DeWALT DCN660 20V Brushless 16 Gauge Finish Nailer

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We have done a ton of nailers in recent years.  While we love the idea of being free from the air hose and noisy compressor, it always seems like battery powered nailers are still not at the top of the game and can’t compete with air nailers.  However, today that has changed.  I have to say this is the best battery powered finish nailer on the market, hands down.  I am sure you’re asking why.

Simple, this does two things that some of the other battery powered nailers haven’t been able to do.  First, this nailer is very consistent.  Once you set your depth, the nail fires exactly the same depth every single time.  We haven’t seen a lot of nailers do that in the past.  Yes, it will vary from depending if you hit a knot or something else.  However we usually always try to nail in the same piece of wood over and over and just look for consistency and it has been so hard to find until now.  The second reason is the run time.  I am not talking about battery run time, I am talking about run time between fires.  With nailers in the past, it seems you can always fire about 5 to 15 nails quickly, but then the tool has a hard time keeping up.  This Dewalt just seems to go and go without the tool even breaking a sweat.  Another huge plus. So let’s talk about this nailer.  While there are lots of pluses to this tool, there are also some changes we would like to see on the next model.

The new Dewalt is a 16GA 20° finish nailer that is capable of firing 1-1/4″ to 2-1/2″ nails.  The tool is pretty lightweight coming in at 6 lbs and that is with the provided 2Ah battery.  You will be able to fire around 800 nails per charge, but again that really depends upon what material you will be using.  The magazine will hold up to 100 nails.  This tool has pretty much all the bells and whistles that you would expect to find with a professional nailer such as bump or sequential mode which is located at the base of the nailer.  We didn’t get a jam, but chances are if you will be using this nailer a lot, you will experience a jam at some point.  No worries, the tool doesn’t require any tools in order to open the nose piece and clear the jam.  This also has an integrated tool free stall release lever.  The built in led lights do a decent job in lighting up the work area you will be sinking your fasteners into.  Speaking of sinking, the depth knob is very easy to set and forget.  Since this is a finish nailer, you would expect it to have a no mar tip which it does, it even has a spare tip.

As you know by the video and what I have already talked about, I love this nailer.  The one disappointing item was dry lock fire.  For some reason this nailer doesn’t incorporate a dry fire lock out, which means you really do need to pay attention.  Now this isn’t a huge deal, but it would be nice to see incorporated into their gen 2 nailer.  Even with this little flaw to the nailer, I really love this tool.  It’s fast, consistent, easy to use and loaded with features. The profile of the tool isn’t as big as you would expect.  If you are looking for a finish nailer, I would highly recommend this nailer, even if you’re not in the Dewalt line of tools.

 

7 COMMENTS

  1. It’s great but too bad it’s not a strait nailer. Who in there right mind would buy an angled nailer? Seriously. Angled nails cost DOUBLE. this is a gun for untalented rookies. If I had a guy show up on my jobsites with an angled nailer I would fire him immediately. The only cordless nailer worth buying is the Dewalt 14.4 battery gun. They only made it one year in 2005. expect to buy it for $150 on eBay. Then when it breaks and it will break,if you beat it mercilessly like I do lol, take it to your local Dewalt shop to have them fix it. $200ish dollars and you have yourself a new gun with a 6 month warranty!?! For me it would cost an extra $2000 a year in nails to buy an angled nailer. I am glad they are starting to make 20v nailers but it’s obvious they made this one because they knew there compressor sales would plummet if they made a strait nailer. Maybe I’m a conspiracy nut job but I also can see the Forrest thru the trees.

    • It seems you are biased towards straight nailers. I occasionally use a straight nailer at our shop. In the field I’m normally using a 34* 15ga senco. When you’re really needing some clamping force the 15ga is where it’s at.
      I don’t know anyone personally who would prefer a straight nailer to an angled. Where I buy my nails the paslode boxes are about the same price for 16ga 20* or 16ga straight.
      All things equal, the angled gun will allow you to get into tighter situations. Now with the large head on these corders tools that probably isn’t true.
      This tool isn’t designed for giant multi week trim jobs. It’s great for small jobs where you don’t want to lug the compressor and roll out a hose. It may not make sense for you. Our crew is getting two, as it’s going to save us time. That 10-15 minutes of setup time adds up.

      Still no release date?? C’mon dewalt it’s way past late october.

  2. Awesome features in this nailer (other than the dry lock out) I am ready to jump on this one. Might even get the framer too. Thanks for the info Eric.

  3. Nice gun, they’ve really pushed into cordless nailer market this year. As for Addison, I see where you are coming from, but angled guns have their purpose too, I prefer an angled nailer when working with crown molding, usually you can get the gun to seat better than a strait nailer, not saying you can’t do it though.

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