M18 Fuel Nailers

[Bremon]

Hey guys, I know we've had several threads on these 4 tools already and by the way things seem many a tear has been shed that they aren't what they could have been. In my quest to stick to one 18v platform I've been watching review after review trying to convince myself to just go with red, but they all seem to be similar reviews. They heap the praise on heavy but if you read between the lines you get the sense they aren't what they should have been. 

 

1) noses on the 16s and 15 seem to be too big (happens to the best of us).

 

2) the business end of the tool in general

is large and bulky, leading to not being able to get it into tight corners so great, which doesn't seem to matter a lot because:

 

3) angled firing doesn't seem to seat nails that well, certainly not consistently.

 

4)the gas cartridge mechanism/ actuator/ 'insert name here' looks to be built into the tool in front of the trigger leading to a decrease in usability at angles in the angle nailers themselves.

 

5)multiple sources mention the noticeable kickback of the unit. Yes, I know, it's a nailer, but Eric specifically mentions it having more than the Dewalt, and Dan agrees that it would be fatiguing for your arm. A thought that crossed my mind is, is there any reason a handle similar to the anti-vibration handles you see on SDS rotary hammers, etc. couldn't be incorporated into a tool like this to mitigate the kickback to the user a little?

 

6) the infamous thermal protection lock out. In my mind, as the dust settles this seems to be the least egregious misstep on this tool, and one I could live with, but when you look at performance that requires near-perfection from the operator, why choose this?

 

Most reviews seem to say "if you have these batteries, this is a no-brainer, it's grea etc., but looking at these nailers, and in comparison, the Dewalt DCN660, they all boast shooting a ton of fasteners off one 2.0 battery.

 

Zero ramp up time is a perk Milwaukee boasts, but watching reviews the ramp up on the Dewalt is extremely quick, and even the cheap Ryobi seems like an admirable performer.

 

Each of these nailers are $385-399 Canadian. A 2.0 battery is about $50. What is my motivation to stay with the M18, rather than expand into another system? Space wise, with a battery or two I wouldn't realistically even need another charger with me because I wouldn't foresee shooting enough nails.

 

Let me know your thoughts and user experiences with these nailers guys, I feel like these deserve a new thread now that the dust has settled and we aren't quite in denial like we may have been initially lol.