Editing Needlegun

{{Short description|Firearm that fires small metal darts}}
{{other uses|Needle gun (disambiguation)}}
{{about|guns that fire darts or needles|guns with a needle-like firing pin|Needle gun}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2013}}
[[File:APS underwater rifle REMOV.jpg|thumb|The [[APS underwater rifle]], an [[underwater firearm]] designed by the [[Soviet Union]] in the early 1970s]]
A '''needlegun''', also known as a '''needler''', '''flechette gun''' or '''fletcher''', is a [[firearm]] that fires small, sometimes fin-stabilized, metal darts or [[flechette]]s. Theoretically, the advantages of a needlegun over [[bullet|conventional projectile]] firearms are in its compact size, high [[rate of fire]], and extreme [[muzzle velocity]]. The needle presents less frontal area than a bullet, producing less drag and thus more effective range (especially in water) than a wider projectile of the same mass and velocity. There have been experiments to make guided flechettes that can home in on targets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/bullet/|title=Sandia's self-guided bullet prototype can hit target a mile away|date=30 Jan 2012|website=Sandia Laboratories|publisher=Sandia Corporation|location=Albuquerque, NM, USA|access-date=19 December 2013|archive-date=5 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205021438/https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/bullet/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Pre-industrial ==
The first projectiles in early gun systems dating from the 14th century were typically hand wrought iron flechettes wrapped in a [[leather]] [[Sabot (firearms)|sabot]].{{cn|date=July 2020}} However, due to the expense and trouble of making these darts in a [[pre-industrial society]], they were soon replaced with the less accurate stone cannonball.

==World War I==
[[File:Verkehrsmuseum Dresden - Luftverkehr - Fliegerpfeile - DSC4900.jpg|thumb|World War I flechettes]]
[[Flechette]]s again came into mass use in the years before [[World War I]]. Starting as early as 1910, the French began experimenting with air-dropped flechettes; flechettes dropped from planes were used extensively during the war.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barak |first=Eitan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2KQd6gw1hToC&pg=PA23 |title=Deadly Metal Rain: The Legality of Flechette Weapons in International Law: A Reappraisal Following Israel's Use of Flechettes in the Gaza Strip (2001-2009) |date=2011-10-28 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-16719-3 |pages=23–31 |language=en}}</ref>

==Vietnam War==
A June 1978 issue of ''[[Gallery (magazine)|Gallery Magazine]]''<ref>Sprague, Richard E. and  Cutler, Robert ''The Umbrella System:  Prelude to an Assassination''  ''Gallery Magazine'' June 1978</ref> quotes [[L. Fletcher Prouty]] observing a test of flechette weapons in 1960 and the testimony of [[William E. Colby]] in the [[Church Committee]] on September 16 to 18, 1975 describing flechette weapons. Charles A. Senseney testified that he was a project engineer of the M-1 dart launcher that was described as resembling a [[M1911 pistol]] with a sight mount at the top.

Senseney claimed the M-1 was designed for the [[US Army Special Forces]] to be used in the [[Vietnam War]] but never got there due to not being able to get into the US Army's logistics system in time.<ref>"Charles A. Senseney testimony", Church Committee, September 18, 1975</ref> Flechette ammunition encased in a sabot was available for the [[M16 rifle|M-16]], shotguns, and other weapons for use in Vietnam.

==Underwater==
A June 1965 ''Esquire'' magazine story on the making of the then-upcoming James Bond film ''[[Thunderball (film)|Thunderball]]'' featured drawings of dart firing pistols that were not used in the completed film.<ref>"Bond: A Spy's Report on 007's Next Movie ''Thunderball''{{-"}}, ''Esquire'', June 1965</ref>

At the same time several makes of [[underwater firearm]]s fired a steel bolt just over 4 inches long (but without fins).

==Special Purpose Individual Weapon==
[[File:SPIW at the National Firearms Museum.jpg|thumb|5.56mm Point Target SPIW (Special Purpose Individual Weapon) at the National Firearms Museum.|alt=]]
The [[Special Purpose Individual Weapon]] was a long-running [[United States Army]] program to develop, in part, a workable XM-216 [[flechette]]-based "rifle", though other concepts were also involved. The concepts continued to be tested under the Future Rifle Program and again in the 1980s and 1990s under the [[Advanced Combat Rifle]] program, but neither program resulted in a system useful enough to warrant replacing the current [[M16 rifle|M16]].

== In fiction ==

In [[Marko Kloos]]'s ''Frontlines'' series of novels, the military commonly use M66 flechette rifles and pistols putting out thousands of rounds a minute.

In [[William Gibson]]'s novel ''[[Neuromancer]]'', the character [[Molly Millions]] uses a flechette pistol.

In [[Neal Stephenson]]'s novel ''[[Snow Crash]]'', characters use a modified version of a needle/railgun called Reason.

In [[Michael Moorcock]]'s [[Jerry Cornelius]] stories, the title character uses a transistorized needlegun.

In [[Terry Brooks]]'s ''[[The Genesis of Shannara|Genesis of Shannara]]'' stories, multiple characters use flechette guns.

In [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]]'s 1982 science fiction role-playing game [[Star Frontiers]], a "needler" was a common weapon with multiple variations existing in the game. 

In [[Bungie]]'s 1996 video game sequel, ''[[Marathon Infinity]]'', the KKV-7 10mm SMG Flechette makes its debut and introduces the player to an extreme rate of fire.

In the ''[[Halo (franchise)|Halo]]'' video games, originally developed by [[Bungie]], the Needler is an alien weapon that fires homing crystalline needles that explode after a delay. In 2010, the Needle Rifle was introduced to the series with the release of ''[[Halo: Reach]]''. 

In ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops 4]]'', a flechette rifle called the S6 Stingray can be unlocked. It is a two-round burst tactical rifle firing high damage serrated projectiles. Impact blasting projectiles can be equipped for maximum damage.

In ''[[Fallout 2]]'' there is a pistol variant of flechette firing weapons known as the "Needler Pistol".

In the videogame [[F.E.A.R.]], there are several 10mm flechette nailguns.

In the fictional universe of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', Needleguns are occasionally mentioned as being used by non-military combatants, such as inquisitors and assassins.

In [[Frank Herbert]]'s ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'' novel, many organizations and houses wielded flechette projectile weapons, and a needlegun is featured in the [[Dune (1984 film)|1984 film adaptation]] as a pistol wielded by [[Gurney Halleck]].

In [[Robert A Heinlein]]'s novel ''[[The Number of the Beast (novel)|The Number of the Beast]]'', the character Deety (Deja Thoris Burroughs-Carter) owns an illegal flechette pistol for self-defence.

In [[David Weber]]'s [[Honorverse]], several factions use flechette guns.

In [[K. A. Applegate]]'s [[Animorphs]], the alien race of Howlers use flechette guns.

In [[Dan Simmons]]' [[Hyperion Cantos]], flechette guns are used by many military and police forces.

In the [[Altered Carbon]] [[TV show]], [[Takeshi Kovacs]] uses Ingrum 40 Flechette Gun for a period, a high tech needlegun pistol that magnetically pulls fired flechettes back into the bottom of the gun and automatically reloads them into the magazine.

In [[Bob Shaw]]'s [[Night Walk (novel)|Night Walk]], the protagonist, Sam Tallon, is blinded by being fired upon at point-blank range by hornet guns, which may be similar to needleguns, although they are also drugged, probably to increase incapacitation or pain.

==See also==
* [[Nail gun]]
* [[SCMITR]]
* [[Steyr ACR]]
* [[6.5×25mm CBJ]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Flechette firearms]]
[[Category:Trial and research firearms]]