reloading 12ga rounds with flachettes

[Bhop]

I have been wanting to test some 12ga rounds with flachettes and was wondering if anyone knew how many fit in a shell or any reloading data on this round. any help is appreciated

 

[44minimum]

A couple years ago I was wondering the same thing and I bought a couple of pounds of them. My nephew wanted to experiment with them so I gave them to him and he lost them. As for reloading data, I doubt there is any specifically for flechettes. But since they are steel and steel is lighter than lead, we were just going to open up a shell, dump out the shot and then stuff as many flechettes into the shell as would fit. But we never got around to it and now they're gone. By the way, they work pretty good out of a BB gun. We used a daisy pump up, put a BB into the chamber, pumped it 10 times then dropped a flechette down the barrel. We shot a target 30 feet away and it flew straight. Penetration in a one by six was impressive. Lots of fun. Reminds me now that I need to get some more of those.

 

[criticalbass]

Look up some steel loads and choose one. Be darned sure to use wads designed to shoot steel if you value your barrel, and duplicate the weight of the darts with the weight called for in the published load. I think a rolled crimp with a card wad in front might work better, but am just going with a hunch here.

If the proper weight/number of fleshettes doesn't fill up available space, put some felt wads under them, not on top.

Let us know how this works out. Don't be disappointed if the effective range turns out to be short. As I recall, some of the fleshette rounds were pushed by loads that burned in two increments to cut recoil while providing more mv. CB

 

[mr ed]

you might want to use some filler like they use for buckshot to keep them pointed straight.

 

[HMFIC]

I can't imagine that you're going to find them useful.

From all accounts, flechette rounds in a shotgun are too light, have minimal if any penetration, won't stabilize, and are pretty much a waste of time.

What is your application?

 

[gillman7]

I looked at this about a year or so ago, and this is pretty good advice. I need to look it up again, but I think it was 24 to a 12 gauge shell. I would nit use a choke or good barrel, just in case. My plans involved a slug barrel.

cb is right about the wad and felt.

Look up some steel loads and choose one. Be darned sure to use wads designed to shoot steel if you value your barrel, and duplicate the weight of the darts with the weight called for in the published load. I think a rolled crimp with a card wad in front might work better, but am just going with a hunch here.

If the proper weight/number of fleshettes doesn't fill up available space, put some felt wads under them, not on top.

Let us know how this works out. Don't be disappointed if the effective range turns out to be short. As I recall, some of the fleshette rounds were pushed by loads that burned in two increments to cut recoil while providing more mv. CB