Milwaukee is soon launching a new M18 Fuel cordless 16 gauge straight finish nailer, model 3020.
The new Milwaukee cordless finish nailer joins the brand’s M18 Fuel 15 gauge and 16 gauge angled finish nailers, which launched in early 2022.
Milwaukee says that they “redesigned the nailer from the ground up, giving carpenters and remodelers the power, performance, and runtime they need.”
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This is not Milwaukee’s first cordless 16 Gauge straight finish nailer; the 2741 launched in 2016.
Advertised as having a zero ramp-up time, the new nailer is ready to drive nails without delay. There’s no delay between pulling the trigger and the nail firing, giving users “a pneumatic fire rate without the hassles of an air hose.”
As with Milwaukee’s other M18 Fuel cordless nailers, this one does not require any gas cartridges to operate, and no maintenance is required.
Features include a built-in nitrogen air spring mechanism, tool-free depth adjustment, sequential and bump-fire actuation modes, LED work light, tool-free jam clearing latch, dry fire lockout, reversible belt hook, and spare tip storage built into the magazine.
The nailer is compatible with all 16GA straight finish nails 1 – 2-1/2″ long.
- Drives 16GA straight finish nails
- 1-2.5″ nail capacity
- Brushless motor
- LED work light
- 110 nail magazine capacity
- 12.9″ L x 11.7″ x 5″ wide (tool-only)
- Weighs 6.2 lbs (tool-only)
Price: $329 (tool-only, 3020-20)
ETA: August 2023
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Steve L
I have the M12 23GA pin nailer. Pleasure to use.
This M18 16GA is larger and heavier. Has to be. But it has the same overall design and pneumatic drive system as the 23GA.
I expect this to be very good tool.
MoogleMan3
What always makes me curious about the M12 pinner is that it lacks the “fuel” designation.
MKY
Stuart –
Milwaukee says that this new straight finish nailer was “redesigned ***the nailer*** from the ground up
Stuart
Thank you – sorry – *fixed*!
John
I have the M18 narrow crown stapler (love it) and the 23 g pin nailer (bought this spring as part of bundle and have yet to use).
I’d like to pick up an M18 finish (or brad) nailer for various interior trim — window and door casings and baseboards).
Would the 16 g be a good all purpose compromise for me? Seems 18 g brad nailers and 15 g finish nailers are more common, but I don’t do enough of these projects to justify buying two additional guns.
Appreciate any advice. Thank you!
Josh Walters
Your dead on, the 16 is the in-between, most carpenters prefer the 15ga for serious work like hanging doors or nailing hook strip for shelves but you probably could get away with a 16. For the most part they leave a similar size hole but the 15 is that much stronger. For nailing reveals or other lighter duty the 18ga is the go to. If it’s for yourself or you don’t mind your painter hating you, then a 16 can do pretty much everything, but personally it would be the last gun I’d buy of all the finish guns, after the 15 and 18, (tier 1) then the 23ga (tier 2), finally the 16ga bringing up the rear. (Tier 3)
Steve L
I talked to folks who know a lot more than I do when I wanted to buy a finish nailer years ago. Was told the exact same – get a 15 and 18. I had hoped to only buy one nailer, a 16; but, having a 15 and 18 has worked well on my projects.
Very good advice from Josh
fred
I think that I agree – have both a 15ga and 18ga and have never missed not having a 16ga for carpentry work. For pins and my furniture building – my go to is a 21ga Cadex – but also have a 23ga Grex for really delicate stuff. But for furniture work – it is glue that is really providing the holding power and the pins are mainly to hold the trim in place while the glue sets.
MM
I don’t pretend to be a pro carpenter but 15 and 18 is what I ended up with as well. I started with the 18 for trim, then I found some jobs where I wanted something bigger but a full-size framing nailer would have been too much. If I get another it will be the 23. At the moment I’m working on a furniture project where it would be very handy.
Big Richard
MM, over at HD you can buy the DeWalt Atomic 23g pinner for $249 and get a “free” PowerStack DCB034C starter kit. If you decide you don’t really need that starter kit, you can return it for for about $100, netting you the pinner for $150.
