What's the difference between 15 ga and 16 ga?

[John M Wilson]

Answer: 1 ga :)

I am fixing to buy a finish nailer, and I've got it narrowed down to a couple (unless someone here talks me out of it). I've been looking at the Hitachi NT65M2 16 gauge nailer and the Hitachi NT65MA2 15 gauge nailer. (I already own the Hitachi NT50AE2 18 gauge brad nailer & like it).

So, what are the advantages/disadvantages of a 16 ga vs a 15 ga? Strength, power, weight, cost of fasteners? What criteria do I use to pick between the two?

Anybody have one, the other, or both & can pass along any learnings?

Any insight you have will be greatly appreciated!

[Matt Logana]

Answer: 1 ga :)

I am fixing to buy a finish nailer, and I've got it narrowed down to a couple (unless someone here talks me out of it). I've been looking at the Hitachi NT65M2 16 gauge nailer and the Hitachi NT65MA2 15 gauge nailer. (I already own the Hitachi NT50AE2 18 gauge brad nailer & like it).

So, what are the advantages/disadvantages of a 16 ga vs a 15 ga? Strength, power, weight, cost of fasteners? What criteria do I use to pick between the two?

Anybody have one, the other, or both & can pass along any learnings?

Any insight you have will be greatly appreciated!

15ga Nailers in a nutshell, drive thicker nails. So thus they have more power behind them, weigh a tad more(shouldnt be an issue unless you do construction all day lugging them around), and unfortunately the nails probably cost about a penny/doz more than 16ga.

Essentially from what I read: 16 guage is good for tacking on things (Ex: a moulding on the edge of a piece of plywood being used as a keyboard tray). Whereas 15 guage holds better for things that take more abuse(Ex: Tacking on the slides to the desk)

[Greg R Bradley]

The typical 16ga finish nainler fires a nail/brad very much like a 18ga brad nailer. It looks just like an 18ga brad but slightly bigger. Probably should be called a 16ga brad. Slightly more strength in the shank and a tiny bit more head than 18ga brad. The big difference compared to 18ga is the capacity for 2.5".

The typical 15ga finish nailer is the angled feed type and fires a round nail with a round head. Very much like a finish nail that you drive with a hammer. Alot more holding power, particularly where the size of the head is important for holding power. Huge hole to fill if you are not covering it up with something.

There are unusual varients of at least one of the above but the ones you mentioned follow the norm. If you were doing the finish work in an entire house you would want both along with the 18ga.

[Van Huskey]

The 15ga is just a tad hevier. I have a 23ga, 18ga (1 brad 1 stapler), 16ga and framing nailer, never ran into anything that made me feel like I needed anything else.

[Peter Quinn]

Ditto what Greg said. 16GA is an over grown brad, maybe good to hold basic base molding, back bands, smaller bed moldings, panel mold set at an angle that 18ga wont quite reach. I would not hang large casings or most crown with a 16ga. 15 ga has more in common with a framing nailer than a brad nailer in terms of build and power. It has that "your going to stay where I put you" sort of effect on moldings. It also has that "big darn entrance hole that must be filled" sort of effect, so I only use it where its needed, and it has that "I will blow small moldings to smithereens" type of effect too. I remember the first time I tried to shoot a small cove in with mine. Stupid. Boom, cove molding split and crushed!

There is a place for both, I use the 18ga and 15ga mainly. Mine is a PC, so I can't help on brands, but most hitachi guns I have used have been very good.

[John Coloccia]

You need to have both. If there was a 15.5ga, you'd need that one too.

[John McClanahan]

Since you have an 18 gauge brad nailer, I suggest skipping the 16 ga. and get the 15 gauge. It shoots real nails.

John

[Dave MacArthur]

Hmm. Well, all the actual answers have been given. So, since 16 ga is truly the sweetest gun to use for bird hunting:
16 ga is the size of a bore that will hold 16 lead balls that add up to a pound. 15 ga is a wee bit bigger, 15 balls filling it will add up to a pound. But really, 15ga is too much, and 12 gauge is WAY too much gun... ;)

[Will Blick]

Great thread....
I plan to install a bunch of shelf supports, made from Maple, about 3/4" thick...the supporting structure will be Maple or Baltic Birch Ply...

My fear of 15g was, it would split the hard Maple, it is 1.25" wide. ... I know the 16g has no problems, cause I use it all the time, but as mentioned previously, the 16g brad is quite wimpy for this applicaiton..... I don't have a 15g nailer....yet....

