Side by Side Comparison of: Hitachi vs BOSTITCH

Great quality and functionality at a good price, brads go in effortlessly and sink to the depth set on the nailer, although so far I've only used it on relatively soft woods. FYI, the combo kit that includes the compressor and brad nailer does NOT include a case for the nailer, I was a bit disappointed by this.

You cannot beat the price of this nailer. I've used mine for dozens of projects and it's rarely had issues. It's high quality and does exactly what I need it to do for my wood projects. Easy to maintain. My only complaint is that after a while, one of the black sides came off that was attached with some kind of glue, but doesn't affect the nailer's performance.

I bought this to replace a cheap old CH nailer that came with my air compressor. This is one of the nicest finish nailers ive ever used. Easy adjustments. I will definitely buy the framing nailer in the future. For this price, you will not find a better deal.

I bought this on the strength of a review by a guy who makes his living with it. He claimed that, on the job, they treat these nail guns like dirt... dropping them, abusing them, and generally defying them to fail. He claimed that this one won't.
I'll never intentionally mistreat this one, but it's good to know it will forgive me if I do. It's been a great tool for me and I'm very happy with it.

Love this nailer! Very easy to operate, runs well, built well, light weight. Accurate to, in the ways of if you set your pressure you know it will go however far down you have set it in the past. I have used it on trim, crown, quarter round, cabinets you name it. All my nailers are Hitachi. I thought they had no business making such tools, but they make awesome nailers.

I first purchased a Bostitch 15 ga. nail gun to install 1"x6" pine siding. I purchased an Bostitch 18 ga. smart point to install the trim I cut out of 1"x4" pine board and routered a cove. They are nice guns and saves a lot of work.

I'm only a hobbyist woodworker with less than 1000 nails fired from this tool, but it hasn't jammed on me yet. I have fired all lengths to 2 inch nails from different brands with this nailer and they all worked fine. Very useful when gluing wood and time is a constraint because liquid glue can be a lubricant to wood.

well designed compared to other comparitively priced guns. No jams thus far (only have shot ~100 nails); have tried sizes from 5/8 up to 1 3/4 with no problems thus far. Bostitch needs an updated 23 gauge pin nailer with this system.

WOW. Lightweight, precise placement. drives 2" 18 ga nails perfectly. A few misses through about 1500 nails.

I have been VERY happy with this purchase. This unit replaces my cordless Passload nailer which worked only about half of the time. Sure, I have to lug around a compressor now, but this brad nailer works without any issues. I use this mostly with furniture making. The brads consistently sink just the right distance below the wood surface, regardless if I am nailing pine, oak, or maple.

OK

I've been using it now for 6 months. I've put in trim, door casing, cabinetry, etc. Mainly using 1.5" and 2" brads. Put it through oak and pine with zero jams. The plastic hitachi hi-light black plastic trim fell off, but I just glued it back on. Good power and adjustability as I have set my gauge from 70 to 110 PSI. Never had need to go higher.

Works well with 100% pin insertion. I have had no misfires and the unit is quiet and easy to use. I am unsure of the longevity due to the amount of plastic used in the construction but it keeps the tool very light to use.

This little brad nailer has worked great. It's nice and light weight but still feels well built.

The magazine release is plastic, which I was worried about, but has held up just fine. I don't know if it would stand up to everyday abuse but for diy/hobbiest use it seems fine. My Porter-Cable finish nailer has a nicer metal magazine release (actually the entire magazine is metal whereas the Hitachi brad nailer magazine is mostly plastic) but it is also heavier and more expensive.

The drive depth adjustment works fairly well and is easy to set. The window to check the amount of brads is small and not the easiest to see but once you get used to it it's simple enough to check and reload before you start firing blanks.

The safety is not located directly over where the brads come out, which can be a little awkward when working with small pieces that have a profile or when you're trying to fire a brad close to the edge of a workpiece. It's not a deal breaker but it does require some thought from time to time. I've never used a brad nailed before so for all I know they're all this way but I prefers the safety location on my finish nailed.

Overall this has been a fine tool and hard to beat for the price.

Was uncertain about purchasing because I thought this might be good to put a bird house together, but not suitable for heavier work. I was wrong. Had no problem putting the Hitachi 2-in nails through old wood during bathroom remodel. So far I've shot 2-in and 1 1/4 in nails through it. No need to adjust the depth gauge when switching between nail sizes, a real plus. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that it was a bit finicky in having to depress it absolutely all the way before it would fire. Given the cramped work space you sometimes have when working with a brad nailer, this caused several mis-fires until I found an angle which would allow me to fully depress the nailer before pulling the trigger. Very easy to change between different nail sizes, and I like the view window which shows you have at least 5 or 10 nails left in the gun. Very happy with purchase.

did not come with the extra no mar tips otherwise 5 star

Works great. Depth adjustment isn't perfect; have not tested much but there is limited indication showing where on the scale of things the depth is set. For example: can be set that a shallow depth but one could not tell by looking at the gun.

