I bought this reconditioned, and I like both the saving, and the fact that someone looked over the tool. This winter I shot 10,000 plastic colated Hitachi nails through this gun without a single misfire. The company I worked with uses the Hitachi siding nailer, thats why the nailes were hitachi. And I bought a Bostitch nailer because it was both cheaper, and watching others with the Hitachi frustrated with jambing and misfires, helped me make my choice Bostitch N66C-1 1-1/4-inch to 2-1/2-inch Coil Siding Nailer with Magnesium Housing
I BOUGHT THIS PARTICULAR NAIL GUN FOR DOING CEDAR SHINGLE JOBS. ITS VERY LIGHT WEIGHT. VERY HELPFUL WHEN USING IT FOR 8 HRS A DAY FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN A ROW. I OWN OTHER BOSTITCH GUNS , NEVER HAVE ANY TROUBLE. PARTS ARE EASY TO GET IF NEEDED. NAILS FOR IT ARE AVILABLE ALMOST EVERYWHERE. PLUS ITS MADE IN U.S.A.
We use this gun for cedar siding, trim boards, and plywood sheeting for both roofs and sidewall sheeting. The gun is light, reliable, durable, and easy to repair if you do abuse it. We have replaced an aircap and a top seal (the gun took a nose dive off a 3 story victorian roof) That said we have enjoyed using it and would recommend it. Can't think of a down side so a 5 star buy. One note if your I would recommend the wire collated over the plastic collated ...we have had issues with the little plastic trails that hangs onto the nail and sticks out around the head. Wire seams to be cleaner.
I was a little disappointed with the firing of this gun. Like another user commented... the gun should be able to strictly single fire and STOP after a nail has been fired. I used this gun for cedar tongue and groove siding installation with premium 2" stainless steel coil nails. About 5-10% of the time the gun would fire 2 nails even when I tried my hardest to allow for a single fire. In addition, for me too, some of the wire from the nail coil would be driven into the wood. Not the worst thing because ultimately when done right with tongue and groove the nail would be covered up by the overlapping siding. But still somewhat concerning when spending close to $300 on a gun.
On the bright side, the gun is light and handles well. It seems to be build very solid. Overall I have been using my DeWalt 15 gage cordless finish nailer for over a year and that gun is awesome. This Bostitch is the first air powered gun I have purchased and I was hoping for the same predictability. Unfortunately you sometimes can't predict what's going to happen when you pull the trigger and I wish this wasn't the case.
Ok...ok...ok... I had to come back and edit my review. The Bostich N66C comes with 2 triggers. One is exactly for my issues listed above. It's stricktly a single shot trigger and will not allow the gun to fire twice. It is for more precise firing when speed and coverage is not the issue. As a result my review has gone from 3 to 4 stars. It's definitely a quality product.
I bought this gun to nail on fiber cement siding. I thought it was going to set all nails flush with the surface of the siding. Frankly, I couldn't see how this would be posible since the hardness of studs varies and some nails may hit knots. Also some will miss studs and just strike OSB. I installed the single shot trigger when I got it. Well when using it the nails all vary in in depth, some shoot part way through the siding and some don't go all the way in. I sometimes get doubles. What I had to do was set the pressure low enough so that most the nails shoot close to the surface of the siding and then finish them off with a hammer. Since it's my own house I don't mind the extra time as I think it makes for a tighter lap. It would be a different story if I were applying siding for a living. I own four other Bostich guns and I believe I could get just as good of results using a 2 1/2" nail in my stick framer. However, I believe the siding warranty is void if you use a clipped head nail. I used to own a Bostich coil framer and I'll bet one of those would do just as well as the N66. On the plus side the N66 is a lightweight, well made and easy to handle gun and doesn't require a large volume of air so your compressor doesn't run as much as with a larger gun. I gave it three stars because it was called a siding nailer but mine doesn't perform any differently than my other nailers. Maybe it's just mine but I have tried varying the air pressure and the depth adjustment and have never acheived any consistancy in depth control.
12/22/09 Gun is working like it should now. I'm sorry if I misled anyone, I should have read the directions. On one of the forums someone told me I needed more air pressure. I was afraid too much pressure might damage something and they are only 2" nails so I kept the pressure at about 80 psi. Well, after listening to advice on a forum and reading the manual I upped the pressure to 105 psi and adjusted the nail depth all the way up. To my suprise when I shot them they were all consistent in depth, about a 1/4" high. Then I adjusted the depth control down until they shot at the desired depth and now they are very consistent. I'm still getting an occasional double but considering considering price, warranty and everything else I believe it's a five star now.
A great gun - very light and easy to use. Had 2 misfires in over 1,000 nails on my first job with it. I was nailing 5/4 cedar into pressure treated doug fir timbers. Great timesaver and I'm anxious to try it on Hardi. FYI I used stainless steel nails from FastenerUSA - great quality/price.
Careful of the nose assembly, it will break/shear off if dropped just right.
This is my first review: I've decided that I need to contribute because I get so much from reading others. Thanks everyone!
I'm a professional carpenter and I bought the Bostitch n66c for most recent house that I'm building. After 20 square i've found that the gun is great. It has on;y miss fired a few times and usually because the coil is almost out. The air exhaust positioning is awsome, the balance great. The downside is that the gun is too light. i found that you have to push extra hard for the nails to seat at the depth that you have the gun adjusted for. My buddy has an older, heavier version of this gun by Bostitch and you really notice the differance. His gun feels like it'll last 10 years on a jobsite, drives the nails completly every shot and is also noticably quieter. I own 5 Bostitch nailers and I don't think that I'll ever buy another. The quality has declined severly over the years despite some good inovations on their products. My finish gun only lasted 3 years of moderate use and my roofing gun isn't even in the same league as my buddy's Max (which has never- really- double shot). If this gun was only $150 I'd expect the way it handled, but for $300, it needs to perform. - Siding Nailers - Bostitch - Nailer - Nailers'
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