Location: Zombie Survival & Defense Wiki Discussion Forum

Discussion: shotgun flechette effectiveness?

Category: Discussion Forum / Weapons and Gear

Report thread
Watch thread
Share this

1 2 | Next

madworld0909	shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 2:21 AM EDT I'm sure many people have heard about this ammo type but for others I'll give a quick explanation. Shotgun flechettes are one inch long nails with fins for aerodynamicy. A shotgun shell can fit over twenty of these nails and they aren't in use with the military due to Geneva Convention disputes yet you can buy them on a commercial level in the USA depending on your local laws. I personally don't shoot this type of ammo due to my 12 guage having rifling in it as these nails would end up scoring the inside, so smoothbores are highly suggested. The question I pose is this: can a flechette pierce through a human skull? While I have seen that it can pierce body armor (up to level 2A I believe) a skull is of course a different matter. Anyone have any evidence or even first hand accounts due to their own experimentation on animal skulls perhaps? Post reply Do you find this valuable? Keyword tags: None
Godbuster	1. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 3:15 AM EDT Ehh...if it would go through that, then it would more than likely do the job... But thats all depending on distance from target of corpse Post reply Do you find this valuable?
LJ126	2. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 3:41 AM EDT \| Post edited: Jul 20 2010, 3:42 AM EDT For members who aren't aware of what flechettes are, they are little 1 inch steel darts that are meant to be loaded into shotgun shells. They have little fins in the back to help them stay aloft, and look a bit like itty-bitty little crossbow bolts. My buddies and I once loaded up a bunch of cheap Winchester 8 shot 2 3/4" 12 gauge shells with flechettes. You do this by breaking the seal at the end of the husk (that holds the shot and wad in) and removing all of the shot and wad, then carefully loading the flechettes 5 at the time, making sure that the tips face the muzzle end. Each shell holds about 25 flechettes in it. To seal the shell back up, make sure to fold the flaps back own and use a dab of hot glue to hold the husk closed. Each round cycled 100% of the time out of pump action shotguns, but these loads were untested on semi-auto guns. Penetration was IMPRESSIVE. We tested this load against other shot loads on a rather thick solid wood door. At 25 yards, shot could not penetrate through this, short of 3" 00 buckshot - which just barely did so; you could pick deformed BB's out of the back side of the door. However, flechettes punched all the way through the door and could be found stuck very deeply into the maple tree that we had the door leaned up against. The spread pattern was very much like that from a 00 buckshot load. Flechettes are designed for maximum penetration, and perform admirably. I can only imagine what a high brass 3 inch load would be like... Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Carnack	3. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 3:47 AM EDT \| Post edited: Jul 20 2010, 3:48 AM EDT That's about the size of it LJ. They are made to blast through cover. In the jungles those suckers were your manmowers. Cover be damned. Now THESE I want to test out! http://www.firequest.com/G12-027.html Just the brainpic alone makes my inner psychopath drool... Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
Godbuster	4. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 4:06 AM EDT "That's about the size of it LJ. They are made to blast through cover. In the jungles those suckers were your manmowers. Cover be damned. Now THESE I want to test out! <span>http://www.firequest.com/G12-027.html</span> Just the brainpic alone makes my inner psychopath drool..." "The lethality contained within the hollow core slug of our terminator 12 GA almost can't be advertised. Upon impact, this slug mushrooms and expands to nearly two inches, stopping the slug from totally penetrating your objective. This rapid expansion forces the dozen of tiny pellets to spread through your objective like a cancerous disease, opening an area at the impact point equal to a softball. The cavity created has the shock effect of 95%. That means only 5% of any living being could survive this kind of hit. 2 3/4" round" Could have been summed up with 5 words: will ** yo ** up! Post reply Do you find this valuable?
EdOfTheDead2	5. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:38 AM EDT You can buy flechettes by the pound from Cheaper Than Dirt. They were not only meant for 12 gauge use but also use by grenade launchers, like the M203, The M79 "Blooper". You wanna talk massive, talk grenade launcher flechette rounds. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
brandon_a_boyer	6. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:41 AM EDT This whole specialty ammo thing has come up before. The army tested flechettes in Vietnam and found that while they where certainly lethal, they lack knockdown power. People would get hit, and just keep coming As far as the terminator round. So much of that description is ********. There is no such thing as a shock effect of 95%. And having a softball sized wound channel is nothing special. These are both just gimmicks to get you to waste your money. Slugs, 00 buck, and MAYBE #4 shot. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
AlexHigginbotham	7. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 1:20 PM EDT I heard flechettes aren't that useful. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
zachy_vengeance	8. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 2:39 PM EDT I think they'd just stick in the person without mushrooming at all, and wouldn't be as effective as say 00 buck or a slug. I wouldn't want to get hit by it, but I wouldn't want to trust my life to it either. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Carnack	9. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 3:11 PM EDT "I think they'd just stick in the person without mushrooming at all, and wouldn't be as effective as say 00 buck or a slug. I wouldn't want to get hit by it, but I wouldn't want to trust my life to it either." Maybe not but I'd still look into it. If only so I can know for sure. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
madworld0909	10. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:26 PM EDT I think this will help everyone out VERY MUCH it's a video on youtube that I just watched about flechettes yet it also talks about buck and ball rounds, something that would probably be better to take out on zombies than any buckshot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paPJqUA86jw Post reply 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?
