Side by Side Comparison of: Hitachi vs Senco

Very nice finish nailer for a reasonable price. Used this for a flooring project. Worked perfectly. Not a single jam, or failure to feed. Its light, but its powerful. It is a bit loud, but nailers generally are not quiet. Well worth the investment if you need a finish nailer.

I wanted a power upgrade from my 18 gauge Bostitch since the smaller diameter nails often bent wildly in thicker wood products. This unit is easy to use and adjust. It really powers the nails into the wood and has performed very nicely during the limited use I have had so far for 1-1/2 and 2 inch nails. I have not had occasion to use the air blow feature, but it worked during test. I certainly would recommend this unit.

This purchase was to replace my PC finish nail gun. The repair parts for the PC gun was half the cost of this Hitachi finish nailer so it was a no brainer to just replace it. Hitachi nail guns are well built and reliable, my Hitachi framing gun is 25+ yrs. old and it still works. Hope this finish nailer will last as long. Like the dust blowing feature.

Love this nailer.This is my second nailer, in my lifetime. First nail gun was generic and I used to put a roof on my house (if you wonder why roofs are expensive= because it's brutal work and very dangerous. Leave it to the professionals. I have put on a couple roofs in my career and I will gladly pay for it now.) Sorry, I digress.I used this nailer to build boxes for a work project. It worked so well, I bought an 18 gauge Hitachi to do the finish trim work on the project.I am a Dewalt man through and through. I bleed black and yellow, you can tell by my garage, but the price and quality of the product won me over. Still holding on to my Dewalt tools, but I am looking at other foreign options now.The only con I had is loading the nails. If you push the nails in and hit the release to load 1.5" nails in, it will jam every time. I tried it with a few different sizes and it did it every time.The fix:1) Use the loader button to pull down the clip to prepare the nailer for more nails.2) Load the nails into the magazine3) Hold the trigger down that pushes the nails into the gun, but don't let it push them up yet.( that's when it jams)4) Hold the release button and the loader button at the same time.5) Point the gun down towards the floor and make sure the nails are completely in the magazine6) Slowly raise the nails up into the magazine and make sure they seat correctly toward the front of the gun.After a couple magazines, you will get the hang of it. Slowly drop the nails in, and line them up correctly and no issues.The gun works great after you get the hang of it. Make sure to put two drops of pneumatic oil before using the gun. (Pneumatic oil goes in the same hole were you attach the air hose.)

This is a work of art. Too bad I bought one just before the 18v cordless LiOn revolution happened. I can't imagine trying to hassle with a compressor and hoses and all the proper water filters and oilers necessary to keep this tool humming, but still I'm happy I own it.

i love these guns! the air duster is genius. powerful, consistent, and never jams (so far). i've been trimming houses everyday with this gun since i got it a few months ago and have easily run a couple thousand nails through it already. only cons are: hitachi really fell short of making the perfect nailer by not including a belt hook on the gun like all other big name nailer manufacturers do these days, and the non-marring plastic tip that comes with it is a little bulky. when you need to shoot a nail right in a corner or on a significant angle, it holds the driver nose too far away from the material causing the gun to fire an unset nail. i will have to take the time one day to either tool dip the safety for a more form fitting, low profile, non-marring safety; or get some appropriate sized rubber tubing to put on the safety. other than those two things, there is nothing that i don't like about this gun. only other improvement that could be made, is for it to have a shorter head, like senco 15ga nailers have. i have already had to temporarily trade my hitachi with a coworker's senco to nail down the top shelves in a few closets and pantries.

I'm a hardwood floor guy and put 4000 nails through this gun day 1 on a topnailed oak floor. Love it so far Great Gun!!!

A really great finish nailer. I have always liked the Sencos for finish and brad nailers- quiet and precise and last for a very long time (This one replaces one I have had for over 10 years- and I lost it, it didn't break). My only complaint about the item is the relatively large size which makes it hard to maneuver into some corners but it's a minor issue and other brands are not any smaller. Perhaps I need to buy a palm nailer...

