Dart (missile) - Modern Darts

Modern Darts

Of the darts still in widespread use, perhaps the closest to traditional thrown darts are lawn darts. These are large and heavy enough to be thrown by swinging, and to seriously wound a person when thrown.

An indoor game of darts has also been developed, steel-tip darts generally weigh 18−26 grams and maximum of 50 grams is allowed in Amateur or Professional competitions such as the World Series of Darts. The common length of a dart is generally 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 in) long, but rules allow for up to 30 cm (12 in). They are designed to penetrate dart boards made of bundled fibers (usually sisal).

Tranquilizer darts are related to the darts for blowguns, but include a hypodermic needle and a hollow reservoir resembling a syringe, which is generally filled with sedatives or other drugs. These are launched from a special gun using compressed gas, a tuft of fibers at the back of the missile serving as both fletching and wadding.

A type of dart still finds use in military engagements, in the form of flechettes. These are all-metal projectiles, often resembling nails that have had fletching (rather than nail heads) forged into them. They were used by American forces during the wars in Korea and Vietnam, but treaties have since been enacted to limit their use.

Large flechettes are used as kinetic energy penetrators in many gun-fired anti-armour projectiles.