Just finished laying 42 sq with this gun, and I have nothing but praise. Well balanced and one of the lightest guns I have ever used. In 42 sq, one jam and about dozen nails left proud. Standard home store nails work very well in this gun and are easy and cheap to find. The tool-less depth of drive works just fine and the side-loading feature is great, very fast and easy. When it is out of nails, you know it, it will stop firing.
Yes, this is a contact "bump" nailer, and if you are getting double and triple misfires, you are using this gun WRONG. If you are laying shingles all day long and you have to pull the trigger on every nail, your finger will fall off. Put your shingle down, pull the trigger, and shoot four nails, next. That is the beauty of a contact nailer. On that note, BE CAREFULL, after a long run out, your finger has a tendency to stay on the trigger, if you were to then bump any part of your body at this point, you too will get nailed.
The Cons: Superficial really, come on Bostitch (and other mfg's), Give us a cheap plastic molded case for our expensive tools and would it have been so hard to have installed an air nipple at the factory, save me a trip to the hardware store. Bostitch RN46 3/4-Inch to 1-3/4-Inch Coil Roofing Nailer
I'm really surprised with the first review of this gun. I had a buddy buy one, it gave him problems, he exchanged it the next day and his second gun has been flawless. I chalk it up to it being a new product on the market and to some of the initial guns having production glitches. As for my experiences with it? I was considering the Hitachi Ultra-Light intially. I had been waiting for Bostitch to produce the rumored "lighter" gun too. Just before I went to get the Hitachi (which I kind of put off for a while because I heard that they just did'nt take a beating like their heavier standard guns did), the Bostitch finally came out and I got it. After over 20 years of roofing, I managed to do something I have'nt done in a long time. I surprised myself. I actually laid out shingles even faster than I normally do. I was going through coils so quickly that I thought my helper was'nt bringing me up what I needed. It's amazing even for a seasoned roofer, this gun is just balanced so rightly. I had the model before this one (the RN45B-1) and still do. It too is a workhorse and bulletproof. As with any tool, keep it clean and it'll run forever. I believe it is the 2nd lightest gun on the market (behind the Hitachi), but I'll give up that extra pound of weight for performance anyday. It's fast and it keeps up with me. It also makes it easy to place the nails in the proper nailing area on the shingle (anybody can be fast, but being fast and placing the nails where they belong distinguishes a roofer). I had no problems with my other Bostitch; I just wanted the newest gun on the market and I'm happy I got it. I highly reccomend it. In one run, I knocked out 4 squares with a 30 foot valley to contend with in 23 minutes and did'nt even realize it. It's that quick.Despite it's weight, it feels solid. And a nice trick, when laying down felt, hold it down and it shoots off nails like a machine gun. You drag the gun across the felt and it fires them off at equal intervals depending on how fast your dragging the gun. In less than a second, I nail down a 6 to 7 linear foot line that secures my paper and let's me get to shingling. The nail lockout feature saves shingles and the see-thru coil canister is a must when your changing coils on a basis of one every couple of minutes or so. I've used other guns and for me there is no excuse for poor performance. There is nothing more frustrating than having to stop "hummin'" just to clear out a gun. When you make a living laying shingles, you have to have the best. Just like anything in life, accessorize it right (in other words, use only brand name coil nails) and you should'nt have any problems. This gun takes your skill and multiplies it. This, for me, is The Best.
I purchased the nail gun about three weeks ago. I am a foreman on a flat roofing crew who shingles on the weekends and on a few jobs that shingles are required. Last weekend I used the gun to shingle a 18sq ranch and was very enthused about how the gun ran. The gun never skipped, misfired, or jammed. I then took it to work to finish a shingle job on a 62sq roof. I dont like to use my own personal equipment on company time, but the way that the gun performed I knew that it would make the job that much easier. The light weight of the gun made the accuracy phenomenal and effortlessly quick. I had one jam while doing the ridge vent, which was easily fixed in 5 sec. The gun never had any other problem. This gun made shingling a joy.
My boss has 5-6 Hitachi roofing guns and I always thought they worked fine; didn't have to pound down hardly any nails. Then for a side job, part of my compensation was a new roofing nailer. In asking around everyone said to either go with Hitachi or Bostitch. Having already been using the Hitachi's I decided to try the Bostitch. What an awesome roofing nailer!! Blows the Hitachi's away. The single door side load canister is far easier and faster to load than the Hitachi's 2-door canister (side load for the nail feed, bottom load for the coil). Also I work in Minnesota and when the temp dropped to single digits every one of the Hitachi's started dry firing constantly and I ended up going and grabbing the Bostitch, which hasn't dry fired once (I would rather not have to use my own tools on my employers jobs, but the Hitachi's are junk in cold weather- they work fine when the weather is warmer)
I looked at this gun based on the journal of light constuction reviews I read july 06 issue. They liked the last nail capture feature and I must admit that this was my only complaint with my porter cable gun. So I bought one localy (same price as amazon with a case so it made up for the tax) and have done 3 roofs of about 20 squares each and really like it. I have seen lots of fusing on here about this and that but I muat say that if a tool was giving me this much fuse I would bring it in and see what the repair shop says. When I have had problems in the past our local reapir shop was able to get us a new gun, drill, or exstend our warranty with factory approval. I guess the second question is how much do you beat on your tools?...I tether not only my ladders and my self but my espensive tools too....nothing screws with a gun more than a three story drop. Well enough rambling...for the money an excellent gun...I still use my porter cable for a spare gun when we have an extra guy on the roof so I can't really bad mouth them...but if your banging out 5 or 6 squares a day by yourself 30 plus coils with our 12 pitch roof you appreciate the nail capture, easy load, and weight of this gun.
update: after a year this gun needed a rebuild because the nailes stopped advancing...and we bought the new portable cable while waiting for it to came back from the shop...we still prefer the Bos for its features but I will say the porter cables are more durable .... - B000f3i5zy - Roofing Nailer - Bostitch Nail Gun'
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