Nice lightweight nail gun and Senco quality wrapped up in one. Depth adjust simple and easy to access. Oilless so you don't have oil flying onto expensive hardwoods. Bump trigger or pull trigger, can be used either way. Can't say enough about it, if you are looking at it, just buy it, don't even think twice. You will not be disappointed. Just remember its oilless, don't even think about reaching for that bottle of oil! If you do, there is a warning label at the fitting area to give you one last chance not to mess up.

My first Senco 15 gauge finish nailer recently stopped working after 18 years. I almost went for a rebuild kit but decided I might be better off updating to the newest technology. I'm glad I did. The new tool is lighter, handles longer nails (2-1/2" instead of 2") and has a mechanism for adjusting countersink depth. It's also compatible with my existing supply of Senco 15 gauge finish nails so I didnt have go out and buy all new nails. I'm very happy with the purchase.

Gun is awsome... I'm happy i made the purchase investment...

My only complaint and tiny at that.. is that this gun fires 34 degree nails only...

It should be mentioned in the listing by Amazon and put on the main page at Senco's site and not on a technical page...

Other then that... I just find excuses to use it... I've shot 1-1/2 and 2" nails both bright and galvanized into pine, oak, yellow cedar, birdseye and sugar maple, and cherry...

Nose guard stays on and i'm 2000+ nails into the original piece.

Lightweight pneumatic nail gun; perfect size and comfortable for what I need to use it for to re do some of the finish work around the house. Very pleased with this purchase for the price. I've owned several Hitachi tools over the years and have never had any problems with them.

The product description on Amazon states that the Hitachi NT65M2S is "oil free". This is incorrect. The nail gun needs to be oiled according to the instruction manual. I also contacted Hitachi support and they confirmed that yes it has to be oiled. I have not used the nailer yet because I was waiting on clarification about the oil. I expect the tool to work well. So just follow the directions in the manual.

Nail gun was DOA - hooked everything up. Carefully read instructions. Loaded it with nails for a bird feeder I was building and thud - the piston shot out of it and stuck about the 10th nail. The pressure was set to 100 psi on regulator (and other guns I own work great). Now I'm past 30 day Amazon return window so I get to deal directly with manufacturer. I'll revise rating up or down depending upon results of that. Learned a valuable lesson - always test as soon as it's delivered so Amazon can deal with the return.UPDATE: All seems to be good. Here is what I found out: I was using both SENCO and BOSTICH nails. The Bostich were 2" 15 GA, but were the ones that were jamming and the piston shot out. Why? I finally discovered a part of the nail had broken off and stuck in the nailer causing the piston to drive up and over. Once clear, I tried the Senco 2.5 15 GA nails. Bang, bang, bang, it worked great. So went bac to the Bostich nails - bang, thud, piston, broken nail. Hmmmm. Bad nails? I doubt it, but here is conclusion I've come to: don't use the Bostich brand nails on Hitachi nailer. I will stick with Hitachi or Senco nails I guess.

Bought 4 as these are simply the best finish guns and we use them daily installing wood flooring and trim. Only had a problem with 1 gun, will not fire at all, definitely a internal problem, but for the price not a problem and still a very good deal as these guns will last forever, only bought new do to new employees and not enough but we have 10 of these guns and use 9 of them daily and work perfectly. Will definitely buy more if or when these ever break down. Recommended for sure.

While I could rate it excellent, which it is, I cannot ignore the fact that Hitachi sells this tool with no sample lubricant. I am a DIY homeowner and I have very little use for the tool. An ounce of lubricant is enough to get me going. I was in a tight time table and had to order the lubricant. An ounce of the stuff would take 8 to 10 days. I ordered a quart of it at Amazon to be delivered in 3 days. I reminded this fact to Hitachi and they kindly provided another 16 ounce container of lubricant! No I have enough lubricant for three life times!

the obvious differences between the Hitachi NT65MA4 and the more expensive NT65MA2 escaped me - so I just went with the MA4...ignorance is bliss as they say. The more obvious difference I found between the NT65MA4 & the newer designation model NT65MA4(S)- which is the one I just received,is that the MA4(S)comes equipped with a non-slip elastomer grip trigger aswell with a flip actuation switch that allows for either sequential or contact nailing.Originally, I purchased Porter Cable 23 & 18 nailers, so when my toy budget allowed for, I decided to skip the 16 gauge altogether and just go for the 15 gauge Hitachi....unfortunately the hole this 15 gauge nailer leaves in my present stock is just a tad large for the job..but I love the gun...so I just need to make room in budget for the Paslode 16 gauge angle nailer.