Nothing but good things. No jams after 1000 brads. Easy jam clearing should it pose an issue. Great brad depth selector works well with my Cali Air Tools compressor. I did take out the existing air fitting and replaced it with a ball socket air fitting for less strain on the hose in tight spaces, but it no longer fits in the plastic case.

I'm a carpenter and just completed a full kitchen's worth of trim using the Bostitch smart point. It's ok overall, but has a few issues that keep it from being great.
First the pro's A. Light weight and easy to use. B. Like the 'no oil' aspect, but wish they had a longer lasting label to let you know. C. Magazine is easy to open (Good thing. See first Con).
Con's 1. The way the magazine is built you can't tell what length brads are loaded, or how many are left. You have to open it too find out. 2. I've had a fair number of non-fires - meaning I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I lifted it off the wood, re-set it and it fires. PITA when your holding a 8' pieces of crown molding over your head. 3. It dry fired at least once. I only know because that was the first brad in that piece of trim. It left a hole, but no fastener. If it had been the second or later shot I would have just seen the hole and assumed there was a brad in there.

This is an excellent tool at a fair price. I have used this for assembly of mitered picutre frames, small wood projects, door and window trim; and kitchen cabinet install. The resultant hole is small and easily filled with the right product to match material. I have shot 1" and 2+" nails. I purchased the Bostitch 16 guage nailer at the same time to install the T&G on the ceiling in my house; it has jammed a few times but otherwise has preformed well. (The Jams are no joke...10 minuets with a few tools and your back in business but man...those nails are IN there) I have seen sparks with both the 16 and 18 guage nailers fly from the tip of the gun when discharging a nail; and I am shooting the recommended Bostitch nails.

Always wear eye protection regardless. You can never be too safe with a tool like this. Its a pain in the ass but man will you regret it when you lose an eye. These nailers seem well made to me; the cases are robust and sturdy with space to store nails. The pencil sharpener I use frequently and works very well. I considered the passload cordless nailer; however for less $ I was able to purchase two bostitch nailers and all the nails I need for a year of projects and I'm happy with my choice. This is a light weight tool for its size and preformance. The adjustable depth of nail does work ok; I'd say on average there is about a 3-4mm difference in depth of drive from max in to max out. This varies greatly with the material being used; Example; I was driving 1" 18 guage nails into African Padouk for a cabinet frame and with the depth guage set to drive as deep as possible; pushing hard the nails would drive 3/4 hp husky compressor maxed out at 100 psi and the nails would go about 90-95% of the way to flush. Nail set required to finish off.

I don't buy it

Love the gun but the safety is horrible. I had a porter cable forever but they changed there design so I bought this one. I build cabinets so I use thus gun for 10 hrs everyday. The safety goes all the way around the tip and is so loose you can't tell where you are going to hit. I am going try something else

This is a decent gun but the nail magazine is made of plastic so when I was useing it hard for a few weeks of trim work the mag broke and renders it useless but at the price it was worth it

While I like Hitachi products, the two problems I have with this gun is that you can't really shoot from an angle. It has to be pretty much a straight shot, or it won't fire. The other problem is that you don't know when you've run out of nails. Some guns won't fire when it's empty. This will continue to fire until you finally figure out that you've been shooting blanks.

I usually buy more expensive tools, but a friend talked me into buying this gun instead because it does not have the obtrusive head design (guard) and can nail close to the wall. So far it seems to work fine. If I had to complain about anything, it would be that it will "dry fire" when out of finish nails, so you have to watch your clip to see when you are running low. Also, the ram head does it's own damage to the surface. My high-end finish nailers leave nothing but a hole from the finish nail. Other than those two negatives, the positive is that it is very light and works in tight spots. Easy to load and seems dependable at this point. Time will tell. Price is right.

my old one was much easer to use new one is a lot cheaper built do not like the tip at all has a tenicy to shoot to the left 1 to 10 I would give it a 6

One gun works great, the other jambs. Luckily for me I have a Bostitch service center a few miles from my place. As always they stand behind their products, just annoying for a brand new item to not work correctly. The smart point is worth it once you know where it shoots.

Barely used..

When this nailer is working, it works great. However, it constantly jams with the 3/4" brad nails I've been using. The spring loaded part of the magazine that keeps tension on the nails ends up sliding over them and the nailer stops working. Guess it's a common problem with these. Spend a few more dollars and get one that doesn't have this problem.

I picked this gun because of the wonderful reviews, maybe I got a lemon. The nail cartridge is made of plastic and just keeps jambing, gun has little time on it, nothing like the performance of my bostich. I will be getting a bostich again regardless that the reviews were not as good as this one.

This nailer jams up often - reliably. The slide that presses the nails to the front is too loose. It has small indents intended to keep nails from sliding behind or in front of it, but they're not enough and nails slide pass the slide, jamming the nailer. I have found a cheap nailer from Harbor Freight costing $20 to be reliable and it also handles staples. I'm very disappointed with Hitachi.

