I am a residential contractor that purchased this gun for general framing tasks. The thing that swayed my purchase was 1st, the lightness of this gun, and 2nd, the 5 year Hitachi warranty. I was glad to see that some attempt had been made to design a nailer with size and weight in mind. Unfortunately, this gun doesn't measure up to Hitachi's other nailers. Just like the other customer, the loading mechanism broke after about 2 weeks on the job. Amazon was very obliging, and replaced my nailer with another relatively quickly. That was about a month ago, and one of my guys just told me that the nailer is now bending all the 16s that come out of the gun. I guess I'll have to go back to the old 88 or the paslode. One other major mistake on the part of Hitachi is allowing the gun to "dry fire" which is to fire when out of nails. This is a major oversight by the manufacturer, especially when nailing sheeting. I really wanted this gun to work because it is one of the smallest, lightest, and most powerful available, however, I'm afraid that I can't recommend it.

I purchased two of these new models based on the experience that I have had with the NR83aa2's. Keep in mind that I run a framing crew and we rely on these guns all day every day. The gun shoots excellent. However, there is a piece of metal that acts as a lever for the retaining clip. On both of my newly purchased NR90ad's this piece of metal broke within the first three weeks and three weeks later I am still waiting for the parts. Long story short, that one one particular part that was poorly designed has turned what would normally be a great gun into a worthless piece of metal until those parts come in. 2-15-2005

Light, smaller design, powerful, and toenails well. The positive aspects of this gun are great, so great infact that after returning my first one, I purchased a second. The second, however, had the same issues as the first. The piston rattles and occasionally dislodges. When this occurs, absolutely nothing happens when I pull the trigger. Shaking the gun violently seems to realign the piston. This process is extemely aggrivating, especially when straining to hold a board in place.
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br /My first gun, I thought to be a lemon. After my second gun failed in the same way, it is clear that Hitachi has issues to address. From a carpenter's perspective, I cannot reccomend this gun. It's flawed and unreliable. Get on the ball Hitachi!

I do a lot of deckbuilding, some light framing, dont shoot this into LVL, but if you get the gun the air, it will put the nail home. I used my first for about a year and recently, while shooting nails thru joist supports, the piston tip shattered. his is the first time i experienced a tip shattering, I was not lining up the holes, just shooting thru the steel. I bought my second from EBAY for 119.00, and am using it as a backup until toolbarn ships me a new plunger. The used gun I got has a LOT more wear on it, but after doing a couple of decks with it (2500 3 1/2 ring shank nails) there is no diffrence, and yes, I am still shooting the nails thru the joist brackets. I would buy this gun again, and an very happy. It has made me a LOT of money.

Easy to load, easy to unload, lightweight and pretty good balance. Simple depth of drive adjuster. So far I've driven close to two boxes of nails ( roughly 10,000) without a single jam. The tool has a simple switch to change the function from single shot to bounce firing. This gun will drive Paslode "Roundrive" nails, which fit my Paslode clipped head cordless framing nailer-so I don't need to stock different fasteners. The only thing I don't like is that there is no hook of any kind to hold the tool when you need both hands free for a moment or two. I don't like having to balance it on a ladder or climb with it in my hand and it has fallen a couple of time in those situations- so far without damage. A very well designed and constructed piece of equipment, except for the lack of hook.

Great tool. I bought it to replace my last one that broke (whcih I bought from a contractor who used it for many years. The tool is light and vey well balanced and does a great job.
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br /Only negative is that it sometimes double shoots.
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br /Besides that great tool.

I've owned this framing nailer for about a year and one half.
br /Admittedly I am not depending on the nailer for full time use.
br /Like others, I have found the nailer frustrating at times. It seems to be very finicky about pnuematic oil...or very finicky about air pressure. At a certain lower range PSI, the gun will not fire at all.
br /When it is happy it works great.

The crew loved the idea of this light-weight, easy operating cool looking "bad boy". However, our first field test proved the gun was not what we thought. It jammed and misfired. We returned it for another one and it has become the absolute favorite of our framing guns. We have since added two more Hitachi guns - the 15 gauge finish nailer and brad nailer. WE love them both. They also both have that cool Hitachi look.
br /Hank from THM

this hitachi gun is great. i use it personally and dont turn it over to a framing crew each day to do who knows what to the gun or my other tools. flawless operation everytime. nice light weight too. these negative reviews must be sponsored by dewalt or bostich!?!?

I have had this gun for quite some time now, and have not had any problems with it. I have one of the first ones, the gun never misfires, I have had no jams, the selectable fire has been a godsend, and the tool is super light. The tool has been dropped on concrete at least 3 times, granted not from more than 9 feet, but still with all the other reviewers here complaining about durability, I am surprised it has lasted. Also, I wonder why the same nailer, except the round head version, has such great reviews.
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br /I think an important thing to remember about nailers is, they are way over abused. Furthermore they are rarely protected from any kind of damage like other tools due to the absence of a case. I have never understood how companies can produce these expensive guns, and not include a case. I throw away cases right and left, but this is one of the tools that I would choose to have one for. But I guess Hitachi thinks they have you covered with the 5 year warranty.
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I purchased two of these at once and they both died within three months. One came defective and the second ruined the firing pin by jamming an 8 against the inside of the nose piece. The replacement i got for the first one that broke has been great it has worked in 100f weather and -20 flawlessly. It has more power than the max and senco my boss owns and is lighter than the senco and the same weight as the max. I love the selectable trigger. On all of the ones i have seen i have not run into the magazine problems that others have. Early on i think Hitachi had quality control problems with their new lines but i think these are a safe reliable choice to use now.

It's the best money I've ever spent!!! Cuts framing time in 1/2. The gun weighs nothing but yet is totally powerful... I love it!
br / Anthony-Chicago,IL

I purchased one of these framing guns for my son and I have to say that after watching him use it, it was the best investment. I purchased a Pasload Impulse sometime ago and that was fine, but always have to buy fuel cells was a pain, but not with this bad boy. Awesome, simply awesome!!! He even finally finished the porch that I have been bugging him about for the last month!