I posted this review over in the Hitachi MA2 version, a long standing favorite amongst the pros. I wanted to post it here as well considering it really is about the MA4. Here it is.
I've done/doing some professional woodworking and have a lifetime of experience. In air driven nailers I have Porter Cables upholstery stapler, their 23 gauge pin nailer, an 18 gauge, two of their 16 gauge nailers. I impulsively bought the Bostitch after reading the first page reviews, and then spent a couple of hours researching the Hitachi vs. the Bostitch. After comparing, this is what I found.
A lot of people are jumping on the Bostitch band wagon because it is the lightest at 3.8 pounds, it is dry as in no oil, and it has class leading 400 inch pounds of power. I was dazzled and bought right away. After digging deeper, I am refusing the Bostitch and getting the Hitachi. They both have the "durable composite magazine" (plastic) that holds the nails. The Hitachi with its aluminum housing only weighs .4 pounds more as in 4.2 instead of 3.8. That extra .4 is not going to make a difference. The oil issue is seemingly an advantage in that the Bostitch runs dry, but my other nailers are all oiled, and all I do is drive 2 or 3 nails into a piece of scrap to blow out the excess oil when first putting a couple of drops in the gun, and the rest of the time it is dry. Also the 400 pounds of torque is not an issue because the 15 gauge nailers have tons of power as compared to the 16 gauge, so much so that a small difference in power is irrelevant. When I borrowed a PC 15 gauge and first fired it, it went off with a POW instead of a pop like the 16. Substantially more power resulted in me being able to drive the nails into the tongue side of a 7/8" board deep enough that I didn't have to get out my center punch and tap it in the rest of the way; it drove deep and flush on the first try every time after setting it properly.
I am concerned about the many reviews that appear mostly all on the secondary pages on the Bostitch about having driver failure problems. Professionals who hit nails when driving a nail complain of having to go back and spend $35 to have the driver replaced every time they do. On the other hand the Hitachi has a ton of reviews many from deeply seasoned pro's that use it daily, for years, and never had a hiccup, other than an occasional, easily correctable nail jam. I'm using this right away on driving nails into crown moldings in a circa 1955 house with plaster walls, and the corners are all strengthened with lath wire so it is probable that I will be hitting metal more than just a few times. I don't want to worry about having to send it back to the shop to replace a driver every time I do.
This Hitachi NT65MA2 15 gauge has been updated twice. The 3 was out before in a lime green, and now the new item is the same model with a 4, as in NT65MA4. It has the same layout, but a slightly different look with the same industrial feel to it, and it is not lime green or gray, but silver. It appears that the main body is also a little bit larger.
The Bostitch is a fine tool but you will notice that the home hobbyist is praising it more and the pro's are booing it more. All you have to do is look down the review results and you will see the Bostitch has a wide spread review base with a liberal amount of 3's, 2's, and 1's as well as the 4's and 5's. The Hitachi is mostly 5's, and some 4's with no 3's, 2's, or 1's at all. That's quite a drastic difference. With reviews going all the way back to 2004 that is quite a lot of time for someone to hate the tool, and nobody does.
I wanted to say that the MA4 is only available at the time of writing this review through an Amazon merchant and not an Amazon in stock item, but I am sure Amazon will be picking it up directly soon. That was another decision I had to make. Do I buy the older tried and true, super reviewed MA2 model, or go for the newest version from Hitachi and get the MA4. After speaking to the rep he mentioned that it was the same industrial grade piece of equipment as the MA2 so I went for it. The body of the MA4 is even a little beefier.
Now onto the Hitachi and some of the things I love about it. First off it has an air blowing feature. You may think that is trivial, but it is a great feature that everyone is raving about. When I bought my Bosch jig saw it had an air blowing line that would remove the dust from where the blade meets the wood so you can see the line. After using lesser jig saws and not being able to see the line due to instant dust buildup, that was quite an improvement, so I am partial to air blowing capabilities. Even though with a nailer you don't wind up with the same problem, this thing has an air blower that is so strong that you can clean off a large workbench in only a few seconds; it comes in handy. It also has an interesting air input connection that is configured so you can keep the air line out of the way, and suspended in air so it is not so likely to bump into things. The Hitachi also has the continuous firing option whereas the Bostitch has the single firing option only. With continuous firing you can squeeze the trigger, and as fast as you plunge the head into the workpiece it fires repeatedly. You may have seen this feature on guns that are used to place tar paper on the side of buildings. Once up on the ladder they spread out a sheet, and pow, pow, pow. None of this stuff of positioning the gun, depress the nose, and then fire. That is great when you are doing precision work, but when you have larger areas that require multiple shots the multiple fire feature is great.
Nail availability. The Bostitch is the odd man out when it comes to nails in the industry; they only accept Bostitch nails. So Bostitch is proprietary forcing you to buy their nails. The Hitachi accepts the popular standard size from other manufacturers so when you are in the middle of a job you can access them locally, and not have to worry about overstocking everything all of the time. I normally would still prefer to use Hitachi nails in the Hitachi gun just in case but when viewing the ads for B&C Eagle nails they state, "Fits Senco, Hitachi, PC, Rigid, Milwaukee, Makita, Craftsman, Dewalt, and most other 15 gauge angled finish nailers." So you can see that you will never be stuck finding a compatible nail for the Hitachi 15 gauge nailer.
Overall the Bostitch is not a bad gun, but it appears that jams are more frequent after some use, and of course when they occur they bend over and mar the wood. Maybe this feature of having more power may be the reason why the driver gets broken. Combining that with a no oil environment may be the culprit.
I've also seen some pretty high priced Hitachi equipment, and with the discount I was able to purchase it for a price super close to the Bostitch. Bostitch is a good name, but in this case, I like the Hitachi better. Hitachi includes a nice case, and even a pair of safety glasses; nice touch. I just wish they included a small bottle of the oil. Maybe they didn't want to deal with the oil spill creating a mess problems. Oh well, no biggie. The bottom line to me is ease of use with multiple nail driving options and reliability.
Hitachi NT65MA4 15 Gauge Angle Finish Nailer'
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