Tungsten darts barrel materia

Today's standard material is Nickel-Tungsten. Tungsten is a very dense material, so tungsten darts are with considerable weight can be made quite slim. The invention of tungsten dart barrels had a big impact on the sport. With the new dart barrels, it is possible to achieve much better grouping than before, and the averages in pro games have improved dramatically. It is not an overstatement when this development is referred to as "the tungsten revolution".

Before the tungsten revolution, dart barrels were mainly made of brass. Brass dart barrels are still used by some players because they are much cheaper than tungsten. But brass dart barrels are ancient technology now, so I can't recommend them.

Because of technical difficulties with manufacturing 100% tungsten darts are not available. All "tungsten" darts you can buy are in fact made of tungsten alloys, with Nickel-Tungsten being the most common one. When you buy a dart the amount of tungsten in the alloy is given by a percentage number. So a common "80% Tungsten" dart has 80 percent tungsten and 20 percent Nickel, Copper and/or Ferro. Tungsten darts are available from 80% to over 90%. The more tungsten the slimmer - and the more expensive - the tungsten darts are. If the high-percentage tungsten darts are worth the higher price is an open question. Personally I think that 80% tungsten dart barrels are good enough for almost everyone.

Remember: the only benefit from a high tungsten share is that the dart barrels can be made slimmer than a dart with the same weight and a lower tungsten share. In no way do higher tungsten percentages indicate some sort of overall better quality or better machining.