Thought I would add a review of these darts as I have been using them since they were released. Hope you find it helpful/ interesting:


Well here is the eyecatching packaging, a simple Target box with clear plastic inlay to allow you to see the darts (well one of them anyway) enblazoned with a couple of images of the current World Champion and the Lifetime Barrel Guarantee logo:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So what's in the box? The usual foam insert containing the 3 made-up darts, 3 silica Barrels, 3 black (Laro on this occasion) shafts and 3 standard brown Lewis flights, hole punched with Target slot rings inserted (note; these darts come with standard steel points, I have re-pointed them with Target Diamond points):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

On the back is Targets own 'Matched Weight' label, cunningly disguised as a dart flight! (nice touch):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So here they are, 23g Target Silica Adrian Lewis darts (again note, they come with standard steel points rather than the Diamond points):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So the important part, the barrel and the grip! I would rate this as above average (maybe 3-4), it has 9 grooves plus a small groove between each wider one (painted silver) to give a really distinctive feel. It also has a nice patch of micro grip at the back end for people that prefer to hold the dart there. I wouldn't say the darts stuck to your hand like shark grips but the grooves and smaller silver rings are certainly a very nice grip without being too harsh:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And finally the shafts and flights, in this case nice black Laro shafts with brown standard Lewis flights, hole punched with silver slot rings. They would do a nice job, however as many people do, I change to my own set-up as soo as they come out of the box:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]



So overall a very nice, well balanced dart, 50.5mm long, 6.4mm wide and 90% tungsten content.
Upside, the Silica coating is by far the hardest wearing coating I have come across, stands up better than the gold and much, much better than any black coated darts I have had. Not everyone's cup of tea but for me a fine looking coating and hard wearing, and as usual a very well made dart from the Target range.
Downside, no case or bar wallet, just the foam insert. Not a massive issue as most people have their own case and the foam does a good job as far as packaging is concerned however if this was your first set of darts, at around £35-£40 to then have to spend another £5-£10 on a wallet or case may be a bit much for some.

All in all a well made, hard wearing well balanced dart from Target, who for me are certainly challenging Unicorn as the big hitter in the darts market.

A great review, very informative. +1 from me. Ya the whole case thing doesn't bother me. Also, I would have to say that target does make a top quality dart.

Top work Rebel! have another +1, I had the Zirconium version and they are very nice looking darts but just did not suit me, but I had to try them coz they were so nice

great review buddy! i love my target darts, currently got three sets including a set of the zirconium lewis darts. i also don't mind not getting a case/wallet as i've already got more cases than sets of darts haha. the other thing i wanted to mention was how great target customer service has been for me, had a couple issues that were quickly and easily remedied.

nice darts !! i will be buying this in 25g as soon as my cousin will come home here 2 months from now

Target top notch company. pics have disappeared for me any way.

Pictures should work now

Thanks for the feedback, glad the review was useful

aww now can see them , great review. Like you said I to believe Target has out stripped Unicorn IMO.

I love the silica coating. I agree that it is very tough, have them on my apollos. Thanks for the review.

Do you know what those shafts are? Are they Laro because they dont have the rings

I dont think they are Laro, just Targets own nylon shafts

They were actually Laro shafts on that occasion, hence why the silver slot ring wouldn't slide all the way down sitting the flights snug in the grooves (see bottom picture).
They are supposed to come with a plastic ring that is more durable (but not as tough) than the metal rings and do allow the flight to slide all the way into the grooves.


I have had 3 sets of Target Lewis now, that was the only set that came with Laro shafts, the other 2 were just normal nylons so must have just been random.

This is how the flights will sit with the plastic rings that Laro stems are supplied with:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I see, my mistake then.

Think it was just random Grip, could tell right away they were Laro as they weren't shiny and feel a bit gritty.
Having splashed out on ten sets of Laro's (with plastic rings) I would in future stick to normal nylons, as nice as the Laro's look and feel, and maybe they are a bit tougher, the rings snap easily and at £1.50 a set (3) they are just not worth the money IMO.

Anyone buying the Target darts, expect normal nylon shafts though as Grip said, as of the half a dozen sets I have had, this was the only set of target darts that came with the Laro stems, as I say, I think it was just random as I have bought the exact same darts since with normal nylons supplied.

If they were Laros they didnt have the ring around them. The flights did though. Could they have been laros with the rings taken off?

They were Laro's but came with the silver metal rings.

The silver metal rings don't fit the Laro's so well and will not allow the flight to slide all the way into the stem.

When you buy a pack of Laro stems however you get the plastic rings (you only get 3 but I think you should get more as they snap very easily), these fit perfectly and allow your flights to slip all the way into the stem.

For my Laro stems that have had the plastic rings snap I find the spring rings work well as there is more give in them than the solid slot rings, pop the spring in the slot on your flight and it slides down no bother.

I don't quite understand. The silver rings were around the flights not the shafts. Don't the laros come with rings around them? Do you take the rings off the shafts and put rings on the flights? I am really new to this sorry about the dumb questions

Ah, I understand what you mean now, no problem - the rings are called 'slot rings' and it requires a special hole punch that puts a small rectangular hole in the flight, you then slot the ring through the hole and slide it onto the stem, holds the flight on very tightly making it highly unlikely a flight will come off the stem during a game.

Normal slot rings are made of metal and fit most nylon stems, however from my experience they dont fit on Laro stems very well, and so Laro stems come with plastic rings that fit perfectly - however the plastic ones dont last very long at all before snapping.


Here's the slot punch and rings (available in different colours):
http://www.puredarts.co.uk/slot-lock-punch/

And the Laro stems, again you would need a slot punch to make the hole in the flight:
http://www.puredarts.co.uk/target-dart-stems/laro-sh-35mm-black-target-laro-sh-35mm-black.html

Hope that is more helpful for you,

Regards,
Greg

I'm sorry I'm being a pain. I ordered the Laros but they haven't arrived yet. Maybe if I had them in front of me I would know the answers already lol. But do the rings that come on the Laros come off of them and go onto the flights with the hole punch? Or do they stay on the Laros and I don't need a hole punch? I just put the flight into the shaft far enough to reach the ring?

Your not being a pain at all, I just checked for you and the Laro rings (plastic) will slide down like the springs without the requirement of a slot punch, however they dont really hold the flights on very well, springs would be better.

I would have thought they are designed more for the slot punch as they seem quite slippery plastic against the plastic shaft, so to answer your question I would say you will need a punch to make the best use of the plastic rings, however I have tried normal metal springs on the Laro shafts and they do a good job without the punch.

I think I finally understand lol. Thanks!