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Grip Rite GRTFC83 30º Paper Tape Framing Nailer


KMF

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First off out of the box it feels really comfortable in the hand. The lightweight, durable magnesium housing makes the nailer feel well balances and much liter than most of the other framing nailers I have owned or used. As far as weight and balance it’s definitely a nailer that you can stand to frame all day with.

Pros

Weight

Balance

Selectable Trigger (bump fire and sequential fire}

Depth Adjustment (tool free)

Rafter Hook (also a con)

Dry Fire Lock Out

360 Degree Swivel Hose Attachment

3 Year Warranty (YOU WILL NEED IT!)

Cons

POOR QUALITY! (will go in to detail)

Jams a lot

Breaks a lot

No Clean Out (for jams)

Nails (don’t use Grip Rite nails)

Nails fall out of the Gun

Rubber Grip (seems cheap)

Leaks

Silver Finish (wears off very easy)

Rafter Hook (huge and bulky but narrow)

Conclusion

Lets start by saying I have four of these nailers and they all have the same problems. I don’t thing the Pros out weigh the Cons. The sad thing is I really like a lot about the guns but the build quality is just not there. If Grip Rite could the problems I would love the gun. They have been out to meet me a talk over the issues I am having and said that they are going to try to correct the issues on the new guns.

The first thing I would do if you do purchase one is take out the top three screws that hold the air discharge down and put some blue loc tite on them because the always work their way loose and fall out. I have lost quite a few. Also I would do the same to the four bigger screws that hold the top part of the gun on because they come loose and the guns start leaking out of the black gasket between the body and the top.

Next I wouldn’t shoot the Grip Rite nails through the gun. I have had so many jams especially with the 2 3/8” nails. The nails come in little plastic tubs of 1,000 nails and I was getting at least 2 jams per tub. When the gun jams there is no nail Clean-Out so the only way to get the jammed nail out is to drive the nail driver back and pry the nail out. When doing this use the widest and softest punch you can find because the rammers are very brittle and break easy. I have broken 6 by either the nails themselves jamming or trying to un-jam the gun. I have virtually eliminated this problem by switching to Senco nails. You can tell by just looking at the nails that the Senco’s are way better quality. I also like that the clips on the Senco nails are quite a bit longer with more nails per clip. They seem to cut the reloads in half.

The other things I don’t like are the Rafter Hook on the gun is way to big and bulky and always seems to be in the way. It does rotate down under the handle but I am not a fan. It also needs to be a little wider for my liking. Its tough for me to get it hooked and unhooked on truss. The one good thing it being so narrow is that is does hold nice with little sliding if you have to hang the gun on the sloped top cord on the trusses. The silver finish on the gun wears off really easy after one job my guns looked like they were a couple years old. This is not a huge deal t me because I buy my tools to use and don’t really care what they look like but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I have good luck with getting them serviced under the warranty but it’s a pain not having tools that work. That is one reason I have four guns though at least one of them is always in the shop. I originally bough two guns because the local lumber yard I by from had switched to carrying Grip Rite products. After all my troubles with the first two guns the owner of the yard gave me another so that I always had to guns to use while one was in for repair. Then I acquired another one because some of the Grip Rite reps came out to talk to me about the issues that I had be having with their guns and while they were there we had two guns jam and one break and the gave me a demo gun they had with them. So they seem at the least willing to listen to customers and take notes.

I probably wouldn’t buy again unless they redesign a few things.

I am more than happy to answer any and all questions so fire away.

Sorry it got a little long winded.

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