With the introduction of battery operated cordless finish nailers by several Brands there’s lots of conversation amongst carpenters about whether these new tools can compete with pneumatics and ultimately who makes the best version. 

The most recent entry into this category is Milwaukee with several new battery powered brad/finish nailers. With those new releases there have been several articles and videos on the internet regarding Milwaukee finish nailers and run time tests – problem is RUN TIME tests are flawed.

Before designing a run time test we should ask ourselves how many nails the average trim carpenter uses in a given day. A box of finish nails is often 500 to 1000 fasteners. I don’t know many trim carpenters that will shoot an entire box in a day.

So the real question with these new nailers is: Does RUN time even come into play? With increased battery sizes and performance, it’s hard to imagine that run time will be a deciding factor in which nailer you purchase.

In addition, most of the tests we’ve seen so far are seriously flawed with regard to the use of bump mode. These tools are NOT designed to run at a sprinters pace….trim carpentry is slow and methodical craftsmanship not guerilla warfare! That is why these tools are really designed to operate at a normal fastening rate for FINISH carpentry, NOT framing.

Rapid fire run-time testing is NOT realistic. This might make a fun video but anyone using a finish nailer in this fashion isn’t a PRO and likely isn’t successful in his or her business. PRO tradesmen wouldn’t abuse their tools in this fashion so we fail to see any good reason to evaluate the tool in this way. The one exception is this is a good way to see how Milwaukee has designed their tool to shut down if the overuse could cause damage to the tool. Having that type of built-in protection certainly is nice piece of mind for your investment.

Frankly, the results don’t really tell us much. Some of the recent posts we've read seem focused on bashing the new Milwaukee nailers based solely on rapid fire bump most testing. We certainly don't agree with this assessment and think you should be careful with those type of reviews.

Is the nailer well made, durable, and performs to the level that makes your work efficient and trouble free. We certainly feel that the Milwaukee cordless nailers fit this question quite well.

Milwaukee spent hundreds of hours doing field research studying how carpenters perform trim fastening applications. They designed these nailers for PRO users who use them on a daily basis, in a normal trim-fastening firing pattern. Their design was specifically driven by how many nails a day are typically fired.

The result is a nailer that will allow you to work ALL DAY on one battery. It drives nails consistently at the same reliable depth, works with fewer jambs, and ultimately a nailer that LASTS LONGER than other nailers.

We'll be writing more about this topic on Tool Box Buzz in the coming weeks and months. Being carpenters, we feel this is a very important issue and we feel these new battery operated cordless fastening tools are the future so it's important to talk about performance in a way that makes sense for end users.