About 15 years ago I bought a packet of three 12 gauge flechette rounds but never fired one. I dissected one and without testing, I figured they wouldn't really fly point first reliably so they're never seen the inside of a 12ga chamber. I see they're still on the market, but I wonder if this is because of the gimmick factor or their real effectiveness.
Anybody ever use them?
Terry, 230RN
The Army tried issuing flechette rounds during the Vietnam war. They figured that they would penetrate the jungle vegetation a lot more easily than buckshot and thus would be more reliable stoppers.
After a few months in the field, `troops were screaming bloody murder to get their buckshot rounds back. The flechettes did penetrate the jungle plants better, but they had virtually no wounding or stopping power. There were numerous verified reports of enemy soldiers getting hit with flechettes and basically not even noticing.
The flechettes were inaccurate as hell, spread quickly, didn't cause much in the way of wounds, and lost power VERY quickly because the individual flechettes were so light.
The rounds were withdrawn from service and never reintroduced.