Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22191 in Home Improvement
• Brand: Porter-Cable
• Model: BN200A
• Dimensions: 3.50" h x 13.75" w x 17.00" l, 2.75 pounds

Amazon.com Review
This Porter-Cable 18-gauge, 2-inch brad nailer is a compact, comfortable-to-carry unit that might not offer quite as many extras as other (more expensive) units, but it's very reliable and does its job well. This nailer shoots standard brads from 3/4 to 2 inches long and has an anodized magazine with a reload indicator. The die-cast aluminum body is lightweight but still very strong, and the handle is comfortable to hold, even over long periods of time. The quick-release nosepiece lets you clear jams quickly and easily. Other features include a sequential fire trigger, a safety that's located behind the driver guide for driving brads in tight spaces, an easy-to-adjust depth guide, a directional exhaust port, and a removable rubber nose. The kit comes with a 1/4-inch male coupler with dust cover, a rugged plastic carrying case, oil, and 1,000 brads. --Jonathon Tudor

From the Manufacturer
Porter-Cable BN200A 3/4-Inch to 2-Inch 18 Gauge Brad Nailer

Customer Reviews

A Powerhouse for the home shop
I bought this model because I could not originally afford a finish nailer. I do some production work and and was looking for a break from hand nailing everything. Well it's two years later and I still have not bought a finish nailer. This little powerhouse just doesn't fail. Aside from a few nails that hit a knot and bent sideways, this is a sure thing. Trim is permanently applied and joints are strong (with a bead of glue). I can attest after thousands of nails that this gun keeps working and with a little care (clean and oil), it just keeps on going, and going...

One minor issue - the safety clip (allows the gun to fire when it is pressed against the wood) on my model is metal. It occassionally scratches finish material (it is well used). I have filed it smooth, but it still gets dinged up over time. A rubber tip would be preferred, but I suspect those would wear out over time anyway.

A good little brad nailer so far
One of my coworkers recently bought a reconditioned Porter Cable BN200A because the Senco SLP20 at work wouldn't countersink brads anymore. The first Porter Cable brad nailer he bought was defective (misfired), so he exchanged it for one that worked properly. We've been using the Porter Cable for several weeks now, and it has held up nicely.

We've mainly used it on quartersawn oak, particularly the smaller pieces of trim. The adjustable depth of drive functions as expected, and the nailer has had adequate power. It countersinks well and leaves only a small hole in the wood. The only time I've experienced difficulties with it was when I tried to fasten trim to a plaster-coated brick wall in an old house. The brads couldn't penetrate the brick behind the plaster. However, this isn't a shortcoming of the nailer since I couldn't even get my 15-gauge Hitachi finish nailer to drive through the brick without pretzelling.

I like the short height of this brad nailer--it came in handy when attaching trim behind a cast iron radiator where there wasn't much room. Another nice feature is the cap that covers the air inlet when not in use. This helps keep the ever present jobsite dust & dirt out of the nailer.

My only complaint is that the safety mechanism lies below the firing hole. This means that if the non-marring tip isn't used, there needs to be a solid surface at the bottom portion of the nose. If the gun is pointed perpendicular to a wall or floor with the nose pressed against quarter-round shoe base molding only the top portion of the nose hits the quarter-round shoe base but the molding curves off so much that the safety doesn't get depressed. I have to position the nailer parallel to the wall to get it to fire into the shoe base, but unfortunately this puts the wide axis of the brad's head (the brads have rectangular heads) against the grain of the wooden shoe base.

If you're trying to decide between buying a 15-gauge or 18-gauge nailer, perhaps this will help. In my opinion, the 15-gauge nailer is more versatile because 1) it can fire longer nails (good for attaching crown molding, door casing, baseboards and some framing applications); 2) it can be used for structural applications like setting prehung windows & doors; 3) the 15-gauge nails are more difficult to bend so they have better success when firing into hard or dense surfaces (plaster & lath, plaster over mortar, soft brick, thick MDF, etc.); 4) angled 15-gauge finish nailers can fit into some spaces better than straight brad nailers. However, the 18-gauge brad nailer excels in firing into small diameter trim pieces (door jambs, shoe base, etc.) and in situations where the size of the nail hole is more important than the strength or length of the nail. Although some 18-gauge brad nailers can fire up to 2 inch long brads, the longer brad lengths are so thin that they sometimes have difficulty penetrating dense materials without pretzelling all over the place. A 15-gauge nail will generally penetrate farther and hold better.

I gave the Porter Cable 4 stars (instead of 5) because the first one my coworker bought was defective.

Update: Since writing this review I've bought an Hitachi NT50-AE and a Paslode T200-F18 brad nailer. I wouldn't recommend the Hitachi, but Paslode deserves serious consideration.

Second update: Hitachi has now come out with an improved NT50-AES nailer that no longer misfires and is my favorite, even over the Paslode.

Good for the price
This brad nailer is better than the older PC it replaces. It's not a bad import tool. Certainly adequate for a serious home shop. Plenty of power for 2" brads in oak. If you don't want to buy two finish guns , this may be a good compromise between a small brad nailer and a finish nailer. If you don't mind spending more money , I highly recommend the Senco slp 20. It's much smoother in operation, much more refined and it's not made in Taiwan.