The way people load nail guns at the job site drives me nuts

I was framing a shed out in Oakley last Tuesday and this kid kept loading his 21-degree gun backwards. The collation was facing the wrong way so nails would jam every 5 shots. He swore it worked fine until I showed him the plastic strip had to face the mag. How do you figure out which way is right without someone telling you?

2 comments

2 Comments

susana6626d ago

That's a pretty common mix-up honestly. After I switched from corded to battery nailers a few years back, I had to completely re-learn how to load them. The first time I loaded a 21-degree gun wrong, jamming every third nail until a coworker pointed out the angle of the plastic strip. What finally helped me was just looking at the magazine's feed path and making sure the collation followed that curve. It's a small thing but makes a big difference once you see it.

kevin_dixon26d ago

3-1/4 inch framing nails with 21 degree strips are different than 28 or 30 degree coils, that's the real issue. Half the guys on my crew run 30 degree guns and they slap the strip in without looking, never jam. The angle on 21 degree strips is so slight that if you're off by even a little the plastic collation gets chewed up. Honestly if you need to study the feed path every time you reload, maybe the tool design is the problem, not the user.