Flechettes?

[Sisco]

Got a Cheaper Than Dirt flyer in the mail, saw surplus flechettes being sold by the pound.

Thought they might be fun to play with at the range, certainly not something I'd use as a defensive round though.
The questions are:
Can they be handloaded into 12ga hulls?
Would it even be legal to do so?

 

[ReloaderFred]

This was covered awhile back. Take a look at this thread and some of your questions will be answered.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=233678&highlight=Flechettes

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Sisco]

I saw that using the search, kinda answers the legality question.
I guess my main question is, what components would I need to reload them, and where could I get them?

 

[AH-1]

this is the only way I ever seen them used .
pete

 

[ReloaderFred]

The 12 gauge flechettes that I had were of course military rounds from the Vietnam era. They were loaded with a plastic strip surrounding them to keep the steel from contacting the bore, similar to today's plastic wad columns. There was a steel slug under them, similar to the slug punched from an electrical box. The slug was small enough to fit through the choke of the barrel, but large enough in diameter for all the flechettes to rest on. The slug serves the purpose of preventing the plastic wad being perforated by the fins on the flechettes, and giving them the push they need to attain velocity.

In my testing, I found that they don't stabilize for several yards after leaving the muzzle. When they do stabilize, they leave a pin sized hole in the target and don't have a great deal of penetration.

All in all, I was pretty unimpressed with them and ended up giving away the ones I didn't shoot up. Other than looking pretty neat, I didn't see any real use for them, since regular shot works better.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Quoheleth]

Discovery channel

I saw something about these rounds on the Discovery Channel some years ago - a show on "alternative ammunition." As I recall, the purpose of the fleschettes (sic?) is not to kill, but to wound in battle. A dead soldier is one down. A wounded soldier is one down - plus one, two, or three more to care for him, get him to an aid station,etc. That was the idea, as I understood it.

Interesting concept, to not kill the enemy...perhaps we should start playing Engelbert Humperdink over loudspeakers...that should tie up the enemy's logistics while they search out ear plugs.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I saw something about these rounds on the Discovery Channel some years ago - a show on "alternative ammunition." As I recall, the purpose of the fleschettes (sic?) is not to kill, but to wound in battle. A dead soldier is one down. A wounded soldier is one down - plus one, two, or three more to care for him, get him to an aid station,etc. That was the idea, as I understood it.

Interesting concept, to not kill the enemy...perhaps we should start playing Engelbert Humperdink over loudspeakers...that should tie up the enemy's logistics while they search out ear plugs.

"Ah, there's an enemy soldier within shotgun range of me, pointing his AK 47 at me. What to do? What to do? I know! I'll just wound him! That will be better than killing him."

(Would you believe the SOB shot me, anyway?)

 

[Oohrah]

Hey Vern,
Thanks for the Hornet info, will follow those tips. May have
used flechetts earlier, but not widely used in the Nam era. Can't
recall but think mainly 12 ga and duplex and maybe they were in
rifle. Very short range. Like you, don't need to make anyone mad,
just put em down for good. Think they found unconventional 12 ga
buck worked just fine. Believe they had serious problems with the
flechetts sticking together in humid climate. Probably one of those look
good on paper things!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I had a couple of shotguns in my company. In one ambush, one of my boys fired two boxes of 00-buck. No bodies found.

At a MedCap a couple of days later, a young female showed up asking for treatment for a festering sore in her buttocks. When the medics cleaned it up, a buckshot fell out.