Customer Reviews

Bostitch N88RH-2MCN Industrial High-Powered Round Head Framing Nailer and Metal Connector

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've had this for about a year and am very happy with it. I've used it for roof and wall framing, sheathing, and siding. It has good power, light, comfortable, anti-slip pads, and the depth adjustment is very convenient, just push a button on the nosepiece and it moves in and out, very nice when you go from framing with 16d to sheathing with 10d so you don't drive through the plywood/OSB (face it, if you needed to get a tool to adjust the depth, you wouldn't do it!). This feature is also nice when you are doing exterior trim and siding so you don't just blow through the material (it comes with a rubber cover to cover up the toenailing teeth for finer work). But the real beauty of this nailer is that it converts to a positive placement gun. Push the same button that lowers the nose for depth adjustment and you pull the whole nose out and replace it with a positive placement nosepiece that allows you to shoot teco nails in metal connectors. (I'll agree with other reviewers that these nails are difficult to find, I got the sku from Stanley's webpage and did a special order at Lowes, price was fine, to dispel another reviewer's rant). With todays building codes, they want metal connectors on everything, I have joist hangers, rafter hangers (LSSU2110) and holddowns, this nailer really made this work bearable. There are better dedicated framing nailers (this doesn't have a bump trigger option) and positive placement nailers (this is big and sometimes can't reach in a corner) but this is a real nice combo unit if you want one that can do both. I have a gripe that it doesn't come with a bag/case, but I guess you can buy one separate. I also attached a rafter hook to mine available here at Amazon: Toolhangers Unlimited 21087T, it says it is for a wormdrive saw but it fits this nailer fine.

After using this nailer on numerous projects, I can now submit what I feel is an objective review of this product and hopefully dispel some of the incorrect information that is contained in other reviews. Based solely on some of the reviews located here, I hesitated for quite awhile on purchasing this tool...but now I am very pleased that I chose to do enough research to be fully confident in my purchase.

I am by no means a full-time professional framer, but I do enough construction work to separate junk tools from the good stuff. Since purchasing this gun few months ago I have sent around 50,000 framing and sheathing nails through it along with 10,000 metal connecting nails (MCN). In those 60k or so nails, I have had 0 - yes ZERO - misfires. I have has basically no maintenance out of the ordinary on this nailer. Additionally, this is a very fast and easy nailer to reload and to change from a framer to a MC tip (this can be done in under 10 seconds). The metal connecting ability of this tool is 'phenomenal'. It literally cuts the amount of time required by ...well I don't know exactly, but it's a lot ... and produces a superior result to hand done clips.

The weighting and balance does take a little getting used to if you are not familiar with an N88 style nailer, and can be a little tiring compared to some of the substantially lighter Hitachi's I have used. This is especially true when using it as a metal connector as much of the time you are working above your head. This issue is minor enough that I do not feel that it should factor into a person's decision to purchase this tool.

Other reviewers complaints seem to fall into three categories: durability, lack of a bump or contact trip trigger, and the availability of MC nails. As for the first issue - durability - I can only assume that they have received "lemon" nailers or have unnecessarily abused them. I know a few contractors/professionals that only use Bostitch nailers because of the company's long term reliability. In fact, I was working with a professional building a garage recently who was using a Bostitch N88WWB (the WWB and the RH mechanically similar tools) that he has had for a few years with very few problems. He was blown away by the versatility of the RH and will be buying one soon. He never could justify the expense of a dedicated metal connecting nailer and he needs to change nailers to meet many new local codes that ban clipped headed nails in framing.

Bostitch does not officially support using a bump trigger with this nailer, probably because some "genius" would use it while shooting MC nails. Though, as another reviewer noted, the contact trigger is available through Bostitch parts if you look under the N88RH (not 2MCN). The part you are looking for is CNTK1. Unfortunately, this part is not currently available through Amazon.com.

Finally onto the availability of the connector nails. I do feel that it is unfortunate that Amazon.com does not stock any of these nails, but I have come to understand that Bostitch makes it hard for all retailers to get their hands on them. With a little Internet searching they are definitely findable. Also, make certain you plan ahead and give yourself enough time to receive the nails, the best source I have found still takes around a week to deliver. As other reviews have noted, all of the big box retailers can special order them for you, though they probably will have no clue what you are talking about, just ask to see their Bostitch price sheet and look for the section that has model numbers that start RH-MC and you will be set.

Sorry for being so long winded, but I really feel that this is a superb tool that gotten a bad rap. It is unfortunate that it is not easier to find this information, which is certainly a fault of Bostitch. It becomes even more baffling when you take into account how much marketing Bostitch is putting behind this nailer.

I just bought this as my first nail gun and I'm really happy with it so far. Seems great as a framing nailer. The 21/22 deg nails are cheap and easy to get. But it truely shines as a metal connector gun. True, the 0.148 x 1.5" nails are tricky to find (I had to order them through Numax) and they are pricey, but you save so much time that it is worth it. It is easy to align the tool and it sinks the nails beautifully. Even if you don't do that much with metal connectors I don't know why you wouldn't get this nailer over other full head framing nailers. It makes joist hangers almost fun.