Great birthday gift for my husband.

Quality product, initially felt a little less firm as the previous one, which was more metal (much heavier/bulkier). 4k nails so far, no jams.

Used it for a small patch of sidings on my house. It worked fine. I'm not a professional user. The front latch to get out a jammed nail is pratical. It didn't jam that much (twice at the end of the nail strip) and I'm not using senco nails, so seems fine to me.

The same gun costs in EU around 500 euro, even with shipping and tax this was a cheaper buy. Ok warranty wouldn't be that easy, but buying a type and mark that is sold in the EU as well, would mean that repairs to the gun are possible.

The plastic box is a bit bulky but for a DIY user it's nice to have something to store it in.

not as good as the SN40 that was stolen, but still a good nailer, better than other brands I have used.

This is one of the best finish nailers out there. Performance seems to be flawless. I only gave it 4 stars because the tool case is ridiculously larger than the nailer itself. Any other comparable nailer that I own or have seen the case is 1/2 the size. When you carry 20+ power tools to a job site space is critical.

I have one of the original, made in Japan, models of this nailer and love it. This one however seems to be about twice as loud and consequently I sent it back. Works fine but is excessively loud even with ear plugs.

I'm not happy about the depth it sets nails. Set at deepest setting and still getting shiners fairly regularly.As I use this gun for a living, I'm not too crazy about having to carry my nail set around all the time.

A little bit of the rust on it!!!

Seems to work fine. Didn't have a nose piece. A little loud.

good product, but it took almost 2 weeks for delivery time

Unfortunately, I need a nail gun that takes short nails, and the Hitachi NT65MA4 is supposed to accommodate the smaller nails. But for some reason I get a lot of misfires with it. and occasionally, sparks shoot out when the firing pin that drives the nail out of the gun, hits the nail. I haven't tried it with longer nails, but I'm guessing the misfires are primarily because of the short nails. Another problem I had was that the firing pin wouldn't retract for a second shot. I would place it on a hard surface a push down on the gun, causing it to retract so it was level with the edge of the nail gun. I would attempt to nail with it, but would only dry fire, but the pin would at this point retract back to its original position. Then the next round would fire, but the pin would not retract again. This went on for several tries, before I remembered a similar comment made by a previous purchaser that wrote a review. His solution was to make sure before you use the gun that the firing pin end of the nail gun should be oiled before using it, even though there is nothing in the instructions about doing so. I sprayed WD-40 on the action, held it up side down so it would flow into the system, and then tried it again. After a couple of dry fires, it started to work again without the pin staying extended. I used it for about another 50 or so nails, without any further problems with the firing pin, but I still experienced about 10% misfires. I have no idea as to what causes this or how to resolve this problem. Are the nails not sliding down the track to where the firing pin can push them out, or what? Other than this problem, it looks like it's well biult, I have other Hitachi products that I like very much, so I don't know why this has problems. I have two other nail guns, made by other companies, which I've owned for several years, and never had any problems from day one. All I do is make sure I oil the air chamber before each use.

Love my senco finish nailer for so many different things. Shoots great mine doesn't really jam, the rubber tips do tend to fall off all these sencos and this one doesn't have the option to be an air nozzle either, so if you need that then get a different gun.

I have been a finish carpenter for many years and have always used senco nailers. They have always been great products but the last few models seem to be declining in quality. The 35 was a joke but the 40 kinda made up for it and now with the 42 it's starting to go the wrong way again. We've had a few things break on this gun already within a year. I guess you can say you get what you pay for. Senco nailers use to cost $400+ and now they are a third of that. What can you expect.

