Which Nail Gun to Buy

Which gauge? 15, 16, 18, 23? Battery? Pneumatic? There are so many choices to picking a nail gun! This video explain it all and shows you several tips to get better performance out of them!

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Type of finish nailers available

There are four main gauges (nail sizes, each gun only shoots one size) available. 15, 16, 18, and 23.

15 and 16 gauge are best suited for trim work. Installing baseboard, casing, crown moulding, exterior trim, etc… the main difference is 16 gauge has a straight magazine and has straight nails. 15 gauge guns are slightly larger but have an angled magazine and the nails are glued at an angle, this makes getting into corners easier. Available nail sizes 1” to 2.5”

The 18 gauge nailers are called brad nails, don’t ask me why - but tell me if you know! They’re smaller than the trim nailers (nails get smaller as the gauge goes up). But the size range available is 5/8” to 2”. That’s why you see the brad nailer in many wood shops. It has a head so there’s some holding power, but the lengths available make it very versatile for all kinds of furniture or woodworking pieces. In construction, it’s used for installing smaller trim pieces like stops, shoe, and quarter round.

The smallest available is the 23 gauge, or pin nailer. That nickname is a little easier to understand. Pin nails are headless and tiny! This makes them perfect for delicate work, they’re so small they often don’t even need to have the holes puttied over because they just disappear. But.. they also don’t have much strength, so be sure to use glue.

Pneumatic vs. Battery

Battery tech has made leaps and bounds in the past several years and nailers have been swept up too. The upsides to battery nailers are they don’t need a compressor, they work anywhere in the world you have a charged battery, and there’s no hose hooked to it to get caught up on stuff and drag around.

The downsides are they tend to be heavier, bigger, slower, and louder (not considering the compressor) than pneumatics.

Pneumatics are basically the exact opposite of battery. They’re faster, lighter, and quieter. But… they required a compressor or tank of air and are tied to that hose.