Metallics 6 x 17/8 in. Bugle Head Phillips Drywall Screws - Steel Zinc - Fine Threads - Each, 100 Pack

These are self-drilling and tapping screws with a drill point, so they bore their own hole in light gauge steel without a pilot. Metallics lists the application range as wood, drywall, steel and aluminum, and calls out electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning work. The fine 18 threads per inch is the metal-stud thread pitch; coarse thread is what you want if you are hanging board on wood studs only.

No. The JSDS5C is neither Buy American compliant nor ARRA compliant, and its country of origin is listed as multiple. If your project carries a domestic sourcing clause, this screw will not satisfy it and you will need a domestically produced fastener.

Fine thread, as on the JSDS5C at 18 threads per inch in a UNF pitch, is for driving into metal, primarily light gauge steel studs and channel. The tighter pitch grips thin steel and resists stripping. Coarse thread has the deeper, wider bite that wood needs. Put a fine thread screw into a wood stud and it spins without holding; put a coarse thread into a steel stud and it strips the hole out.

A #2 Phillips bit. The recess is 0.106 inch deep and 0.176 to 0.201 inch across, which is standard #2 geometry, so a worn or #1 bit will cam out and chew the recess before the bugle head seats.

That is what the bugle head is for. The head measures 0.315 to 0.347 inch across with a head height of only 0.020 to 0.031 inch, so the curved underside dimples the paper face and pulls just below the surface without tearing through it. Set your driver clutch to stop at that dimple, then skim it.

They run Rockwell C44 out of AISI 1018 steel, which is a case hardened fastener rather than a soft carbon screw. That is the hardness range that lets the drill point cut light gauge steel. It also means the screw is brittle in bending, so drive it straight, and do not use it as a structural or shear fastener.

Zinc plating over steel gives these screws light corrosion resistance for dry interior work, which covers most drywall, electrical and mechanical rough-in. It is not a coating for exterior use, wet locations, or treated lumber. For a damp room or anything that will see standing moisture, spec a stainless or ceramic coated fastener instead.

They ship in a jar of 100, and 100 is the order minimum, so the jar is the smallest unit you can take. The packed jar weighs 0.61 lbs. Metallics does make other sizes and quantities available by request if 100 of this length is not the count you need.