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mjn · November 18, 2002, 02:47 PM

Once read an oral history by various SEAL vets who served in Vietnam, which included some comments on the various weapons they tried out. One was that the shotgun flechette rounds had greatly extended range but zero knockdown effect- the VC would keep running and probably bleed out later. Not what I want for an SD load.

Just found the book- Hunters & Shooters edited by Bill Fawcett, Avon Books 1995, ISBN 0-380-72166-X. Mike Boynton, a famous SEAL, makes the comment on Page 80 that "Flechette was also good, at least I thought so. You could hit a man at longer range with it than with a regular shot load. But when a man was hit with flechettes, he would keep on running as if he hadn't been shot at all. The targets would bleed to death with a flechette hit rather than get knocked down as with a buckshot load."

He goes on to say that he liked #4 Buck because of the large number of pellets.

I stand by my opinion that a longer dangerous range and poor knockdown effect is the exact opposite of what you want from a defensive load.

November 18, 2002, 02:47 PM	#5
mjn Member Join Date: November 16, 2001 Location: Puget Sound Posts: 68	Once read an oral history by various SEAL vets who served in Vietnam, which included some comments on the various weapons they tried out. One was that the shotgun flechette rounds had greatly extended range but zero knockdown effect- the VC would keep running and probably bleed out later. Not what I want for an SD load. Just found the book- Hunters & Shooters edited by Bill Fawcett, Avon Books 1995, ISBN 0-380-72166-X. Mike Boynton, a famous SEAL, makes the comment on Page 80 that "Flechette was also good, at least I thought so. You could hit a man at longer range with it than with a regular shot load. But when a man was hit with flechettes, he would keep on running as if he hadn't been shot at all. The targets would bleed to death with a flechette hit rather than get knocked down as with a buckshot load." He goes on to say that he liked #4 Buck because of the large number of pellets. I stand by my opinion that a longer dangerous range and poor knockdown effect is the exact opposite of what you want from a defensive load. Last edited by mjn; November 18, 2002 at 10:22 PM.