One thing I did when making my shrapnel script for claymores and VT Airburst Arty, was make a config for a new bullet class specially for shrapnel.
I made the indirect hit value high enough to be lethal, and gave it a indirect hit range of about 5m. This saved A LOT of cpu cycles, as I did not have to create a huge loop of camcreated bullets to make it effective.
I also added drop effects to enhance the bullet impact and create the illusion of more impacts than are actually occuring. In short, it is a less cpu intensive alternative.
Since my Great Crash of 2004, I have lost that tiny little .pbo but I need to redo it anyway, so if you are interested...
-Grendel