This article is about the shotgun round. For the cave in Namibia, see Dragon's Breath Cave. For the fictitious poisonous brew, see King's Quest V. For other uses, see Dragon's breath (disambiguation).
Dragon's Breath is an exotic incendiary round for a 12 gauge shotgun. Dragon's Breath consists primarily of magnesium pellets/shards. When the round is fired, sparks and flames can shoot out to about 100ft. Dragons Breath is normally chambered in 12 gauge 2 3/4" shot shell. The rounds are safe to fire out of an improved cylinder bore as well as a modified choke barrel, common on many shotguns.[1]
While its actual professional combat or tactical usage remains undocumented, the visual effect it produces is impressive and entertaining, similar to that of a short-ranged flamethrower or fireworks, making it popular among gun enthusiasts. Also undocumented, it has been claimed by enthusiasts that the rounds are often used as a distress signal, similar to a very short duration emergency flare gun, though some would argue a flare would be better fitted for such. The round has also been used for intimidation purposes. The pyrotechnic shell is expensive compared to other shells, costing $5 (USD) per round. There is little or no record of its use in actual combat. Because it is a very low-power round, it cannot be used in an auto-loading shotgun or semi-automatic shotgun; it does not produce enough recoil energy to cycle the action, causing the mechanism to jam. An additional reason to use the round only in a manually operated firearm is that the round shoots at least a little flame for 3–5 seconds. It would be hazardous if a shell still emitting flame were to be ejected from a semi-automatic shotgun.
Contents
- 1 Legality
- 1.1 United States
- 2 In popular culture
- 3 References
Legality[]
Dragon's breath rounds are banned in many locations, due to their inherent fire hazard. Even in areas where the round may be shipped, an extra fee for hazardous materials may be charged.[2]
United States[]
Illinois law states that a dragon's breath round is any round that "contains exothermic pyrophoric misch metal as the projectile and is designed for the purpose of throwing or spewing a flame or fireball to simulate a flame-thrower".[3] This shotgun round is banned for use by anyone who is not authorized to possess, manufacture, or sell by the law. The wording is very similar in Florida law as well.[4]
In popular culture[]
The Dragon's breath rounds appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops loaded in a SPAS-12 shotgun.
Dragon's breath rounds also appear in Fallout: New Vegas, where they are usable with any GRA (gun runners arsonal) shotgun.
In Killing Floor the "Dragon's Breath Trenchgun" uses such a round.
In the FOX show Bones (season 8, ep. 19), Dr. Jack Hodgins suspects a Dragon's Breath shell could have caused the burning-death of a former Marine Sergeant, and the subsequent fire that destroyed the room.
Kyle Myers also known as "FPSRussia" shot the mossberg chainsaw with dragon breath on his youtube entertainment video "TOP SHOT:: FN FS-2000 & Mossberg Chainsaw".
In John Wick: Chapter 4, there's a sequence in Paris where John goes on a killing spree using a shotgun with Dragon's breath rounds stolen from a bounty hunter. This sequence is mainly shot from an overhead perspective, inspired by the video game Hong Kong Massacre.
References[]
The original article can be found at Dragon's breath and the edit history here.
