Extend the Range and Lethality of your Shotgun with Flechettes

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 1/14/21 | J Dickson

[w1n1]

There’s more than one way to neutralize a threat and these novel, thin, finned steel projectiles can put on a hurt at greater distance than buckshot - Flechettes were first used as small bomblets dropped from airplanes in World War I and World War II.
Their use in small arms began in February 1951, when Irwin R. Barr of Aircraft Armaments Inc. came out with the concept of firearms flechettes. Initially, the emphasis was on firing one flechette instead of a standard rifle bullet. This led to the Army’s Special Purpose Individual Weapon (SPIW) program, as the concept was tested. The first flechette shotgun loads were made in 1953. These held 32 flechettes, which were smaller than those loaded today.

During the Vietnam War, the ability of the flechette to stretch the range of the cylinder-bore riot shotgun out to 82, and even 100, yards saw their widespread deployment alongside the traditional buckshot loads. The troops were pretty well evenly divided in their preference between the two loads.
Flechettes gave longer range when shooting across rice paddies, but in heavy jungle, nothing is more resistant to deflection by the foliage than a round ball. It should be noted that the M16's 5.56mm round is the most easily deflected of all the cartridges our government has ever standardized, and that caused a lot of trouble for those using it in jungle warfare.
At one time I represented a company that armored regular cars for use in third world countries where civilians needed extra protection. One thing that impressed me about the 5.56 cartridge was how easily it was deflected. It was hard to stop if it did not deflect, but it was awfully easy to deflect. Too easy for me to want to use it in combat.

During the Vietnam War, many of the flechette-loaded 12-gauge shells were marked “Whirlpool” because that company was involved in their development. Both Western and Federal cartridge companies loaded 12-gauge flechette rounds for the military. The Western shells had 20 flechettes per round and the case mouth was closed with a standard star crimp.
The Federal shells had 25 flechettes and the tips of the flechettes were exposed at the case mouth. Both loads had the flechettes loaded in a plastic cup with granulated white polyurethane to maintain alignment with the bore. A metal disk at the rear prevented the penetration of the overpowder wad when the shell was fired. All the shotgun flechette loads of this period were for cylinder-bore riot guns only. The incompressible steel flechettes would do severe damage to a choke and the choke would disrupt their pattern.
Some folks load surplus flechettes taken from artillery beehive rounds into shotgun shells. These are the cheaper canister-grade flechettes. Typically, some are loaded forwards and some backwards. Firing these in a shotgun can severely score the barrel and damage any choke in it, resulting in a new barrel being required for that gun.

A comparison of flechettes and buckshot.

TODAY, FLECHETTE SHOTGUN loads are made by Sabot Designs LLC, a registered defense contractor with the U.S. Department of Defense. They have been doing this since 1998 and the head of the company, John Flanagan, is today’s top expert on flechettes. He made experimental tantalum flechettes for the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s cargo round, and he designed and made tungsten flechettes for the NSWC’s EMRG, or electro-magnetic rail gun, submunition. Flanagan also collaborated with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems for the development and testing of the high-density packing canister for the M1 Abrams main battle tank, resulting in his getting the patent for the HDP canister. He served as a consultant to Lockheed-Martin for the fin design of flechette projectiles for the Hydro-7 mine clearing system. The Marine Corps has also got him developing a flechette round specifically for shooting down drones.

Flanagan also holds the patent on the M1 flechette sabot, which enables them to be fired through any shotgun without damage to the gun. That said, the cylinder bore still gives the best performance and .725 inch is the minimum choke diameter recommended for choked guns, as tighter chokes disrupt the pattern. His flechettes have the latest subtle improvements, including fins shaped to give a stabilizing spin to the projectile. They are all new manufacture, with a hardness of 45 on the Rockwell C scale. The sabot is also designed to be suppressor-friendly, so these shells can be fired in shotguns with silencers. Read the rest of shotgun flechettes.

[21twelve]

An old boss/friend of mine quipped “Yeah - having a bad memory sucks. On the other hand, my wife is going to let me hide my own Easter eggs this year!”

The funny part was, he could remember scientific details from projects he had done 50 years ago!

[lurk]

Don’t they also have a flechette round for use in tanks?

[Mariner]

Because some dummy wants to get 100yds out of a shotgun?

No value to me whatsoever.

[.44 Special]

In Nam the Army had both 90mm and 105mm beehive rounds the 105mm contained approximately 8000 flachettes. Not sure how many were in the 90mm.
Both rounds were used extensively at Dak To and were very effective.
Yes, there was a beehive round for the Abrams with the 105mm, not sure about the 120mm though.

[Colt1851Navy]

Looks like another nemesis for Willie Coyote.

[myerson]

Do what the cops do—use a slug.

[mouske]

A lot of grandpas used a similar line when referring to their waning sexual prowess - “I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.”

[S.O.S121.500]

Tested by YouTuber Taofledermaus, and they were garbage.

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Obtained much better results rolling my own using finishing nails......