Need Advice of Finish Nail Gun to Buy - 15 or 16 gauge

I bought a 15 guage Dewalt finish nailer at local (beleive it or not) farm and ranch supply store for a very reasonable price. I think it was about $10 cheaper the the Bostitch I was going to buy at Lowe's. I have been very hapy with it so far. I have only owned it for about 4 months, however I finished my family room with it and my Curly Maple stairs (dont ask). I did get a Bostitch stapler and I have no complaints about that either. I do agree that you at times pay for the name brand, but there is a reason that name brands got that reputation....Just a thought. Hope this helps.

I would think that either a 15 or 16 guage would be adequate for doing trim. I have used a 16 gauge for baseboards, and I actually use an 18 guage for 1/4 round trim, as the trim was stained and the nail head less visible.

Come to think of it, I think I used the 18 guage for some baseboards too, I can't recall exactly

So, if you're just doing baseboards, I'd try the 18 guage you already have.

If you have an 18 guage already, then I'd get a 15 guage nailer. A 16 guage doesn't offer much over an 18 other than nail length. With longer nails, you want a heavier guage anyway, as long nails bend more easily.

I bought the porter cable DA250B:

Your experience with Bostich must be a fluke or limited to that model. I got a beat-to-death Bostich framing nailer from a pawn shop for cheap. It works like a champ. I used it to put up 500 feet of privacy fence pickets on wet PT pine, and it did wonderfully.

Good luck.

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I trim homes quite a bit and don't like using the 16g T nails, they just don't hold like the angled 15g nails. The 15 gauge have a small head on them and it keeps them from pulling out as easily as the 16 gauge t nails. This is important when setting doors and such. Go with the Senco, there excellent guns. --dave

I also have the Dewalt 15ga. Seems great so far, especially for $99 brand new (Amazon sale). It's light, comfortable to use, has very good visibility of the target area, and will sink a 2.5" nail fully in hard maple. I was almost set to get the Hitachi 15ga. but I couldn't pass on the Dewalt deal.

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