Should I buy a 21 or 28 degree?

I'm going to buy one from Harbor Freight for working around the house and the cabin. I already have a 16/18/Stapler combo nailer and a 15 gauge 34 degree finish nailer from them and they work great.

28

Look at Harbor Freight. I haven't built a house or anything, but it's been good, and a fraction of the price.

I use 21 for full round head nails even though the clipped head are redesigned to meet code in the coastal area now. They look better to me in exposed situations like a deck. Just what I prefer because I am used to the hitachi and max and duo fast Nailers I have used forever. I have some older guns that used 17 degree but will work with 21 too.

The plastic colated nails hold together better than the paper on the 28 too. They may be improved now but that's the way it was a few years ago.

Didn't read original post...

Guilty!

OK, so I see some people say 28 and some say 21. Why one or the other?

I use a 21 in the plastic ring holders. I use these because they have a complete round head just like regular loose nails. 28 may have that to but 21 is what I use.

Pasload nails work in a 28. Will work in a cheaper Harbor freight gun. They have full heads as well. D heads are a thing of the past.

This is kind of what I'm talking about I want a gun that can use the most commonly available nails, therefore greater variety and lowest cost to keep filled with nails...

Availability of nails varies from place to place, but now that the box stores sell so many brands it is not much of a problem finding whatever you need. Go to whatever store you are going to be buying from and see what they have in stock. There are advantages to each type but for homeowners use it won't really matter. 28 degree are more compact and usually paper colated. Less reloading and generally a more compact gun. 21 are usually plastic colated nails which are spaced farther apart so less nails in a clip and some people don't like the little plastic pieces shooting out and littering the site. Some guns will shoot a larger diameter nail needed sometimes for shear strength applications and those are usually 21 degree. You can buy a nail gun in any pawn shop in the city probably cheaper than harbor freight if you want to go that route as well.

I bought a 21 porta cable to use on the new house. I have used the 28 in the past. If I could do it over I would get a 28. the plastic that holds the 21's together sticks into the wood and needs to be scraped off for staining situations. Also the nails are spaced apart and the gun dont hold as many. I have the 21 and wish it was a 28

Sounds like 28 degrees it is. The one at Harbor Freight is $89 minus a 20% coupon would bring it to: $71

Hey Irish one thing to think about also is the weight of the gun. Im one of those awe "be tuff mary" kind of guys but when your going up and down a ladder all day and that porta cable is hanging from your tool pouch and bouncing off your calf it feels like it weighs 20 lbs. It actually weighs 7.3lbs but when you tote it all day you would think its made from lead. I sure wouldnt wont one any heavier. Just a thought

The red one from HF will have a select switch above the trigger. If you are not familiar with an air nailer better keep it on single shot till you run it awhile. .02

I have that HF gun in 21. I bout 1000 nails at lowes for $20 or 25. I bought the gun used for $45 and It saved me a ton of time on the room addition that I just did. So if it never shoots another nail, I feel like I got my money's worth. As mentioned earlier, I keep mine on single shot mode.

I mentioned this in the other nail gun thread before I saw this one, but my only problem is that it won't shoot the last 3 nails. Not sure if that's normal, but Im just using it for projects, not for a living.