Deal is not online yet, I don’t think it is supposed to go live until Aug 1, but I did it in store earlier this week. Love it so far.
MM
Thanks for the heads up on that Big Richard, that is a great price!
Big Richard
I’d been waiting since it launched to find it for around that $150 mark, when I saw this I jumped on it.
And fyi, if you plan to use 3/4″ pins read this, it’ll save you some headaches – https://www.toolservicenet.com/i/DEWALT/GLOBALBOM/QU/DCN623B/1/Useful_Information/EN/DCN623-CMCN623_service_bulletin_-_23g_pins.pdf
Munklepunk
I love the 16. Just a bit bigger than the 18 but gives a lot longer length. The big advantage is that you can do thick base or similar and leave a small hole. It’s also good for t&g because it has less of a chance of splitting like the 15 or 16 angled and is, again, longer than the 18.
MFC
I would actually encourage the opposite of what others have said. I have rarely ever used my 15 gauge nailer. The nail heads are substantially larger than a 16 ga. nailer (60% maybe?) and I find it’s just not needed. Whether you’re talking about hardie siding trim or or regular crown and door moulding a 16 gauge finish nailer is what I, and every carpenter around here uses. As long as you are nailing your trim, to a stud or solid piece of lumber, a 16 gauge nail is very difficult to remove.
Typically 18 gauge is used to attach trim to the door casing and 16 ga. for everything else. The only time I have ever really used my 15 ga. finish nailer is when I am installing oak flooring, but even then I prefer 18 when I face nail because the nail head is so much smaller.
Another reason to choose 16 gauge is that it doesn’t split wood like 15. The power and thickness of the 15 gauge nailer can easily destroy pieces of wood. It’s fine for the main body of a piece, but 16 is strong and doesn’t split stuff like 15.
In the end, you’ll probably end up buying 23, 18, 16 and 15 gauge nailers like most of us, but I’d still recommend 18 and 16 as the best starters for general work. If you need more holding power, then it’s time to move onto trim screws and/or adhesive.
fred
While I’ll stand by what I said before, what you say is probably also true. When I was looking (20 years ago) to buy a finish nailer, I asked our carpenters for a recommendation. I found that we were using Hitachi 15ga. pneumatics- so that’s what I bought (a NT65MA2). I suppose if they had been using 16ga. nailers – then I would have bought one of them and would never have missed the 15ga.
eddie sky
Same. I have Hitachi 15″, 18″ and brad. But I did get a Dewalt framing nailer (cordless) and its wonkly. IF shooting perpendicular, it sets nails fine. If you toenail a shot, you always need to follow with a nailset and hammer. Great for in a pinch framing/blocking but still carry a hammer. Not with the pneumatics, unless PSI drop.
My question is, with the batter-powered nailers, like the Fuel series shown, the weight is my concern. How do you like the heft and can you nail all day? My pneumatic (magnesium or aluminum frames) are super light, and lately the hose is the drag not the nailer. I guess if I had to start again, I’d go battery. Just I have paid off compressors, and tools… hose is cheap. But the pros over cost for battery are versatility, no need for compressor wait… and I do mostly trim (casing, base, shoe, crown).
Michael F
If you already have a 15 and an 18 what is the use case for a 16? I guess it leaves a smaller hole so if you install board and batten or shiplap all day long and you need more than an 18 I could see the use.
MFC
So from an analytical standpoint 16 does not split material like 15. 15 is strong, but 16 is fully adequate for most, if not all, aspects of modern construction. The nails are also cheaper and more readily available in different flavors (sizes and types). And there is a big enough difference between 18 and 16 in holding power to where they complement each other. Even Hardie cement siding asks specifically for 16 ga. SS nails for their trim because 15 gauge ss nails would be expensive ($35 for 500 vs $11 for 500) and they would probably blow out the cement trim when doing corners and nailing the pieces to each other. Also, when you want a bigger nail for holding pickets up, or something like that, the 15 ga. nail head isn’t big enough, so if anything I have found my 15 ga. nailer is primarily a dust collector. I have used it when I needed to hang some massive crown moulding or blind nailing oak/engineered flooring.
