainly used for hunting on big animals like moose and bears. I don't think, they ever been used by military, as USSR always used AK like weapons everywhere, as it was cheaper and easier to use and learn. It also was cheaper as factories only had to produce the same type of bullets for rifles, SMGs (AKSU) and machine guns (RPK) and also for hunters (Saiga)
heins really makes everything don't they?
i like the pickle flavoured condoms
the music name is "Korobieyniky"
you could have made molds of the round and made a couple more in order to test fire. if you had the gear to do so that is.
That's actually genius.
Was about to write this myself. Even if he just made a couple of them and only used them as back up incase something went wrong so you can still get an idea of what they would do. It obviously wouldn't be 100% exactly the same but would be a good contingency plan for mistakes.
Despite it being a dummy your shooting at, you still see the pain in its face! :D
You might want to start molding and casting rounds so that you could make more in the future.
i dont know anything about the slug it self but i would guess it was used for Wild boars or bears
I bet he had PTSD for about an hour
I had to put him in a Thunder Shirt to calm him back down.
Boris and Natasha touch...perfect! That is coming from some one born in USSR!
Haha, thanks!
that display reads 1/10th of an ounce. and 33g would be closer to 1+1/6oz. being just over 28g to an ounce
He may not have hit center on the pickles but the still blew up
song: Korobelniki by Red Army Choir
Can you make cast molds of the slugs so that you can make more of them and take repeatable shots?
Maybe make molds of these strange slugs so you can make more later?
“Slugnic” the Russian 12 gauge slug-shuttle
Characteristics of a bullet for hunting "Vyatka" (Вятка), author G.G. Vorobiev.
Purpose - large hunting objects in the form of a bear, elk, big boar and the like.
The material is lead.
Two components:
the bullet itself is drop-shaped, reminiscent of an air bomb, with six ribs that center the bullet in flight. Inside the hole and the central rod for attaching the stabilizer;
a stabilizer made of polyethylene, which is rigidly attached to the tail of the bullet and does not separate from it during its flight.
The stabilizer does not function as a wad of the obturator, which makes it unacceptable to mount the bullet directly on the powder or powder gasket. Installation of a wad is required. Felt is recommended in the literature.
Normally loaded, this bullet gives good accuracy and expansiveness (stopping action).
An example of the equipment of this bullet: a cardboard powder gasket is placed on the gunpowder, then two felt wads cut into 4 parts, on top of them Vyatka and the twist of the sleeve of the sleeve follows. Gunpowder is used in a variety of ways, from the traditional and common Falcon to more modern ones. The capsule is matched to the gunpowder. If Sokol, then this is Zhevelo, 209, CX-2000, etc.
The bullet is caliber, it definitely goes half way, the use with stronger muzzle constrictions (choke - 1 mm) is not recommended due to the large deformation of the bullet and the threat of a strong increase in pressure in the bore.
Acceptable accuracy is provided at distances up to 50 meters. For shooting at large ones, other bullets are needed, for example, Poleva (produced by the same manufacturer) and which has no equal in this.
The disadvantage is the tendency to ricochet (however, like any arrow-type bullet).
Produced by - KZORS (Kirov factory of hunting and fishing equipment). He is the patentee for this model and the only manufacturer. Produced since 1975.
kwsp.ru/knowledge/base/enciklopedija-ohotnika/p/pulja-vjatka
the can is thrown towards you due to Newton's third law. the force of the pickles being thrown out the back of the can is greater than the force of the slug striking the front of the can. thus with more force going to the rear, the can goes towards the shot.
I'm sure there will be a great deal of doubt thrown towards this explanation, so it could serve for a future video proving/debunking this theory.
make plaster moulds out of them and then make blanks of them to recreate the rounds for future use same with any difficult or rare rounds in the future :)
they look like reused or re purpose musket shot with primal rifling for accuracy. but maybe meant for a Musket Gun rather than rifle . just a theory.
Hello!
Bullet "Vyatka" is not the best, we do not hunt very much in Russia, every shipment of bullets must be weighed and shot.
Sorry for Google translation)))
And also, for comparing.Pack of matches cost 1c.
Imagine Buzz Lightyear saying, "Pickles... Pickles everywhere!"
lol!
Nice reference to the guy who got "ptsd" from a Ar15
Not to be America-centric, but those projectiles remind me of the "Fatman" (nuke).
I swear, I hear tetris in the background...