Metallics DWS3M 6 x 1-1/4 in. Bugle Head Phillips Drywall Screws - Steel Black Phosphate - Fine Threads - Each

No. Metallics lists the DWS3M as not Buy American compliant and not ARRA compliant, with multiple countries of origin. On federally funded work with domestic sourcing requirements, you'll need a domestically produced fastener.

A #2 Phillips. The head is a bugle with a Phillips recess, Metallics specifies a #2 driver size, and a #2 drive power bit ships with the jar, so you don't need to source one separately.

The DWS3M is packaged in a jar of 1,000 screws, and 1,000 is the order minimum, so it sells by the full jar rather than by the piece. The filled jar weighs 3.75 lbs. Metallics does offer other sizes and quantities in the DWS series by request.

That is what the bugle profile is for. The DWS3M head measures 0.315 to 0.347 in. across with a head height of only 0.020 to 0.031 in., so the tapered underside compresses the paper and seats just below the surface instead of cutting through it. Run a drywall screw setter or a clutched driver so you stop at the right depth.

No. Black phosphate is a dry interior finish only, meant to resist handling corrosion and take joint compound well. For exterior sheathing, soffits, or anywhere exposed to moisture, use a coated or galvanized exterior screw instead of the DWS3M.

They are heat treated to Rockwell C44 and made from AISI 1018 steel, which is the hardness range a drywall screw needs to thread its own hole into light gauge steel without the Phillips recess stripping or the shank shearing. The sharp point self-pierces light gauge; heavier structural steel calls for a self-drilling point instead.

Within limits, yes. Metallics rates the DWS3M for hardwood, light gauge steel and light gauge aluminum, so it will pull two pieces of light gauge together. But the bugle head is designed to countersink into paper, not to bear on steel, and the sharp point will not start in thicker material. For track-to-track connections most contractors use a pan or hex washer head self-drilling screw.

No single industry standard exists for bugle head drywall screw dimensions. Metallics publishes the head width at 0.315 to 0.347 in., head height 0.020 to 0.031 in., Phillips recess diameter 0.176 to 0.201 in. and recess depth 0.106 in. as a guide, and notes slight deviations are acceptable. Useful if you are matching an existing fastener, but don't treat them as a spec to reject a lot against.