Subjectively, the 16 is lighter, and you get a feel for how it is going to react to different pieces. It is just a better experience when you’re nailing off thousands of rounds with a 16 ga. finish nailer vs. a 15 ga. I almost feel like I’m using a 30 degree nail gun with a 15 ga. finish nailer.
My opinions, but I’ve done a lot of trim outs in residential construction over the years so it’s based on experience as well.
RandomToolComment
Milwaukee appears to have two 16 gauge nailers on the M18 platform, an angled model and a straight one.
How would you decide if the angled or straight is the best one for a project? I’m hoping to understand when you would chose one versus the other.
fred
Take a look at the two tools side by side. Some things to compare:
Is there a size difference that matters to you for getting into tight spaces?
The angled-up magazine may help clear some obstructions – is that important to you?
What about the number of nails that the magazine holds?
How about weight?
Cost differences for the tools and/or bundles/promotions?
Ken
I might be in the minority, but I’m still not sold on battery-powered nailers. They are still too much heavier and larger than other options. I am using Paslode cordless. The Paslode 16-gauge is 4.5 lbs (with battery & gas) and the Milwaukee 16-guage is about 8 lbs (with 4Ah battery). That’s almost double the weight. In my experience the Paslode cordless are a lot more enjoyable to use than battery-only nailers. Anyone else feel this way?
Munklepunk
The noise, the smell, the cleaning, the “I’ll just stop working because it’s Tuesday, yeah, I know you have perfectly maintained me, but still, Tuesday”
JR Ramos
I was very hesitant but have gotten to use a few and I’ve been impressed. I only own the M18 18ga brad myself…it’s been great, no issues whatsoever. I used a couple of the Paslode “cordless” like you have but that was back in the 90s – they were great but had a fair amount of issues at least in those early years (not sure about now but they’re still around so I’d assume that they ironed out the kinks).
The weight of battery nailers doesn’t bother me most of the time (sometimes it seems like an advantage actually) but I do notice the bulk and once in awhile that’s a minor issue (primarily the brad and pin nailers, a little with the 16ga straight). The power is there and thus far it seems like the reliability is as well. No reason to switch from gas cartridges if you don’t mind that setup…the tradeoffs/advantages between air and battery are a larger gap, imho.
I may pick up this new model 16ga…considered it for a couple years but decided to wait. Milwaukee seems to have given good attention to their nailers with improvements and corrections so it’s probably a good tool if judging by their others lately is a good indicator.
fred
When I sold up and retired, we had a lot of Paslode Impulse guns. The guys seemed to grab them for most punch-list jobs – but were still using pneumatics for larger jobs. I hear comments about the smell – particularly in confined spaces like powder rooms. But the guns were often chosen for those jobs to avoid dealing with the hose. We had a workout center mechanic who maintained our tools – so he did the regular spray cleaning of the combustion chambers/pistons – keeping the Paslodes ready for use.
In the intervening 12 years, I’ve heard that there has been a move to cordless – so I don’t know if of how often the Paslode guns still get used.
For me personally, I still have mostly pneumatic guns (23, 21, 18, 15, siding and framing) – and – for the most part – don’t use them often enough to consider changing them out for cordless.
I did buy a Milwaukee 2843 cordless fence stapler that worked out well enough on a couple of projects. I had looked at a Stokade (Paslode New Zealand) Impulse fencing stapler but when the Milwaukee cordless hit the market last year I bought that. It sure beats hauling out an engine-driven compressor and snaking a air hose out among the trees and shrubbery.
If I could find a cordless or even Paslode Impulse equivalent to my Makita AN611 (coil siding nailer) that I also use for fencing – I’d probably but one.
Dominic S
Not entirely related but for folks that have the gen II brad nailer, how is it? I have the Gen I 15ga nailer which I love and I still have my trusty porter cable 18ga brad nailer. Would love to get out of the business of dragging out my compressor when it’s time to shoot brads.