I have posted this review in Hitachi MA2 version, a long favorite of professionals. I wanted to write this, and considering it really is about MA4. Here it is.
I've done / doing some professional carpenter and has a lifetime of experience. The air-driven nails, I have Porter Cable upholstery stapler, their 23-gauge pin nailer, a 18 gauge, two of their 16 gauge nails. I bought impulsively Bostitch after reading the first page reviews, and then spent a few hours researching Hitachi vs. Bostitch. After comparison, this is what I found.
Many people are jumping on the band wagon, Bostitch, because it is the lightest at 3.8 pounds, it is dry as in no oil, and it has class-leading 400 inch pounds of force. I was dazzled and bought it immediately. After digging deeper, I refuse Bostitch and Hitachi. They both have the "durable composite newspaper" (plastic) that hold nails. Hitachi with its aluminum body weighs only 0.4 pounds more at 4.2 instead of 3.8. That extra 0.4 will not make a difference. The oil issue is obviously an advantage in that Bostitch end, but my other nails are all oiled, and everything I do is run two or three nails into a piece of scrap to blow out excess oil when it was first put a few drops into the gun, the rest of the time and it is dry. Although the 400 pounds of torque is not a problem because the 15 gauge nails has plenty of power, compared to 16 gauge, so much so that a small difference in power is irrelevant. When I borrowed a computer, 15-meter and the first shot it, it went to a prisoner of war instead of a pop as the 16th Considerably more force led me to drive nails into the tongue side of a 7 / 8 "board deep enough I do not need to come out of my center punch and tap it into the rest of the way it ran deep and the color on the first attempt each time after setting it properly.
I am concerned about the many reviews that appear mostly on all other pages Bostitch about having problems with drivers failure. Professionals who hit the nail when you drive a nail complain about having to go back and spend $ 35 to get the driver changes every time they do. On the other hand, Hitachi has lots of reviews from many deeply experienced professionals who use it daily for years and never had a hiccup, with the exception of a single, easily corrected nail marmalade. I use this time to drive the spikes in the crown moldings in an approximately 1955 houses with plaster walls and corners are all reinforced with wire lath, so it's likely that I will hit the metal more than a few times. I would not worry about having to send it back to the store to replace a driver, every time I do.
This Hitachi NT65MA2 15 gauge has been updated twice. The three were out earlier in a lime green, and now the new element is the same model with a 4, which NT65MA4. It has the same layout, but a slightly different look with the same industrial feel to it and it is not lime green or gray, but silver. It seems that the majority is also a bit larger.
The Bostitch is a great tool, but you will notice that the home hobby is to praise it more and Pro are booing it more. All you need do is look down the results of the review, and you will see Bostitch, a comprehensive review bass with a liberal amount of 3's, 2's and 1's and 4's and 5's. Hitachi is mostly 5's and some 4's with paragraph 3, 2 or 1 is all. It's a pretty drastic difference. With reviews dating back to 2004, there are a lot of time for someone to hate tools, and no one does.
I wanted to say that MA4 is only available at the time of writing this review from an Amazon merchant and not an Amazon in stock item, but I'm sure Amazon will pick it up directly soon. There was another decision I had to do. Should I buy the older proven, super revised MA2 model, or go to the latest version from Hitachi and get MA4. After speaking with the rep he mentioned that it was the same industrial grade equipment MA2, so I went for it. The body of MA4 is also a little beefy.
Now at Hitachi, and some of the things I love about it. Only has an air blowing operation. You might think it's trite, but it is a great feature that everyone raves about. When I bought my Bosch jig saw it had a fan line, which would remove the dust from where the blade meets the wood so you can see the line. After having spent less knitting and not being able to see the line, thanks to instant dust buildup, it was something of an improvement, so I'm partial to the air blowing capacity. Even with a nail gun, you do not end with the same problem, this thing has a fan that is so strong that you can clear out a large work desk with only a few seconds, it comes in handy. It also has an interesting connection inlet that is configured so that you can keep the air line of the road, and suspended in the air, so it's not as likely to bump into things. Hitachi has also continuous firing opportunity while Bostitch has the common firing only option. With continuous firing you squeeze the trigger, and as soon as you throw your head into the work piece, fire it several times. You may have seen this feature on the weapon used to put tar paper on the side of buildings. Once up the ladder as they spread out a sheet, and Pow, pow, pow. None of these things for the placement of the gun, pressing his nose and then fire. It is good when doing precision work, but when you have large areas that require several shots to the many fires function is great.
Nail availability. The Bostitch is the odd man out when it comes to nails in the industry, they accept only Bostitch nails. So Bostitch's patented force you to buy their nails. Hitachi accept the popular standard sizes from other manufacturers, so when you are in a job you can access them locally, and not have to worry about overcrowding everything all the time. I generally still prefer to use Hitachi Hitachi nail gun in the case, but when you see ads for B & C Eagle fingernails State "Fits SENCO, Hitachi, PC, Rigid, Milwaukee, Makita, artisans, DeWalt, and most other 15 - gauge angled finish with arms. "So you can see that you will never be stuck finding a compatible nails for Hitachi 15-gauge nail gun.
Total Bostitch is not a bad weapon, but it seems that jams are more common after some use, and of course, when they occur, bow and destroy wood. Perhaps this feature to get more power may be the reason that the driver is broken. By combining it with a non-oil environments may be the culprit.
I have also seen some pretty high prices Hitachi equipment, and with the discounts I could buy it at a price, super close to Bostitch. Bostitch is a good name, but in this case, when I Hitachi better. Hitachi has a nice case, and even a pair of safety glasses, nice touch. I just wish they included a small bottle of oil. Maybe they do not want to deal with oil spills create a mess problems. Well, no biggie. The bottom line for me is simple to use with more spikes to drive opportunities and reliability.