Not as good as Hitachi.

I have been considering this Senco gun. This spring, Senco filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sold off almost all of it's assets. My local tool repair facility told me they are having a very tough time getting parts now and was not confident about the future. Too bad , they made good tools. So just beware. If you purchase a Senco there's no assurance that parts will be available. Many of the more consumer-oriented and Chineese/Taiwanese import brands have very short-lived parts availability. They are meant to be used by homeowners until they break then thrown in landfills. It remains to be seen what happens to Senco long-term. If anyone has updated info, please respond to this.

Missfires more often than I would like. Also mars the hell out of the wood when it does and requires spackle to fix up.

Pretty disappointed. This finish nailer has consistently misfired since first use. I have done all the typical fixes for this issue but none have worked. I will have to contact the Manufacturer to see if they can fix the issue.

It was returned .

The nail makes a large indent in the wood

I bought this to help us install a 3/4" hardwood flooring remodel project on our house using pre-finished stained hickory. Although we used only Hitachi nails, oiled it per instructions and increased the recommended pressure on our large air compressor from minimum to maximum it still consistently damaged the top of the floors with misfires." Nails that collapsed on top of your floor or jam in the gun". We have spent a lot of time fixing the damage it did to our floors. Bottom line is I love a lot of Hitachi products but this gun needs to be reengineered.Hope this helps.

I have been a finish carpenter for 20 years. My first finish gun was a Senco. It was the tool you never had to worry about. I literally drove hundreds of thousands of nails with it and almost zero problems. Ah the good old days! I now have 2 of these nailers and both are a step above trash. The feeder doesn't stay straight in the nail holder. The last few nails, like clockwork, mis-feed or jam completely. The feeder spring has broken on one gun and is too weak on both. I get routine double fires and random no fires. What has Senco done to their guns? The form of the gun is all I can give kudos on so if you want a good looking gun with a small muzzle that makes it easy to see what you are (trying to) shooting at and don' t mind the frequent problems, this is a good gun.

