Target Adrian Lewis Gen 3 23g darts review

[Getagrip]

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDY1qpnfFFY

I got these when they first came out from Puredarts but they were cheaper then than they are now so not sure what happened as the price seems to be around £39.50 everywhere now, but when I bought them they were £37.79 delivered: Lewis Gen 3 23g darts

The darts are 90% tungsten and there is a 21 and 25 gram version too.

CONTENTS AND PACKAGING:

The darts come ready assembled in a slim cardboard box and are fitted with the Target Pro Grip short nylon stems and Jackpot Vision flights:

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PICS OF THE DARTS IN DETAIL:

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CLOSE UP PICS:

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As you can see the barrels are much the same style as the previous Gen 2 with a straight barrel ring grip design but the grooves on the Gen 2 I think were a little wider and on the Gen 3 the ring grip extends longer where as on the Gen 2 it had a thin cut ring grip near the rear.  The main difference on the Gen 3 is the addition on the Nano grip all along the barrel except for the small section near the nose and the very small bit at the stem end.  Grip level is on the whole a high medium but I think a lot depends on how your skin/fingerprints interact with the Nano grip, more on that later Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

DIMENSIONS:

Length:

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Width:

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Dimensions in detail:

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WEIGHT:

Two barrels were very closely matched and the third was nine hundredths of a gram heavier than the lightest:

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Weight of the full set up as supplied:

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BALANCE:

With nothing attached the barrels were surprisingly more front weighted than I was expecting:

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With the supplied set up the balance was central:

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Balance with my own medium, short and extra short nylon stems and standard flights:

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MY GRIP WITH THESE DARTS:

I was just using my natural front style grip:

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Darts landed in board pretty much in my usual angle:

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CONCLUSION:

Like I said in the Gen 2 review I was never a fan of the Lewis dart really, either Unicorn or previous Target models, it was a dart I tried a few times and never really took to it.  But I felt different towards the Lewis Gen 2 and don't know the exact reason why that seemed to work better but it could be that my throw has changed a lot in the last couple of years and also the dart was closer to my favoured length.

So when I seen these at the Target launch I was quite intrigued by the Nano grip and thought they looked really good so was looking forward to buying some.  Now the Nano grip is something I have tried before on the Ste Bunting darts and was a bit disappointed by it as it felt slippy to me and I thought it kind of spoilt that dart for me personally.  But as other people said they thought it was grippy I think it has something to do with the individuals skin that is to say the deepness of their finger print ridges and the levels of natural oils and moisture of their skin which much affect how their grip interacts with the Nano grip.

I think my fingerprints ridges are fairly deep and I don't think my hands are too sweaty or too dry so I think on the Bunting darts I may have been cancelling out the affect of the barrels grip, I don't know for sure?

But with these Gen 3 darts the Nano is kind of raised up a little on the curved rings so I felt the affect was more pronounced for me.  It kind of had a dry gritty feeling which I would say is a high medium grip and I quite like the feel of it.  At times it almost felt like a high level grip but I did find something curious recently which has made me think twice about it.

When my hands were a bit colder than normal the darts were feeling less grippy which is often a problem with cold hands anyway, but I felt the darts were acting like the Buntings did and were a bit on the slippy side at times.

Also after washing my hands and drying them I noticed my hands were dryer than normal as no doubt I washed away the natural oils, and throwing the darts with such dry hands was no good, they felt very slippy indeed.

So I think its a grip that will feel different to each individual but sadly I don't think it is worth chancing if your not sure about your grip, if you suffer with dry or cold hands then its certainly no good for you.

When my hands are of their normal temperature and levels of oil/moisture I find the grip is great though Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

As to the darts themselves I think because its a straight barrel it can suit any grip but I think the balance was a little better for a front gripper with these than the Gen 2 but overall I think I was just that little more consistent with the Gen 2 than I am with the Gen 3 so I think I prefer that version really.

I think the curved rings although making the Nano grip stick up a bit in the centre may have been grippier if they were squared edged and more sharply cut, also the point is a little short so I would change that for me personally but I guess Aidy likes a short point Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

Its a nicely made dart but not quite what I was hoping it to be, I do like the grip when its under the right conditions though Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

Summary Ratings:

Looks: 8 (looks a bit better than the Gen 2 I think)
Grip: 7.5 (seems to vary on a 1 to 10 Scale, 10 been severe grip)
Weight match: 7.5 (2 close 3rd a little off)
Quality: 9 (nice quality)
Value: 7.5 (price gone up a fair amount over Gen 2?)
Suitability for me: 7 (Flew well enough)

Best Feature: Grip (depends on certain conditions though) Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[Kev]

Going to view to video later but looks like an awesome review again Darren! Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

I had a set (swapped them for Monster Conquerors) and like you said they do feel quite slippy when throwing with cold hands (and mine are almost freezing lol), although I didn't really feel them slipping in my hand when throwing them. I was really liking them more and more the longer I used them, might get another set again later.

[Getagrip]

Cheers Kev, I changed my mind a few times about them, its a strange one really Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[SlingBlade]

Great review Darren. I have been using these for almost a month before I went to the Fitton Silica. I found the Gen3's to loose some of the micro feel a bit but not in a bad way. I think I just got more used to it. I did like the feel of the Gen 3's when my hands were warm. Oh and I swapped out the points on them to Storms

[Getagrip]

Thanks Tom!

Yeah Its strange as when my hands are right the grip feels good but other times its not so good, a bit of a weird one really Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[SlingBlade]

When I first threw them I thought they were coated. I still like the grip of them though. I also had to throw them from the mid section to get them landing straight

[The HeartBreaker]

I think it would have been a much beter dart if they got rid of the nano and roundness of the rings. Not a fan at all of the nano. Although i have a theory why the rings are curved. I got a good look at lewis' old worn down gen 2's / unicorns. Well it looks like they are so chipped and broken in that the rings are actually rounded over. I think thats what they were aiming for was to copy his old darts. I think harrows wayne mardles is a better alternative to this dart.

[Serial 7hriller]

I found the G3 slippy as well. Couldn't decide if it was the nano grip or the fact the edges are more rounded. I got on really well with the g2 but just couldn't love this model.

[Fred-180]

Great review as always Darren. seems some shops still list the 6.70mm width

[Getagrip]

Thanks guys, the 6.7mm may be for the 25g?

[Fred-180]

Thanks guys, the 6.7mm may be for the 25g?

Direct during their Launch, Target list this measurements Darren. We spoke about it direct why it was fatter than the gen2

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[Getagrip]

Strange how they made such a mistake, guess you cant even trust the makers stats, just as well we do such reviews with the right info then Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[0ldjoblo]

Really a nice looking dart ,,,, and another great review,,,, Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[Getagrip]

Cheers mate Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[pOLLEPAP]

Another great review; nice dart but I'll stick with me Fittons :-)