We’ve been using the 18 gauge nailer for almost a month now and we just received the 16 gauge nailer about a week ago. In this review I’ll tell you a little bit about them and then will get right into what we found in using them on the job. 

As you can see from the picture they look great, they made a 18g, 16g straight and angled and a 15g angled. 

Now for ramp up time it’s pretty much just pushing it up against the material and pulling the trigger, Milwaukee made this work flawlessly.

On the bottom there’s a button you hold to turn on the power, 2 green lights will come on. When you hit the button again it goes into bump fire mode. 

They run off straight battery power, no gas needed to fire. They sport a brushless motor which provides longer battery life and longer motor life. 

Here’s the pros

– They fire instantly when you pull the trigger

– They look great   

– Belt clip is in a good place, it distributes the weight so your pants aren’t being pulled down

– They’re nicely balanced

– They have a nice feel, good grip and just fits my hands properly

– Great battery life

Now the cons

– The nail hole is twice the size of the nail head

– There is some recoil, it’s not terrible with the 18g but you do feel it more with the 16g

– The 18g needs to be flat to fire as soon as it’s on a angle it usually won’t fire. They 16g isn’t so bad

– The depth gauge isn’t as touchy as it should be

So working with a paint grade trims or materials if you use DAP like we do the bigger holes aren’t a problem. But for someone doing hard wood or stained grades you want the smallest holes possible.

Now with the angle shooting supposedly Milwaukee is coming out with a bigger safety bumper to fix this problem. Some guys did have problems with the nailers not sinking the longest nails they could take. We never had that problem. But I do have to say that the user must hold the gun firmly and not have a gentle hand with it. It’s sort of like firing a hand gun you need to hold it solid and firmly, but not a death grip. 

Overall they aren’t the worst guns, you have to remember this is their first shot at making a cordless nailer. But with other companies lacking on getting newer brushless models out Milwaukee could have totally capitalized on the opportunity and have had untouchable nailers. The shell and the idea is there, but there are a couple flaws that just don’t make it appealing to a lot of tradesman.  

Our recommendation is if your really interested in trying this gun out, go to a store were you can return it without a hassle. Give it a try and who knows you might like it. We really don’t mind it for paint grade. The 16g with 2 1/2″ nails is great for temporarily tacking door jambs well you shim them. 
There is a bit of a learning curve but it’s able to get the job done.