Customer Reviews

Milwaukee 5380-21 1/2-Inch 9-AMP Heavy Duty Hammer Drill

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Awesome product for sure but then again, it is a Milwaukee. This drill has the professional in mind with all its features. It is well balanced and easy to use even for a homeowner. Thank God this has a keyed chuck, keyless chucks are horrible and don't grip well. I am happy with my purchase and the price paided. The drill is as advertised with no surprises. The only CON I have is the unit being an import (American Made Rules). Everything out there is presently an import, so pick your poison but make it Milwaukee.

I bought this drill at Home Depot, drilled 4-5 5/8" holes in concrete and it failed. This drill got very hot, and was also not so fast drilling into concrete. A 16/th inch per 2 minutes is not an exaggeration at points in the drilling process.

Anyhow, I took it back and got my money and bought the Bosch Rotary Hammer at Lowes. By the way, the Bosch is rated the fastest drilling Rotary Hammer on the market. The model is Bosch RH328VCHQ. You can see the details of this on Bosch Tools site and also some detail on here. Also, buy it at Lowes, not Amazon, as it is about $70.00 cheaper there. Amazon sells the RH238VCH (missing the "Q") here for $319.00 (which is a downgraded version of this one) at the same price you can purchase the upgraded version for at Lowes. You can also use this on just the "Hammer" setting as a mini jack hammer/chipper. Pretty cool.

I did not have time to go try another Milwaukee to see if it was just the one drill I had bought.

Also, if you are buying this drill to drill smaller diameter holes such as 1/4" or so, for tapcons &c, a much cheaper drill will do the job just as well for homeowners, even most cordless drills with hammer settings will do the job. The Bosch will work well for those in business or on larger tasks needing more frequent useage.

Overall, I have had nothing but good from Milwaukee until I got this tool.

I wouldn't depend on this as a contractor to take to a job and then depend on it to drill multiple holes. I can't say enough for their other tools, and I own several Milwaukee tools, and I can't say enough for how the Bosch worked in comparison, as there was no comparison whatsoever. 6" deep holes into particularly hard concrete at 5/8" diameter took about 15 seconds or less.

Also, not as a point of attack, just making comment based upon those who posted on this, but all the reviewers here, but one, were using this to drill decent size holes (1/2" accordingly).

I hope this helps.

I discovered the Milwaukee 5380-21 when I owned an old 3/8" corded drill and wanted to get into the 1/2" drill category. I was not looking for a hammer drill but found the added expense quite modest when compared with the ability to hammer into masonry which being a relatively new homeowner I realized I would have need of this function. I have drilled weep holes in a retaining wall and drilled pilots for tapcon fasteners with this drill, with ease. It is very powerful drill and is an excellent twist drill. I very much like the keyed chuck with a drill this robust. The support handle can be rotated 360 degrees and twists on and off the drill in seconds. This is my third Milwaukee tool and the quality of the tool's construction and storage case is excellent as always.

Bought this drill to punch through 5" of concrete to run a pipe. The drill handled it just great, and worked well even in some tight corners. The variable speed is nice and the drill had plenty of torque for everything I did with it. My only complaint is that the anti-vibration mechanism can give your hand a little pinch if you don't have your hand exactly on the grip. No big deal, just wear gloves or keep your hand on the grip. But, after drilling 20+ holes in rapid succession, you tend to want to adjust your grip a bit.

The job: drill 32 2" deep 5/32" holes into 2'x2'x6' concrete retaining blocks from the local masonry company.

Wrong tool: I spent spent over an hour and a half exhausted myself to drill 8 of the 32 holes using my standard drill with masonry bits. I also ruined 2 masonry bits in the process. Something had to change!!

Right tool: After doing some research on hammer drills I went to the local big box store and picked up this drill. I was not prepared for the results. This drill got to the required depth almost as fast as a standard bit would into a piece of wood. I bought a 5 pack of the Bosch bits thinking I would chew them up but that was not the case. I only used one bit for the rest of the holes and it took me less time to drill the other 24 than the first 8 with the conventional drill. When they say a hot knife through butter, believe it. Milwaukee makes some of the best tools on the market imho. You won't regret this purchase. You only have to buy a quality product 1 time. Spend a little more, get the tool that is designed for the job and enjoy your journey!

I received the Drill in a few days after ordered and was very pleased with the ability to switch from hammer drill to regular drill. The drill is not a "light weight" but I don't want to have to replace it for a long time.

I needed to attach a plywood subfloor to a concrete slab with tapcon screws - this drill easily handled the 80+ holes I needed to drill for the project. I would recommend for those in the market for a powerful, high-quality tool. The only surprise for me is the price - actually cheaper at Home Depot ($159) than here at Amazon...

If you want the best hammer drill on the market, bar none, then get a Milwaukee 9 amp, 1/2" hammer drill. It is American made and drills through concrete like butter. I have a Nicad 18 volt battery drill(Dew alt), which is a good drill, but doesn't have the staying power of a corded drill. It could be the batteries need replacing, or it could just be the limited power of an 18 volt drill. I have used both for many years, and have always loved using my Milwaukee 1/2" hammer drill. I will be purchasing other Milwaukee products in the future. For quality, dependability, and a tool that gets the job done every time, get a Milwaukee product.

My previous Milwaukee drill worked like a champ for over fifteen years. I wanted to get the same quality so I went with Milwaukee again. The 5380-21 failed after approximately 50 holes in the hammer mode. The chuck stopped turning after less than an hour of use. I finished the job with a Hitachi drill costing less than half of the price. Milwaukee lost their legendary quality when they moved their manufacturing facilities to China. I am so disappointed. I will not buy Milwaukee again.

I've purchased this drill twice. Both cases the switch has gone out. I assumed the first one was a fluke, but for it to go out on the second one. It's a rarely used tool with a good reputation. What happen? I've got a new switch on order. If it fails, I'm jumping ship from Milwaukee.