WINMAU Release Affordable Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Range!
- Kurtis Bevan
- Oct 25, 2023
- 2 min read
By Kurt Bevan
One of the more interesting parts of the huge launch from Winmau on 25th October 2023 was the large range of 85% tungsten barrels released. In total six of Winmau's players received a Winmau Pro-Series 85% tungsten release including 2022 Masters Champion Joe Cullen and three time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
It's not often manufacturers release 85% tungsten barrels, often sticking to 80% for their more affordable ranges, but Winmau here have created some suitable and more affordable alternatives for fans of these players and their darts, for the most part.
The price of each set of the 85% darts as of 23/10/2023 are £39.95, which although is cheaper than the majority of darts in the current market, I do believe to be seen as a true 'cheaper alternative' these darts would need to be less than £35.
Most of the darts feature the exact same barrel shape of the players' match darts that are 90-95% tungsten as well as featuring black coatings and player brand colour paint.
Below is a summary of each of the darts and their prices along with images and links to purchase. Expand each title to see content!
The MvG 85% barrels feature a very similar grip pattern to the MvG Exact with alternating sized rings. These barrels feature a black coating with the signature MvG green paint within the wider grooves.
MvG fans especially will be pleased with this dart as the barrels are replicated almost exactly in terms of grip. But will offer slightly different dimensions.*
These darts are available in 23, 25g Steel Tip and 20g Soft Tip
* Information on dimensions currently unavailable at the time of writing
The MvG Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Darts are available to purchase here.
Featuring Cullen's popular central scallop, the Joe Cullen 85% don't differ too much from the original barrels once again. The central scallop with wide radial grooves is almost identical to his match darts.
The real difference on these barrels is of course the simpler coating and paint as well as simpler ring cuts at the front and rear.
These darts are available in 23, 25g Steel Tip and 20g Soft Tip.
23g Barrel: 50.8mm x 6.93mm
25g Barrel: 50.8mm x 7.3mm
The Joe Cullen Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Darts can be purchased here.
Over the past couple of years, Simon Whitlock has chopped and changed a few times with his barrels in an attempt to rediscover his form that he had found initially after winning the World Cup with compatriot Damon Heta.
These barrels feature a similar scallop to his special edition darts that is wider and feature a multi ring grip.
The rest of the barrel is finished with some basic ring cuts and again feature a black coating and signature purple and yellow colour scheme.
The Whitlock 85% are available in 22, 24g Steel Tip and 20g Soft Tip.
22g Barrels: 50.8mm x 7.22mm
24g Barrels: 50.8mm x 7.45mm
The Simon Whitlock Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Darts are available to purchase here.
The Danny Noppert 85% although on the surface look similar to his 'Freeze Edition' darts, are probably the one dart in this range that is furthest from it's original counterpart.
The barrel features a longer tapered nose compared to the bull nose we see on Noppert's usual darts, the grip is also a wide square grip in comparison to a twin ring grip.
They do however still carry the black and white colour scheme of the freeze editions and still look like very usable darts.
The Danny Noppert 85% are available in 23g, 25g Steel Tip and 20g Soft Tip
23g Barrel: 50.8mm x 6.6mm
25g Barrel: 50.8mm x 7.16mm
The Danny Noppert Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Darts can be purchased here.
Daryl Gurney's 85% Tungsten Darts are very similar to his originals with the same grip and barrel shape, and in my opinion are the best looking barrels of the 85% tungsten range.
I think the main reason for this is the natural tungsten band in the center of the dart, the only dart from this range which features any natural tungsten. The rest of the barrel features the signature Daryl Gurney tapered nose and square cut grooves with red and blue paint at the rear.
The Daryl Gurney 85% Tungsten are available in 23, 25g Steel Tip and 20g Soft Tip
23g Barrel: 50.8mm x 6.6mm
25g Barrel: 50.8mm x 7.16mm
The Daryl Gurney Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Darts can be purchased here.
Another dart that's very similar to the original, the Florian Hempel 85% follow the same front-loaded and tapered barrel design from Hempel's original darts.
The grip at the front of the barrel is almost identical to that of the 90% tungsten variant with the real change being at the rear with a much more simple ring cut compared to the "triple axis milled" machining of the former professional handball player's original Winmau release.
Florian Hempel 85% Tungsten darts are available in 22, 24g Steel Tip and 20g Soft Tip
22g Barrel: 50.8mm x 6.6mm
24g Barrel: 50.8mm x 6.6m
The Florian Hempel Pro-Series 85% Tungsten Darts can be purchased here.
Overall these darts offer a nice and slightly more affordable alternative to the current range of 90% tungsten Winmau darts.
I think the real benefit of this release is the dimensions of the barrels, all of which being 50.8mm long. This means the MvG, Darrel Gurney and Florian Hempel darts are significantly shorter than their match darts. These three darts specifically keep the same style and grip, which may benefit some players looking for a shorter version of these player darts.
All darts are available at Premier Darts and can be bought with a 5% discount by using the code 'MD5' at checkout.
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