12 ga flechett loading data

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50calshooter

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Hello looking for 12 ga data. I know flechetts are no go for personal defence. I just want to do something different. And it will be neat to shoot some plywood as I do not belive all the claims about how they perform. Thanks
 
Do you already have the Flechettes?

Beware of the surplus ones being sold now.
They are removed from artillery shell canisters, and are not suitable for shotgun shells.

Artillery flechettes have large vanes like a dart, and they are made of very hard steel.

The vanes will cut through a plastic shotgun wad and very likely scratch or score your shotgun barrel badly.

The canister protects the bore from them in a cannon.

Real shotgun flechettes have a very small & smooth "pinched" fin area that are not sharp enough to cut through a wad.

Sorry, but I don't have any load data, because I don't own an old beater shotgun barrel I would risk firing them in.

rc
 
At one time, I had half a case of military 12 gauge Flechette rounds, but I shot most of them up many years ago. I think I've still got a couple of them around somewhere.

Those original loads used a small flat steel slug under the flechettes to push them out of the shell and down the barrel. I would imagine they found out early on that the sharp back edges of the fins would cut through the nylon wads and either not be pushed out, or stick in the wad and not disperse. The flat steel washer was small enough to fit through the choke of the barrel, and the plastic sleeve surrounding the flechettes was pretty thick to protect the barrel.

In shooting those flechettes, I pretty much considered them worthless. They don't stabilize until they're about 10 yards from the muzzle, and then once stabilized, they make needle sized holes. If I remember correctly, there were about a dozen flechettes in each round, so there isn't a whole lot of density to the "pattern".

They could probably be loaded, but it really wouldn't be worth the effort, in my opinion.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
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