[gburner]

Please tell me about flechette ammo, its comparison to buckshot as far as penetration, price, legality, lethality and efficiency in the termination of hostile, unwanted social encounters.
Thanks.

[HS/LD]

Forget it.
Use buckshot.

The police do.
The military do.
Dave does.

The pros of 00 buck compared to "flechette and depleted uranium pellets"

Penetration is enough.
Price in cheaper.
Won't cause legal problems.
It’s lethal.
It's efficient.

It must be ok.

Regards,
HS/LD

[Andrew Wyatt]

do you have one of those pink erasers or some gummi bears laying around?

Poke one of those with a pin. that's what flechettes do.

[romulus]

I take immense satisfaction knowing I can legitimately and efficaciously defend my patria potesta' with birdshot. Why fleshettes?

[WheelMan]

So can someone tell me if there was ever any well thought out use for flechette ammunition? Was flechette ammo developed and feilded by some country or orginaztion with a specific purpose (and did it actually perform this purpose)? Or is it simply a gimmick to sell some shells?

[Dave McCracken]

The flechette concept was originally one where thousands were dropped from a cluster bomb carrier carried on a war plane and gravity provided the impetus. These were about the size of a pencil with vanes at the rear and could penetrate a steel helmet AND the soldier beneath. Also good on light armored vehicles of the time.

The concept was later tried in small arms and found wanting. A flechette load was developed for the old M-79 Grenade launcher but field reports on its use in Nam were quite unfavorable.

In shotgun ammo, enough cannot be packed into a shell to make an effective round.

Standard ammo is quite effective used within its range limits. Stay with that....

[Al Thompson]

I watched a 105 howitzer fire a flechette round at a cardboard target. We recovered individual flechettes in the cardboard. Apparently they don't stabilize very well. I'll stick with buckshot.