Any wood cracking or blow-out with 15g into hard woods?

[Rich Engelhardt]

The 15ga is just a tad hevier. I have a 23ga, 18ga (1 brad 1 stapler), 16ga and framing nailer, never ran into anything that made me feel like I needed anything else.


+1 to that.
I have more or less the same setup.

However...

I'm planning on replacing the nastly old hollow core bedroom doors with some six panel oak ones @ some point. I've budgeted in a 15 ga. nailer for that project.
I've hung numerous hollow core pre hung doors w/the 16 ga, but, my gut feeling is that 16 ga isn't enough for the oak doors.

[David Giles]

15 ga is better suited for door trim, inside house trimwork. The larger diameter and heads have better holding power. For most woodworking tasks, a smaller gauge is more than adequate and leaves smaller holes. 18ga or 23ga usually fits the bill.

[John M Wilson]

Once again, SMC provides such great feedback! Based on the discussion, I just "pulled the trigger" :) on a Hitachi NT65MA4 15 gauge nailer (updated version of the NT65MA2).

I figured I had the brad world about covered with the 18 ga I had, and needed the holding capability of nails with real heads.

Thanks for all the advice & Happy Nailing!

[Will Blick]

John....ditto, I just did the SAME!

I always felt the 16's were too close to the 15's to justify another nail gun, but after this thread, and an upcoming project which needs more holding power, I searched the Amazon reviews and went with the same Hitachi you did!

Of course, owning a few Hitachi nail guns, it would take some really negative reviews to steer me away from future Hitachi gun purchases. But as expected, the 15g have the same glaring reviews as the other Hitachi gauges I own. The Dewalt scored high, but at the same price point, so I excecuted my brand loyalty. It seems some makers excel at certain product lines, and yet, fall short in other lines. Hitachi routers and corded drills are mediocre.

Festool is the exception, but considering their consistent top tier pricing, its to be expected.

[Dave Lewis]

I have a Hitachi NT65MA2 15-ga nailer.

Most of the 16 ga. nailers are straight base and the 15 ga. are angled - easier to get in corners.

I bought mine to nail casing thru our house.

No problems with the Hitachi

[Darrell Bade]

Interesting thread. I asked the same thing a couple of months ago and the answer was totally different. That thread indicated that the 15 ga is for hanging doors and the 16 is for inside trim.

Hope my base and case does not fall off with the 16 ga nails in it.:eek:

[Jim Andrew]

I used to use a Senco 15 gauge nailer for trim work, then got into oak trim. Cracked a lot of trim. The 16 gauge is easier on the trim. For softer woods, 15 gauge is great. When I got a new nailer, I got the Hitachi 16 gauge without the angle, and it has worked fine. They also have the Hitachi with the angle, higher priced as are the nails. Hitachi nailers hardly ever need repairs. The old Senco needed to be rebuilt regularly. What really sucked was when it started driving the nail about 1/2" into oak and then sticking. The repair people said there was nothing wrong with it.

[Will Blick]

John, this thread must have hogged up all the Hitachis at Amazon, they now give me a date of Sept 18...

No problem, I just found it at Sears.com for $135.... saved a few bucks... in stock...

BTW, good point brought up about the 15g being angled vs. the straight 16 g nailer

[Will Blick]

Ahhhh, well, now I know the difference between 15g and 16g. Got the Hitachi 15g and used it on a hardwood project. I have used 16g up till now as my largest finish nailer.... and as others have mentioned, the 15g is a real nail...vs. those wimpy 16g brads... :-)

My fear in the past with 15g was, with hardwoods, like Maple, Walnut, Cherry, the 15g would crack the wood... well, these nailers are so damn good, I had zero cracks, even when nailing near the edge of Maple... I was driving 2.5" nails... and they drove like a hot knife through butter....

If I was to do it over again, I would probably go with an 18g and 15g, the 16g is a real luxury to own if you have the other two. Of course, a 23g is still useful for very small projects, as the damn pin is nearly invisible after insertion, great for small stuff...

The Hitachi 15g MA4 lived up to all the other Hitachi nailers I have... superb... a great product at a great price point. Its possible other brands are equally good, I have not tried them all, but would never hesitate to reccomend Hitachi nailers. I started with Hitachi after rave reviews, and now I am one of those who will continue to rave about their nailers. I payed $135 on sale at Sears.com.

oh, final comment.... the 15g nailer is HUGE vs. Hitachi's 16g.... can't see this in the pictures, but side by side, its very significant... I would say its as big as my Bostich nail driver (for framing)