Questions

[Vangelis]

Originally Posted by Pointy Sextant

Another point of confusion.

Flechette rounds fly longer and straighter than conventional rounds. Yet sniper rifles use conventional style rounds. Why is that? It seems to me that Sabot Flechette rounds would extend the range of snipers and thus increase their effectiveness. Is there a specific reason other than availability of ammunition that the changeover to Flechette rounds hasn't been made?

Flechettes might fly straight, but their wound channels are tiny, they deflect easily [SALVO / SPIW found their 5.6x53mm and 5.6x44mm flechettes could be deflected by raindrops], they're very, very expensive to produce, tend to be loud and have excessive muzzle flash, and since their range largely comes from being light and aerodynamic, their performance against armour is spotty, too; there's something to be said for rounds having high momentum rather than just high kinetic energy.

Gunmaster45: It's been argued that the Geneva Convention forbids deploying artillery flechette rounds in civilian populated areas; people argue they violate the provisions protecting non-combatants, on the basis that an arty flechette is a fragmentation round with 8,000 8-grain nails as well as bits of the casing to kill people with, and so it might kill people. As opposed to any other artillery shell you might fire at a civilian populated area which wouldn't kill anyone, I guess.