News

Mar 07, 2024

The Best Nail Guns Tested in 2023

If there’s one place no one wants to have to refill nail strips frequently, it’s on a roof. That’s why coil roofing nailers are so popular with professional roofers, and the Metabo HPT 1¾-Inch Coil

If there’s one place no one wants to have to refill nail strips frequently, it’s on a roof. That’s why coil roofing nailers are so popular with professional roofers, and the Metabo HPT 1¾-Inch Coil Roofing Nailer was just as good as any we’ve ever used. It shoots standard 12-gauge roofing nails from ⅞ to 1¾ inches long. We loaded in a coil of 1¾ -inch nails and connected the nailer via a hose to our portable air compressor and started testing.

We used this pneumatic nail gun to attach asphalt shingles to a shed roof. At first, the nailheads were slightly too high, so we adjusted the tool’s depth adjustment until they were flush with the shingles. We tested the Metabo in both single-fire mode and bump mode and found that it shoots quickly and powerfully. At one point, we must have hit a nail in the sheathing beneath the shingle, and the gun jammed. Clearing away the jam was simple though. We just opened the nose of the nail feeder and used a small rod and a hammer to tap it out.

A feature some may overlook that we appreciated was the rubber bumpers on the sides of the tool. This is great for those times the roofer has to lay the gun down on the roof when positioning a new strip of shingles—the rubber helps keep the tool from sliding off the roof. (This feature would be particularly helpful on this tool, as it doesn’t have a belt hook.) We also liked the rubber-coated grip that allowed us to get a firm grasp when using the tool. The Metabo is a sound roofing nailer, and we shot more than 150 nails during our test. Plus, it weighs just 5½ pounds, making it easy to take up on a roof.

Product Specs

Pros

Cons

Get the Metabo nail gun at Amazon, Lowe’s, or Menards.