Flechette question

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skip1600

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Just wondering.. And please no stupid comments like "can they shoot into space" or "for bear defence?"

My question is. I'm putting together a rather large display of shotshell loads and how they come in all different shapes and sizes ... And no not like the idiots on YouTube with thier gum ball loads and penny's and such.. I'm talking about commercial loads. Now I'd like to have a deact flechette load in it but I'm wondering if it would be legal (I'm looking to have the shell, separated from the wad with the load above NOT assembled) and where I could find one of these things


Thanks
 
723723 said:
illegal, only reason a person needs a flechette load is to defeat body armor
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Yes, it is prohibited ammunition:

PROHIBITED AMMUNITION
...
4. Any cartridge that is capable of being discharged from a shotgun and that contains projectiles known as “fléchettes” or any similar projectiles.
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But your reasoning is a bit of a slippery slope.
 
.... Did you actually read what I wrote... I don't want it to shoot.. I'm looking for 1 flechette wad and 1 set of flechettes for a display... In accordance with what cv32 posted in needs to be capable of discharge, if there is no primer or spent primer it isn't capable of discharge therefor not ammo
 
skip1600 said:
.... Did you actually read what I wrote... I don't want it to shoot.. I'm looking for 1 flechette wad and 1 set of flechettes for a display... In accordance with what cv32 posted in needs to be capable of discharge, if there is no primer or spent primer it isn't capable of discharge therefor not ammo
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Sorry but I don't think I'd want to argue that one in court! You'd be stepping into a gray area subject to interpretation and my experience has been that the Crown will usually interprets things the way you don't want! Similar to me saying I want one of those pistol sized crossbows but since I'm not going to put a string on it so it shouldn't be prohibited!
 
Sad as this is to say, I think I recall the exact magazine article that got them added to the list of 'bad things we cannot be trusted with'.

Yer not gonna get a cartridge to deactivate. Not legally, anyway.

Yer best bet, if you really want one, is to start going to the cartridge collectors shows and keep on hoping. Or build a fake one yourself. Which kind of defeats the whole purpose, dunnit?

FWIW, the CF used to have flechette rounds for their aircraft rockets. Essentially, they amounted to being a flying shotgun, as they rocket would fly towards the target area, then the timed fuse would fire, launching a mass off what looked like a cross between a nail and an arrow at the general forward pointed direction. Heck, may even still be in the inventory, but probably not, as I was shown them somewhere near 30 years ago.

Cheers
Trev
 
723723 said:
illegal, only reason a person needs a flechette load is to defeat body armor
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Uhhhh.... No. The body armor part. Not their intended purpose at all. The Anti-personell flechettes are strictly about being able to beat down an area, and the people in it. The single projectile anti-armor ones are generally for shooting at tanks.

As a shotgun round, it's all about area of effect, not at all about body armor.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/graphic/0,,2274464,00.html

The illegal part, that is correct. By Order in Council, IIRC.

Cheers
Trev
 
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you can buy the flechette by them selves for next to nothing

i did find a few rounds before but i "desposed" of them ;)

the original idea was to have a mass of darts going through the air and cutting through brush they also made them for the m79 they where called beehive rounds because they made a buzzing sound but they where not that affective in the 12ga and the wads used where thin almost like a standard lead shot wad of today best use of them was aircraft bombs and artillery
 
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If you want some factual information about the different styles of flechettes, their use and effectiveness, read "The World's Fighting Shotguns" by Swearingen.
A longitudinally sectionned flechette round makes an interesting display, and is quite legal. There were different loads by different companies.
Shotgun flechette loads were developed as an alternative to buckshot, the object being to get better patterns at longer ranges. They were used in Vietnam.
Loose flechettes can be found, and could be used to make a display.
 
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