This was my second finish nailer in about 15 years. The first was a Porter Cable that just died after years of heavy work. The Senco seems sturdy enough out of the box, as good as anything else. Loading is fine, however it started misfiring within the first hour of use. On the second day it started jamming multiple nails. By day four it was misfiring and the firing pin was not retracting. All nailers misfire here and there, but not this often. I don't have time to make sure every nail goes in, which the nailer makes you do. You really need something you can trust. You cannot trust this nailer. Maybe the one I purchased was a fluke, but I returned it for the cheaper Porter Cable. I used the Porter Cable nailer all day yesterday, not one misfire or jam. I cannot recommend this nailer.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED.You can read what I wrote years ago when I had a problem with this gun but I regress on many statements I made. The said Dewalt gun ended up dieing soon after writing. I recommend the Senco SFN 30 to everyone now. Reasons can be found in a post I made in comments. Please disregard my anger at what is probably a rare fluke. I've bought from Amazon many many times since, and have never had another problem. Ive also taken a recommendation to try another Senco gun (the SFN 30) and LOVED it. We bought several. Sorry to those who feel misinformed. Just had a bad experience that particular time.THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED.Ok .. so i receive my new Senco air nailer around the date i predicted. thats a great start. but thats where the props stop. i open the box main shipping box (which wasnt hard as it was 1/2 opened already) and get to the manufacturers retail box. i have another person in the room so i asked them to come be a witness to this. we look and sure enough it has been open. its this little seal on the outside flap that says "If seal is broken or package damaged check contents before signing receipt"So my alarm is immediately set off about this product as i now fully open the box and the case. as i'm opening the case i hear a very strange sound. it reminded me off a rain stick but it didnt last long. it struck me as odd but i wasnt focused on the case. i was more worried about the gun. i didnt notice anything wrong w/ the mechanics off the gun but i cant count on an working product till after ive tested it in a work environment. i'm a trim carpentry sub-contractor. i use and have used just about any 15ga finish nailer made and i have my personal favorite .. the dewalt D51275K. only drawback is its not oiless. so thats what i use for myself. but for my employees, i want to give them something to use thats dependable, reliable, virtually maintenance free and so the expensive but generally well received Senco seemed to be the best option. i was wrong. after about 10 min off using the gun my employee came up to me with a problem with the gun. it was jammed. no problem. it happens. shouldnt happen often cause i AM using Senco brand 2" angled nails but ok. i gave him my dewalt so he could keep working. i fix the jamb and start using the senco myself and after i'd say about 5 shots it goes and jambs again! as im clearing the jamb i notice that this jam was caused by the long nail hitting either a metal plate or concrete. ok, so i clear the jamb and go to set the nail head thats sticking out. and then i put the nails back in the gun and go to shoot my first nail. IT SHOOTS THROUGH DOWNWARDS INTO THE FLIPPIN MAGAZINE!. yeah, right through the metal nail clip. no way of fixing at the moment + i wanted to see Senco bite the bullet for a piece of crap i was sold so i left it alone. after going back home that evening to put it in the case i start examining the case. yeah, it makes a weird sound of plastics bits inside the case. then i look where you put the manual. the whole edge of that plastic piece was chewed up and the whole flap itself caved inwards. the sound i was hearing was the pieces of chewed up plastic moving around inside of the manual compartment.all in all, it's my belief that i was sold an inferior product, a 2nd, an assembly line inspectors reject. because of the lack of time i had and the work that i had lined up i dont have time to have a long drawn out battle over getting reimbursed or replacement but i'll have it be know that i will no longer buy ANYTHING from amazon.com that isnt music/dvd/game which ive had no problem with in the past ordering hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise. i no longer have the original gun and case that was sent to me as i went to my local supply store and bought the same model and swapped out and returned on that receipt explaining the problem. they RTV'ed it to get sent back to the manufacture. so i do have a working gun now but unfortunately i have to fight my workers wanting to still use my dewalt now that they've tried it. i might end up buying another few of those in the future. but as mentioned, no more Sencos for awhile and definitely no more Amazon.com

Brand new, out of the box, this gun misfires 2 - 3 times before finally firing a nail. In the mean time the driver has left large holes in the trim from the numerous misfires. I purchased this product based on the reviews, but did not actually use it for a couple months I after purchased it. It's beyond the 30 day return date from Amazon so I am SOL. I would never recommend this product.

I would not recommend this gun. I had high hopes for it as it does get decent reviews, but mine would not countersink the nails with any sort of regularity. The 16g nailer I was replacing countersunk 99% of the time. This was the opposite. I gave it a shot on trimming out two doors, but when I have to spend half an hour using a nail punch to finish the job that means this tool is being returned. Had to go back to the old nailer to finish the job. Tried changing out the nails and upping the pressure on the compressor to no avail. Adjusting the depth wheel does make somewhat of a difference, but max depth only works if the guns is absolutely straight. Any kind of angle and the nail is sticking up. I had to take off the non mar tip as well. Seems like a well built gun, but the where it shoots the nail from seems kind far back compared to other guns I own. Maybe that causes less wood damage or something, but for me it causes the nails to sit flush or proud of the wood.I also don't like that I this doesn't have a belt clip. Seems like quite a few trim nailers are going this way for "safety", but it's annoying to have to buy an aftermarket hook. Tripping on a trim nailer or air hose clipped to your belt or pocket seems pretty low on the safety scale.

Jams, jams, and jams.. and the tip is retarded for clearing jams. Fooled with pressure, brand of nails etc. Had to get my install going, I bought a rigid unit.. much better.

This gun shoots two nails EVERY time. I think the problem is the nails. I was unable to find Hitachi nails. When I called Hitachi customer service to ask if they sold nails to fit, I was told they would not recommend nails. I said I didn't want a recommendation, but simply to find where to find the proper nails, he got snotty and said " I told you I won't recommend nails and we can't diagnose a problem over the phone as though I was really trying his patience. He wanted me to send it to a repair facility for evaluation, but since it is brand new, I didn't think much of that idea and so returned it to Amazon. I have not often found that sort of snotty attitude from customer service people and when I do I want nothing further to do with the company. I'm sure there are other people who have had a better experience with their phone people, but that was what happened when I called them.

