I am a professional carpenter in California, where extensive use of metal framing connectors is standard practice in both commercial and residential construction. This nailer proved to be worth it's cost purely in time savings. When the cost (to a customer) for a carpenter is roughly $70/hour, time IS money. The nail gun drives one nail only when the nail tip is placed in a hole in a connector, making for accurate framing. The reliability of Hitachi tools is well known, so don't worry about that. The only drawbacks are that it will not fire all nails in the nail strip (jamming reducer), and that it doesn't always drive nails full depth into engineered lumber (heavy beams), although this is more likely a function of the compressor. Hitachi NR65AK Round Head 1-1/2-Inch to 2-1/2-Inch Positive Placement Nailer
A VERY LIGHT AND EASY TO USE TOOL, OUR COMPANY HAS 6 OF THESE GUNS AND FIND THEM WORTH HAVING. YOU CAN ALSO SHOOT PASLODE FASTNERS IF THE HITACHI NAIL IS HARD TO FIND IN YOUR AREA. THE HITACHI FASTNER DOES WORK BETTER DUE TO THE STRONGER PAPER STRIP.THE GUN IS LIGHT AND FITS IN TIGHT AREAS, UNLIKE THE PASLODE AND SENCO POSITIVE PLACEMENT GUNS. THE GUN CAN ALSO BE FITTED WITH A SAW HOOK AT THE BACK OF THE MAGAZINE.
This gun is a great investment if you do any framing on the west coast. It paid for itself in time saved on the first 2 story adition I did. For example: we counted 80 nails needed for Simpson hardware PER TRUSS in the new roof. That is a whole day of using a palm nailer- done in an hour with this gun. It has the power to shoot 2 1/2 inch nails into a paralam beam (Almost all the time) and has very little recoil. It loads easily, and my local lumber yard carries the proper nails. My only complaints are that it is very loud (but no more so than a palm nailer) and won't always fit in tight spaces for hardware like A35s.
Hitachi used to make great tools. Sadly, I find they are going down hill across the board, which is really disappointing.
When this worked for me, it was great, as per the other reviews. But it started malfunctioning, and the seals died, after about 2 years of light use. First gun I've had this happen with - on the other hand my Hitachi framing nailer (probably the best one ever built) has lasted through a decade with no problem.
I'm not sure if my problem was a one off. I'm sure it is something that never would have happened to Hitachi in the past, and meets with the talk out there that hitachi is going down hill. sad.
I called Toolcrib on 12/21 to order and was told they have no info on nails for this tool. How can they expect to sell the gun if they cannot supply bullets? They advised me to call Hitachi for a source. Pls advise me why nails are not on the net or in the Toolcrib catalog.RegardsJohn Brauer - Nail Gun - Bostitch - Framing Nailers - F21pl'
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