I purchased this product because of my Hitachi history with their other tools. Some are favorites. My Porter Cable nailer went on me after 10 years. and i needed another that day. I went to Amazon and was going to order the same nailer but i opted for this hitachi because of the best buy rating. i received it the next day and used it for about a half day when it jammed and did not make it back. i don't think this tool can be a dependable one for a professional. Probably a good stand by.

I bought this nailgun almost two months ago, and just used it for the first time. It seems to work just fine, and though right out of the box i was concerned about the durability of the plastic parts (the nail storage area in the gun is made of plastic, and it has a bit of flex in it, and I wonder if it could withstand a dropping like the old senco i used to use can).

So the durability was the issue right out of the box. But the real actual problem is that when I used 2" nails designed for the gun, they jammed the gun twice in less than a half hour of use. Just to add, I read thoroughly the instructions.

Not so happy with this nailgun.

I liked this gun, especially the narrow point which allowed very accurate placement. Light and easy to use. I used it several times a day for three months when it quit working. Warranty repair said an O ring failed preventing the hammer from reseting. I will keep using it and keep my fingers crossed. From reviews before I bought it, I expected trouble free operation for at least a couple years.

I HAD TO SEND THE BT1855K TO REPAIR....WILL PICK IT UP THIS WEEK .

I bought this gun and was so excited about the smart point but have had a lot of problems with each the gun jamming and not sinking nails adequately. It seems like there is too much play between the quick release head and the firing pin I think the nails are moving around inside the tip of the gun before they exit. They jam up inside the gun as well as get bent over in soft material like pine and mdf. I really like the theory of the gun and the way if grips and all the feature but it's just not consistent.

This Nailer worked good for about the first 10 Brads before it started jamming. About every 5-10 brads you have to disassemble to clear the jam. I have cleaned, oiled to no avail. In the trash it goes!

The nail follower jams up all the time, all the time. It feels like less than half the quality of the Hitachi 16ga straight finish nailer, I and several other guys have used the 16's for years without a single problem. This 18ga gun is junk right out of the box

Brad nails slip behind spring loaded plate causing the jam. My nailer was 2 years old, or roughly 2000 nails, before encountering this problem. Since the nailer has a 5 year warranty, i called to see what could be done. Was told to mail it in with no promises.

**update 11/4/2013:
Nailer was received to Hitachi on 10/20/13, back in my possession on 11/1/2013. Only the plastic feeder piece being pushed by the spring has been replaced, with the same OEM piece. Only a matter of time before jams return.

The first one of these tools I owned lasted me for 3 years with no problems. The second one lasted 2 months, this one I recently purchased lasted 12 days before it malfunctioned. All three of the guns had the same issue, the nails jammed in the clip and while you think the gun is shooting it will not allow the nails to feed up. It didn't even seem to matter that I was using the Hitachi brand nails or another brand, all resulted in the same problem. I'm not sure what changed with the quality of these guns, but I would not recommend them to anyone, homeowner or professional.

I purchased this in 2010 for some finish carpentry projects and have used it very lightly. Like many others, the slide doesn't advance the nails. Hitachi framing nailers enjoy a great reputation, but something went wrong with this product.

The spring that pushes nails toward nail hole stopped working the second time I use it. Even though the mannual states that chek and tighten all screws before each use, there is no approproate tool included.

I purchased a year ago under the premise of buying a name brand. After finally using it a year later for the 1st time with less than 1000 brads fired the gun fails to shoot with no evidence of a jamb or any other malfunction. As with all my tools it's been treated with TLC. I opted to replace it out of warranty with a Harbor Freight model costing 1/4 the price. My 1st and last purchase of Bostitch brand - Very disappointed

Lasted maybe 2 hours, quit working, so I bought a Makita to finish the job.

I had a Bostitch nailer before and it quit working after about 100 nails, so I ordered parts to fix it like I was told. Didn't work so I went with this one so I would have a back up. When I received it it also would not work, both are in Garbage.I will not buy another Bostitch nailer again.

If I had saved the paper work I would have returned it. It does not set the nails in hard wood. I increased the air pressure to 100lbs and still was not able to get a satisfactory job working with oak.

Hopefully it's just a bad part but this nailer jammed every three nails and was not easy to clear. I was using the correct nails and pressure. I will be sending it in for a new one but I would rather have my money back to buy a different brand. Not happy

I've been running production cabinet building and using 1000's of brads a day through other brands of nailers. This one didn't make it through the first stick of brads before jamming so badly that I cannot get the magazine open. It's going to have to be returned just the way it is because I can't get it apart.Other issues are the safety tip wiggles a lot and holds the tip far off the surface of the wood so it's very difficult to align an angle shot. It's a big gun and hard to get into tight cabinets.This one must have been designed by the marketing department. The feature of out-of-nails lockout is great, if it could shoot long enough to run out before jamming. It sure is pretty too.