Customer Reviews

Bosch SN350-20F Full Head Framing Strip Nailer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own two Bostitch nail guns...N88WW and the FPT33. I am happy and cannot complain and they continue to serve me well. I picked up the Bosch because I had seen the Full Force technology videos and needed another nail gun for my crew. This gun does not disappoint and is a serious contender.

The gun looks sharp and is built solidly. Yes, it may be made in Taiwan, but the quality, fit, and finish is very well done. There are no visible o-ring seals or extraneous adjustable or moving parts. The metal end cap is not adjustable and does not need to be since it vents out the front. There are pictures showing the use of the end cap as a hammer to knock studs into position...don't do that.

This gun has a blue anodized aluminum quick release magazine...great for clearing jams...which my gun never did. The magazine is offset at an angle...it felt weird at first, but the improved line of sight and improved ergonomics are a welcome change from my Bostitch. To cock the magazine you pull the slide lock back and it locks in the full open position, load the nails, nudge the slide back and it disengages to push the strip nails towards the firing pin. It feels light and maneuverable with balance provided by an attached air hose. There is no framing hook, but you can buy it for another $25.

It has a built-in selectable trigger for single safety shot or bump fire. The trigger is fast and responsive.

Depth adjustment is handled by a red knurled sleeve/nut...it has a continuous threaded action with index points and index marks near the aggressively pointed nose/muzzle. The bounce recoil is acceptable, I haven't double fired yet.

This gun fires 30 degree paper tape nail strips...the same nails I load into my 33 degree Bostitch. This gun locates and shoots nails very accurately...out of 100 nails, maybe 2 had to be set by hammer. Yes, Full-force technology will be a force to be reckoned with. You have to maintain this gun with oil. I do want to bring the following to your attention:

The gun will always leave about 7 nails in the strip in the magazine...you cannot empty the magazine by firing. Some may consider this a flaw, others a safety design, and others may appreciate that they didn't shoot a bunch of blanks....leaving firing pin marks all over the sub-floor or roof deck with no nails.

The air fitting on the gun is a 3/8" threaded hole. Depending on your hose fittings and compressor setup...make absolutely sure you also pick up a 3/8" NPT male to 1/4" NPT female reducing adapter (~$4) and a 1/4" swivel fitting (~$4). All my equipment uses 1/4" fittings. I couldn't hook my gun up until the following morning stop to the hardware store.

Overall, this is one of my new favorite tools and I would recommend this to anyone.

I was pleased to find that this new Bosch SN-350 framing nailer lived up to my expectations. Sturdy - stylish - sleek.

I found that the tool body is more narrow than any of my other framing nailers. This allows me to see where the nail is going more readily. I bought this because of a video I saw on YouTube explaining this tool's new air flow design.

While I expected the tool to be a little lighter, the steel magazine components and overall ruggedness make it well worth a hefty tool at a hefty price.

I have many Bosch tools, so when I wanted my first nail gun I was glad to see that Bosch had just started making them. I am putting up a 10x12 shed and then converting a garage into living space, so I thought a nail gun would speed up the process and do a better job than hand-nailing. So far I really like this nail gun. I watched videos and read articles about nail gun accidents before attempting to use this nail gun, and sure enough my first shot was a double-shot (side-by-side). Even though I had read about the recoil/bounce/held-trigger phenomenon, I wasn't quite prepared for it. After that first shot there have been no problems--except several dry-fires when I ran out of nails in the magazine. I have read that pin nailers (and others?) have anti-dry fire mechanisms, but this gun doesn't. I haven't checked to see if other framing nailers have anti-dry fire, but it would be nice. Pluses: easy to load the nails, easy to adjust the nail depth, easy to see the target, easy to see how many nails are left (but you have to look!), confidence in Bosch quality. Minuses: no anti-dry fire, not used to the weight yet (but all framing nailers are heavy, right?), I don't think a joist hook came with the gun (if one is even available). I will probably be buying another Bosch nail gun for the interior work. By the way, I couldn't wait for the Bosch air compressors to reach retailers, so I bought the twin-tank Makita that is so highly regarded. So far, it has been great and I would buy it again. Very quiet for a compressor--but I have to get a cart to move it or my back will give out.

I have been using this nailer quite a bit, it is wonderful. It shoots several different nail types not only 20 but 30 degree also, paper or plastic collated.

This gun is very well built. The only thing I believe needs to be clarified is the sn350-20 nailer does NOT have dry fire lockout. The gun will keep firing after empty.

I'm not a pro framer, I'm a guy who has a lot of rentals and builds all my own personal buildings for what its worth. I learned a few things in research and experience, so some of the info in this review will be old news to you if you're a pro-framer.

One thing that's unique about most full head framing nailers is the female connection is 3/8th inch instead of 1/4 like most guns( my 16 gauge finish, 18 gauge brad, 21 gauge pin, roofing nailer, and air stapler are all 1/4"). And most importantly, the fittings on my Dewalt-twin-hotdog compressor are 1/4". So it's not a standard connection. It's my only 3/8" air tool, so I wound up getting a 3/8" to 1/4" reducer for $2. I figure 90psi is 90psi. 1/8" difference of air volume doesn't make much of a difference.

Anyway I have this Bosch I got for $160 open box, and a Porter-Cable FC350A Clipped Head 2-Inch to 3-1/2-Inch Framing Nailer I got for $160 new, and uses a standard 1/4" adapter, so this review will focus on contrasting these two framing guns. They can both fire the same lengths of collated nails.

Clipped nails are more expensive. Full round heads are cheaper, and are required in some local building codes where there is severe wind/hurricane/tornado. The newest IBC might also require full round heads. Clipped heads let you put more nails into a gun. Contrary to popular myth on tool forums, plastic collation can be on both full and clipped head nails. So if you are cheap but don't want to skimp on structural soundness a full head framing gun is probably the route you want to take.

Back to the actual guns
They are both all metal except the bump/single switch on the trigger and the rubber grip on the handle. The porter cable has an adjustable air exhaust on the back that is plastic. The Bosch's air exhaust is not adjustable but it is metal and engineered to be a plate you can bump against 2x4's for positioning purposes. Better the tool than my hand.

The Bosch is narrower, so you can sight a nail a tad easier maybe, but framing isn't really that precise so I don't see that as a plus really, just a side bonus. The size difference does not feel like 20%, they really feel about the same size and weight in practice.

One thing nice about the Bosch is you can detach the entire strip from the gun by pulling a metal lever, which can be nice for storing purposes and clearing jams.. also if you ever need to replace it.

In practice, driving strength of both framers seems pretty close to me, I can't detect a 10% difference in power. If it wasn't driving right I would just adjust depth or air pressure. Maybe there is a way to test it, but that's above my pay grade. The head is all metal, the teeth grip good, and the depth adjustment is smooth. And so is the porter cables.

The porter cables adjustable exhaust I thought was a feature I couldn't live without but having exhaust vent predictably up is actually better, because I don't forget where it's going to vent then. I have surprised myself more than once with a blast from the porter cable I thought I had tilted in a different direction.

I honestly don't think there is $100 worth of better tool, at least not for me.

But that said, having paid $160 for each of them.. I gave the porter cable to my dad.

I was too excited to get this one after all positive reviews. It does feel nice to hold and it is light, but, unfortunately, jams a lot. Also, you have to keep it under angle when shooting nails, otherwise a strong blow of air hits you right in the face!

Bosch doesn't make a box to hold this tool when not in use. Instructions too vague about compatible nails to use in the device in instruction booklet. I sure as hell doen't need to keep the non English instructions. Need two or three separate booklets not one booklet with every language. I really could care less about keeping instructions not in English.