2WheeledSpeed	11. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:36 PM EDT \| Post edited: Jul 20 2010, 7:38 PM EDT "I think this will help everyone out VERY MUCH it's a video on youtube that I just watched about flechette yet it also talks about buck and ball rounds, something that's would probably be better to take out on zombie's than any buckshot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paPJqUA86jw" That strung buck round just looks like it would be nasty to get hit with... I've never seen that before. (Edited) But as for flechettes, they do a good job at piercing armor but won't do a whole lot of damage against flesh. They don't tumble or expand or fragment like many conventional rounds are designed to do, it would be like getting hit with a nail. Not fun, but probably not as deadly as many conventional rounds. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
madworld0909	12. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:39 PM EDT just a few thoughts on my mind before I head out. as someone had be mentioning they were concerned with the mushrooming of flechettes upon impact with tissue, as can be seen with the use of ballistic gel (one of the closest alternatives to flesh) the nails shoot right through, most likely if shot with this these nails would have a higher chance to pass through someone, although I did see a few stick in and bounce OFF the gel perhaps the most devastating round to a zombie's head is one that I haven't even considered, the buck and ball utilizing the best from both worlds, the round has even HEAVIER shot than buckshot and also has the some of the range and accuracy of slugs due to the large projectile in the front, it seems that THIS round is the zombie killer that I should've been looking for suggestions? interpretations? corrections? Post reply Do you find this valuable?
brandon_a_boyer	13. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:42 PM EDT The buck and ball would be effective. All of the other rounds are overpriced gimmicks. As I said before, the US stopped using flechettes during Vietnam because they lacked stopping power. I want my target to drop right now, now in an hour, and for that kind of knockdown power you need hydrostatic shock, which the flechettes don't have enough mass to cause. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
2WheeledSpeed	14. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 20 2010, 7:43 PM EDT That buck and ball did look nasty, I'll have to get some when I buy a 12 gauge. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
madworld0909	15. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 27 2010, 5:54 PM EDT \| Post edited: Jul 27 2010, 6:05 PM EDT well I was chillin just tapping on the computer learning about shotguns some more and I saw these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCMITR http://weapons.travellercentral.com/ammo/shotgun_scmitr.html they're called SCMITR flechettes and despite how ***** cool they are, they are unfortunately not much better at dealing with the undead than the normal flechettes would be due to their lack of mass compared to the originals. not too much to discuss, just thought you'd guys really enjoy looking at these too USES: if this was shot at a skull I'd say that they would ricochet due to lack of mass aforementioned, making them nearly useless for traditional headshot Zeds. opinions? as for raiders though this is something that perhaps would be nice to look into as a terror weapon for any dumbasses that think they can just screw with you and take your **. opinions on that? EDIT: food for thought, apparently these flechettes penetrated steel helmets, maybe I'm wrong about the effectiveness on headshots... Post reply Do you find this valuable?
zachy_vengeance	16. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 27 2010, 11:52 PM EDT I think they'd be good for getting through body armour, but wouldn't have much stopping power, They'd most likely just go right through the person, causing minimal damage. I wouldn't mind having some around though, for shooting someone through light cover or body armour. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
madworld0909	17. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 28 2010, 3:15 PM EDT "I think they'd be good for getting through body armour, but wouldn't have much stopping power, They'd most likely just go right through the person, causing minimal damage. I wouldn't mind having some around though, for shooting someone through light cover or body armour." y'know I don't think stopping power is really an issue, it's the fact that it will go through the person as you mentioned. I don't think it's gonna cause "minimal damage" though. could you imagine getting hit in the lungs?, the guts? the spleen? it could cut up arteries. I think the greatest threat that these pose is the ability to deliver PAIN. getting hit with these would definitely make me think twice before moving, stopping power or not (and yeah I'm just talking about normal people, zombies set aside). Post reply Do you find this valuable?
3footcrowbar	18. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 31 2010, 4:10 AM EDT "This whole specialty ammo thing has come up before. The army tested flechettes in Vietnam and found that while they where certainly lethal, they lack knockdown power. People would get hit, and just keep coming As far as the terminator round. So much of that description is ********. There is no such thing as a shock effect of 95%. And having a softball sized wound channel is nothing special. These are both just gimmicks to get you to waste your money. Slugs, 00 buck, and MAYBE #4 shot." By shock effect i think what they mean is temporary cavication. A solid slug works fine for that. Post reply Do you find this valuable?
Antidot3	19. RE: shotgun flechette effectiveness? Jul 31 2010, 5:06 AM EDT "That's about the size of it LJ. They are made to blast through cover. In the jungles those suckers were your manmowers. Cover be damned. Now THESE I want to test out! http://www.firequest.com/G12-027.html Just the brainpic alone makes my inner psychopath drool..." Holy... I knew ammo would be rather expensive, but 3 for 9,99? Thats....alot more than I expected... Post reply Do you find this valuable?

1 2 | Next

JavaScript must be enabled in order for you to contribute to this site.
To start contributing, enable JavaScript by changing your browser options, then try again.

Home