There was some discussion about Flechettes in a different topic. I've heard the term before, and I'm very curious about these.
What are they? How do they work? What do they look like[pics?] etc...
Please enlighten me!
Thank you very much in advance!

[url]http://www.rvow.com/flechettes.htm[/url]


[img]http://www.rvow.com/images/flechette.gif[/img]

You can buy them from military surplus [url]http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=115310&chrSuperSKU=&MC=[/url] funammo used to sell 12 gauge flechette shells (Funammo went out of business, though).

Ah, here's a place that sells them [url]http://www.antipersonnel.net/sdllc/index.html[/url]

They're basically darts that are fin-stabilized rather than spin-stabilized.

Here's a little history, Flechettes were purportedly derived from these;

[img]http://images.andale.com/f2/127/123/11827240/1057067003310_lazy_dog_bomb_01.jpg[/img]

Some say that these were developed by the United States during World War II but did not have a chance to be deployed before WWII ended.  They were first officially deployed in Vietnam, but there was great controversy about their use and whether they violated the Geneva Convention because they were so silent and deadly and demoralizing to enemy troops.developed during WWII and later called "Lazy Dog" bombs in Vietnam.  They were first officially deployed in Vietnam, but there was great controversy about their use and whether they violated the Geneva Convention because they were so silent and deadly and demoralizing to enemy troops.
Imagine yourself in the silent jungle, and all of a sudden the leaves and branches of the trees explode and fall to the jungle floor, and all the troops around you are injured or dead.

how many fit in a shell?

surely there is some reloading data somewhere

In at least one instance a "beehive" round was used to thwart a mass attack by Vietcong on an encampment. Suckers pinned the AK-47 to at a few victums.

 A lot of the folding fin rockets fired from helicopter gunships during that time frame were packed full of Flechettes also.

Triumph,

Visit Ravens 2nd link for loading data...

Yup..

[img]http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/hydra_70_01.jpg[/img]

Thanks for all the replies!

So is there any advantage to flechettes over regular ball or pellets?
any ballistical info?
Where can you buy 12ga shells with those to play around with at the range?
Thanks!

edited to add: DAMNIT! I just realized they are illegal in FL.

pierces through vests

Kinda cool , fires Flechettes!

,http://securityarms.com/20010315/galleryfiles/1500/1546.htm