BostitchFraming Nailer, Round Head, 1-1/2-Inch to 3-1/2-Inch, Pneumatic (F21PL)

The BOSTITCH F21PL is a top-notch pneumatic nailer. It handles 1-1/2" to 3-1/2" nails flawlessly, with consistent power and precision. The round-head design ensures secure fastening, while its durability stands out. Perfect for framing jobs—highly recommend!

This is the first framing nailer I've owned. I owned and used brad nailers previous to this. I've been entirely happy with this nailer. I haven't used it for a big project yet. I'll likely start one in another month. I've used it several times over the 3 or 4 months that I've had it for small project such as adding shelving in a storage building, building a base for a large miter saw and installing a mantle in my daughter's house. It's well made (US made)and has been completely reliable. I pull the trigger and it fully drives the nail. I have not yet used the special nose that allows driving the special, hardened rafter hanger nails but I will use that feature in a project next month. It comes with a bump type trigger but I elected to leave the sequential trigger in place as I feel it's safer to do so. It's easy to use, does what I bought it for very well and I got it at a very reasonable price from Amazon.com.After nearly a year of using this nailer I am still very pleased with it. I did use it for building a wood patio cover for which I used the hardened rafter hanger nails. It worked very well for this - to the point if I didn't line up the nose in the bracket hole, no problem. The nailer slammed the hardened nail through the metal bracket and into the wood. That's not the safest thing to do and it wasn't intentional. Actually it's very easy to line up the nailer with the holes using the included nose piece for this purpose. This weekend I completed another project using 2 X 12's and nailing some angles that would have been very difficult with a hammer. It worked like a champ. 1/3/08 DLT

I'm an amateur-level remodeler so I'm definitely not as hard on my tools as a pro would be. I have a pancake compressor dialed in to deliver 120 PSI, and I oil the tool every day that I use it. I've gone through probably 6,000 nails with this beast without any issues that weren't self-inflicted. I've never even had a single jam. If there's a complaint about the tool it's the plastic rafter hook, which feels like it would snap of pretty easily. The metal-connector-attachment is awesome for installing joist hangers. Changing tips and nails is fast and easy, with no issues using partially consumed nail-strips. I'm using DeWalt nails.For the other amateurs out there... I've only used finish nailers prior to purchasing this so I have nothing to compare it to, but it's amazing how heavy 8lbs can feel when you're awkwardly twisted around studs and rafters with your arm extended out to the side. It's surprisingly usable in tight spaces, but there are obvious limits to where it can be used so I ended up complimenting it with a palm-nailer. This should go without saying, but if you don't already have safety glasses, buy some; I've had fragments from the plastic nailing strips smack me in the face more times than I can count.

I've been intending to get a framing nail gun for a while, particularly after receiving a set of 'small' nail guns as a gift. They really made projects requiring staples, brads or finishing nails 'fly', so when I had to rebuild my patio, I went for a framing nailer.I chose the Bostich because it had the widest range of nail sizes while still being at the low end of the price range. Also, because it had the capability of nailing frame brackets such as joist hangers, which I would be doing a lot of.Boy, did it make the construction go quickly. And relatively painlessly (the unit did wear a blister on one finger). Would I buy it again? Yes, for the same reasons I got it the first time. Is it the best value? Probably. Is it the most usable one out there? Maybe, but probably not.It really shines when nailing framing brackets. The special nails are hardened, and the nose piece makes it easy to get the nail exactly through the hole. And to go to regular nails, just slide off the nose piece and slide on the standard nose piece. And it works pretty well for regular nails as well. The major annoyance I had was that the largest sized nails seem available in 'indoor grade' only, so had to use a size smaller for rust resistance.It does seem to jam and misfire on occasion. To keep these to a minimum, never put in a new stick of nails when there is a stick already in there. It does not seem to be able to handle any 'discontinuity' between sticks. Usually a jam can be cleared without dissembly (besides sliding off the nose piece), but the 'last' jam ended up with a nail upside down and I had to remove the magazine to get it out. Fortunately, this happened with only 2 or 3 more nails to go in the project, so I didn't have to worry about clearing it until later. And once I got around to it, was pretty easy to accomplish.It is a bit difficult to tell when the last nail has been fired, which makes not being able to slap in a new stick when you get near the end a problem. If you have enough light, you can just look in the nose to see if there is the tip of a nail there, or if you have good concentration, you can count nails. In any case, it does not appear to do any significant damage to the unit to fire it 'dry' on occasion. I would not want to do it 'a lot', and it does mark up what you are nailing, so it should be avoided where practical.So, unless you really like hammering, get a framing nailer if you are going to be doing much framing. And this one is a good choice, particlarly if you want the capability to use the largest nails available and/or do a lot of metal framing brackets. If neither of these are needs for you, then perhaps you could find one which is a little easier to use.