What materials are darts made of?

Most of our dart ranges here at Shot Darts are manufactured from high-quality Tungsten which is imported into the factory in raw billet form in different lengths, weights and tungsten percentages. The higher the percentage of tungsten the narrower the dart as Tungsten is alloyed with nickel to give it strength. The higher the percentage of tungsten in the barrel, the slimmer the dart is and the higher the scoring potential.

Here are some fun facts about this amazing alloy!

Tungsten, also known as wolfram, is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74. The word tungsten comes from the Swedish language tung sten directly translatable to a heavy stone. A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. The free element is remarkable for its robustness, especially the fact that it has the highest melting point of all the elements. Also impressive is its high density of 19.3 times that of water, comparable to that of uranium and gold, and much higher (about 1.7 times) than that of lead.

Tungsten with minor amounts of impurities is often brittle and hard, making it difficult to work. However, very pure tungsten, though still hard, is more ductile, and can be cut with a hard-steel hacksaw.

Tungsten's hardness and high density give it military applications in penetrating projectiles. It works well as a base material for darts as dense and heavy tungsten allows a dart to be machined in a small diameter enabling the player to fit the three darts into the small high scoring areas on the dartboard.

The high-density tungsten resists wear and allows barrels to be slimmer, for tighter groupings, while maintaining the weight of the dart, minimizing bounce-outs. ... The higher the percentage, the better, and more expensive, the dart.

Brass and steel darts (like the darts in our Dart Gift Set) are made of softer, less expensive metals. These are a great choice if you're starting out in darts or looking for a robust yet economical set of darts.