I was excited to get my Hitachi finish nailer and to try it out. At first glance it looks great and appears to be a quality tool. I hooked up my airline, loaded my fasteners, and pulled the trigger. JAM! Hmmm... I thought. Perhaps a fluke. So I cleared the jam (which is easily done with a lever on the front) and tried again. What happened this time? JAM! Now I thought perhaps I had done something wrong so I checked the pressure from my compressor and it was at an acceptable level and I checked the nails and they were the correct type and size for the nailer. So I tried again, and again it jammed. After trying the nailer nearly a dozen times and every time having it jam, I gave up and sent it back to Amazon for a refund. Thank you to amazon for an amazing, hassle-free return.

Sadly, I have to return my Hitachi NTf65MA4 15 gauge nailer. And, as with most handy man tools only used on occasion, the return will be after the normal period allowed for returns so I will have additional expense.Most reviews of this product have been very positive so I assume the problem I experienced is not found on each nailer. My problem is that the nailer fires blanks on every other pull of the trigger. I oiled the nail track as per the printed instructions but to no avail.I bought the nailer to install crown molding. We first used it last weekend at my son's to do a room. When the nailer fires blanks, it creates holes larger than the hole created when a nail is fired. As it occurs every other trigger pull, that doubles the number of holes to be filled in the molding. Very discouraging.My recommendation: be sure to test fire your nailer on receipt, don't wait till you're ready to use.

This is the 2nd POS I have recieved. The1st one the nail coil would no longer slide up to force the nails into the driver. 2nd one the safety wont engage the trigger.

SO UPSET!! Does any manufacturer make a tool that will work for longer than 2 months?

I have had this nail gun for several years and it is junk, one of the worst tools I have every purchased. It misfires more times than it fires correctly-- double hitting, under hitting, you name it. You can disregard the reviews here for people that have owned the gun for 7 or 10 years stating they are great and made in the USA, because today they are made in China and done so poorly. That's not to say that all made in China air nailers are bad and in fact I a 15 gauge to recommend that's made in China. Just don't pay a premium for this one assuming it's in the upper range of manufacturing because it isn't. If you look closely at the nail guide and manufacturing, it seems a bit clearer why it performed so poorly. I also want to be clear that this was not user error-- it's an oil free gun, I didn't oil it; operated at correct pressures with an adequate compressor, etc. I finally gave up on it and bought a BOSTITCH BTFP72156 Smart Point 15GA FN Style Angle Finish Nailer Kit -- what a difference. It just about never misfires, the trigger point is amazing, manufacturing very tight (yes made in China but well done), and very innovative and solid. Just a great 15 gauge nail gun that will speed your work. Whatever Senco was as a company a decade ago, you can forget about that when it comes to this gun. I bought mine in 2012, so if they have improved since then, I wouldn't know.

Gun was leaking air when I plugged it in. Air nozzle was housing was cracked causing it to leak air.

Received boxed product all good. Had to buy a nipple for the air attachment, (not attached or included). Bought that and while tightening it into place I snapped the housing for the nipple. I didn't cross-thread or over-torque it. I needed the gun for a job immediately and went to a nearby repair shop and store. They told me it would be three weeks until their next Senco order went out and longer for the repair. So I bought a Hitachi which I am very happy with right out of the box. Having the Senco fixed and may keep it despite the hassle. Wasted several hours and am disappointed with the flimsy casting. I imagine that I caught a bad break and that the gun would satisfy many that don't have this misfortune, but who has the time for junk and trouble? I always aim to buy the best and would gladly pay a bit more for better craftsmanship if given the choice.

This finish nailer is certainly not up to Senco standards, nor what I have grown to expect and experience with Senco products. The nail advance feed self destructed, with the end result being the nails do not advance. The nailer was less than 9 months old. Think if I had to do all over again I would have stayed with Porter Cable.