DecisionalReview.info

Excellent tool - better balanced and weighs less than its predecessors

I’m not afraid to spend money on a good tool if it helps me do a better job, saves me time, and saves be from a sore arm at the end of the week from pounding thousands of nails. This nail gun is easily one of the more expensive in my garage. While finishing, framing, coil-siding, & coil-roofing nailers seemed to be a given I hesitated on buying a cap nailer thinking I wouldn’t mind pounding a few caps in by hand. I found a good deal on a used 1st generation Hitachi Plasti-Cap NV50AP nailer and never regretted it!!! I have to say the balance of the 1st & 2d generation tools are awkward. You have to fight the cap magazine to keep the tool level on your surface. It looks like the cap magazine was added to the side of an existing tool design which throws the balance off. The tool wants to roll over on its side while it’s in your hand. I recently purchased one of the 3rd generation NV50AP3 nailers and this is definitely the tool to buy. It weighs significantly less and the nail and cap magazines are better designed to minimize the overall profile of the gun while maintaining almost perfect balance. I have put several thousand cap nails through both of these guns and my comment on jams and mis-feeds is simple… take care not to damage or bend your nails and cap rolls and you shouldn’t have any problems. I have only used the Hitachi brand caps/nails and can’t comment on the generic brands out there. If you have a coil of nails that looks like someone stepped on it or tossed in the tool trailer under a pile of who knows what you’re going to have problems. Anyone with coil nails should know this but I’ve seen some people who just don’t understand why they have so many mis-feeds and blame the gun. Even if you only think you will use this tool one time BUY IT and sell it off when you’re finished. You’ll save lots of time, have a much easier time nailing down that felt or house wrap in the wind (been there) and your arm won’t hate you.

Update (2/6/2012): I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Hitachi NV50AP3 1-1/4-Inch to 2-Inch Cap Nailer Tools & Hardware, was written by K. Wright.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.