I have owned a lot of nailguns in my career as a general contractor. Before purchasing this gun I was a little sceptical about bostitch guns, especially a 2 in 1 positive placement gun. After using this gun for the past three months and installing nearly 10,000 positive placement nails with it I am 100% sold on this thing. I would never even think about doing a serious faming project without it. If you are even considering buying one of these do it, you won't regret it. This gun can install a full range of framing hardware nails, from 1 1/2" to 3 1/2"! And with a quick change of the nose, it converts to a normal nail gun (single fire, not bounce) in 3 seconds. This is such an advantage to every other positive placement gun out there.

I regularly use this gun for residential new construction/remodels. It generally works well for framing purposes and for hanging connectors. However, its one major detractor is that the MCN attachment (for nailing into connectors) is prone to breaking and is not easily replaced if it does break. We've gone through three of the attachments (lots of metal connectors required in my area) and have had a difficult time finding replacement parts. The MCN attachment is not available at the retail level and must be ordered through Stanley Bostitch (after a considerable wait). Thus, a decent tool but not totally reliable.

Just an update. I've now put upwards of 30,000 nails through this gun, and my opinion has only improved. If it wasn't locked, I'd change my rating from 4 to 5 stars. I love it. (March 2006)

I couldn't justify a separate framing nailer and a positive placement nailer, so this appealed to me. I was a bit worried by the two one-star reviews here. Both seemed a bit extreme, so I bought it, and haven't been sorry. It's well made and does what I need without annoying me. Favorite features are easy depth adjustment and framing to positive-placement changeover. I've done a good amount of both now, with frequent changes back and forth. My main issue is that it won't shoot a 16d nail when in positive-placement mode.

I've had none of the problems in the negative reviews. Yes, it's somewhat heavy, but no more than other framing nailers (same as the Hitachi NR83A2 recommended in the Alex Crowder review). Compared to other framing nailers, it may be a bit bulkier at the top, but the grip is standard, not "weird" in any way I can see. It seems no louder, and loading nails is extremely easy.

Finding nails was not a big problem. Lowes and Home Depot had framing nails (mostly off-name brands). I went to a pro supply place (Manor Hardware) for the connector nails, and I ended up buying all my nails there. I'm sure the high quality nails I used, Halsteel Trackers, are partly responsible for my good experience.

Being single-purpose, a dedicated positive-placement gun is most likely superior in some ways. All I can say is my combo Bostitch has worked great for me.

I recently replaced an old framing nailgun. The N88RH ranked highly in a recent builders' magazine review, but what really sold me on the N88RH-2MCN was the ability to drive nails in metal framing connectors.

I've been using the gun for about 6 weeks now with a Dewalt Emglo compressor and I love it. Depth-of-drive adjustment takes 2 seconds and requires no tools. Nails are driven consistently to the set depth. Loading is simple, and the gun feels durable. You have to change nosepieces (included) when going between standard framing nails and metal connector nails, but this is as quick and easy as adjusting the depth-of-drive.

I got my first framing connector nails today and set a couple dozen Simpson truss clips. Not a single miss, and every nail driven perfectly. The nails are hard to come by, and I had to check several hardware stores before I found one that could even special order them (it turns out that Home Depot was able to do this for me). True, the nails are a bit pricey, but labor is far pricier, so it's really not an issue when you consider how much time you save.

All in all, given how many metal framing connectors are used in typical residential construction nowadays, this gun is terrifically useful.

Needed a framing nail gun a few months ago and just happened to see this one on sale at one of the large lumber stores. Saw that it had this metal connector piece also, but had no idea what it was for. I did a little research and thought "cool, that might come in handy some day".

I've used this gun to frame, floor, roof, and put up siding. It handles the 3" nails well, sinking them deep into typical framing lumber. The adjustable tip is great; pull it out 5 clicks or so and you can leave the nail standing proud 1/2" or so. Great for temp. bracing. The only mis-fires or problems I've had are from 2" or shorter nails (1 1/2" metal connectors). I've found that the gun is a little fussy about having more than 1 clip of those size nails in it. Sometimes when it mis-fires I just pull back on the slider and release it, that seems to help get that first nail back into position. The worst mis-fire I had was with a metal connector nail. The gun fired a blank, then without checking it I fired another time and the nail came out backwards and lodged. It took 20 minutes to free it.

Other than those occasional hiccups this gun has performed well and had done everything I have asked of it. Considering the great price I paid for it I would very much buy it again.

It is so easy to switch between modes. Uses standard SENCO framing and metal connector nails. Available at most tool stores that carry SENCO products. When framing in the floor of a large shed it was great to be able to fasten the Simson Ties and switch to framing nails in seconds. It shot both the framing nails, Hardened Metal Connector Nails and 8d ring nails for the sub floor with out a hitch. The only problem is if you are not carefull with loading the nails and you damage the connecting strip in can jamb but the jambs are easy to clear. If you can't afford to get a dedicated metal fastner gun then this is the way to go.

I am a general contractor and just bought this gun. We are working with truss joists and hangers and the metal connector system worked great. You can fire from odd angles and the tip still works well. However, I found that loading a full clip with a partial still in the gun will sometimes result in a jam or misfire. I had a hard time finding MC nails but finally my local lumber yard found a supplier and is stocking them for me. Hopefully as this gun becomes more popular the nails will be easier to find. As a framing nailer the gun works well. It would not, however, sink 16's into a 5 1/2" thick LVL beam, but maybe thats asking too much! I love the gun and feel that it was a great purchase.