Metabo HPT 18V Cordless Pin Nailer Kit, 23-Ga, NP1835DA

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I was sent this gun as a promotion because of the poor performance I noted in my review of the previous generation 23ga nailer. The new version does away with the moveable shoe safety in favor of a new trigger safety. This is a great improvement! I believe that a shoe safety IS possible for a 23ga gun, but not with stamped steel and die cast parts. The tolerances of these tiny nails would necessitate the use of closely fitting, well machined parts. A fixed shoe and trigger safety is a great compromise and keeps this gun in a competitive price range. Depth of drive is adjusted by using the on-board hex key to loose the nose plate and make adjustments. It's a bit slow but once adjusted it'll likely not need to be changed unless you move from hard wood to soft wood. Overdriving can lead to a large mark from the drive blade in the wood surface, so do a few test shots. I found this gun to perform very well as long as you are realistic about its use. It will not sink 1-3/8” pins into solid oak, so don't ask it to. This gun excels at very small and fine work, like tacking small glass beads or other tiny trim details. If the pieces you are fastening are over 1/2” thick you may want to consider using an 18ga gun. Metabo HPT makes a great cordless 18ga gun! How about assembling cabinet carcasses? 1/2” or 3/4” plywood assembled with rabbets are easily built without assistance by using this gun to tack them together while clamps are prepared. This gun has many uses in the wood shop and on the job site. Prefinished cabinet trim is a great job site use as long as the pieces aren't very thick. This gun is likely to struggle with 3/4” maple crown, but it would work very well for thin scribe moldings. Be careful not to push on the gun too hard when shooting lest the nose leave a small dent in the wood. Though you must hold it firmly if you want the pins to sink completely. Another great use would be edge banding for plywood. 1/4” or 1/2” thick strips of hard wood can be easily and stealthily attached to plywood edges to make a nice finished look. Overall this gun does have limitations, but as long as you are aware of that fact and work within them, I believe it will serve you well.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I received the Metabo NP1835DAQ4 24 gauge pin nailer from Metabo to try out because I had such a horrible experience with the first model jamming every 5-10 pin nails. I have to say this new version is pretty good. They redesigned the whole firing system. You no longer have to press the tip of the nailer for the safety. There is a finger safety. The old one would leave depressions in the wood from having to depress the tip. The new nailer does not have a nail depth setting, it is auto setting. I have found when changing nail lengths to test fire 5-10 nails to get it to set the right depth. I have not had many nails that didn't sink. The light on the nail gun doesn't light up the spot you're nailing. That is the same as the old version. So far approximately 1500 pin nails with no jams using 3 different length pin nails it works very well.