Customer Reviews for Milwaukee M18 FUEL 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Gen II 18-Gauge Brad Nailer (Tool-Only)

Workhorse. One battery lasts all day and then some. No power issues. Nails go in recessed every time. None left proud of work surface. Built 9 louvered panels with it so far. Its heavy though when compared to my old pneumatic 16g. Nails are easy to load from the bottom. If you use 3 inch nails you'll need to load from the top which takes a little bit more time for loading.

This 18 gauge nailer has exceeded my expectations.

Made a pot for my palm out of wood. See this baby at work along with all their other goodies. https://youtu.be/IJFD8rOA7RY?si=foM9u5J4zavjqF1G

Great nailer for projects and trim work, easy to use and fast. So much better then my old air nailer

This isnt a tool review. It is venting frustration with Home Depot I picked up this milwaukee brad nailer from the HD near 35 and woodward. It had clearly been used. Scuff marks and paint spray all over it. I have to waste more of my time going back to swap it out.

I've cleaned it countless times and it still jams every third nail. Complete waste of money.

Lightweight for all day carrying and can really shoot a nail for being cordless

Ive been running this gun pretty hard for almost a year now. As a trim carpenter this makes smaller jobs or installing shoe on punch out really handy. I love how it doesnt have the wind up like other cordless nailers have. On bump fire it will keep up just fine. The only issues I have with it is sometimes it has a hard time fully setting nails. The bulkiness of the gun makes firing into corners a little difficult, and the tips wear out pretty fast. But for me thats worth it for the convenience

I had been looking at this milwaukee 15 ga cordless nail gun for quite awhile before buying and let me tell you i wish I had picked it up sooner. It is so nice not having to worry about hoses when setting doors. This unit has plenty of power to drive 2.5” nails, and the depth adjustment has quite a bit of adjustnent for dialing it in right where you want. It sets the nails deep enough without sending the driver into the wood that gives the nasty huge nail hole. On bump fire, it keeps up as fast as i can run it. Batteries last forever in this thing too

Wow. .. now real sure why i waited. I mean ... no loading up air compressor, air hoses etc!? Come on!

I'm currently working on a job to install picture frame molding. This nail gun has good speed and has been reliable. I used 1 battery for an entire room without charging overnight. The depth adjustment works well and the nail depth is consistent, I only had 4 nails i had to send home and that is a huge time savings. The size and weight are also ideal for my work.

Works well not heavy. Very handy for around the house very happy

Reliable but a little heavy

Super powerful tool sinks all the nails on 100% makes installing my base molding and Crown molding. Abris, thanks again, Milwaukee. You guys really do know your way around tools, nothing But heavy duty

I’ve set well over 5000 nails since I purchased this finish nailer, instant power when you pull the trigger, sinks the nails or not depending on your depth setting. Great all around nailer. I would highly recommend it over the dewalt angled finish nailer, because of the instant power, the dewalt counterpart sounds like a dynamo building up when you use it, and it’s not instant like the Milwaukee.

Great tool, needed it in a pinch and am very impressed with it. Great power, durable and not overly heavy. Battery goes on forever it seems like. Would buy again!

Ordered this assuming I'd be getting a new unit, came out the box obviously used prior.

The Milwaukee M18 Fuel 18-volt Lithium-Ion Brushless cordless Gen ll 16-gauge straight finish nailer (tool only) is the best finish nailer I own. I have 2 or 3 pneumatic finish nailers and this cordless finish nailer out performs all of them. I really like the feel and balance of this Milwaukee finish nailer. The nailer weighs only 6 lb. and fires up to 700 nails per charge using the cp2.0 battery. It uses finish nails 1 in. to 2-1/2 in. long. I was impressed with the consistency of leaving clean nail holes and how easy it was to adjust the depth. Very high quality cordless straight finish nailer by Milwaukee.

I have never owned a Finish Nailer. I have always used a hammer. As I get older, my eyes, fingers and aim are not what they use to be; especially in the NE Cold. When it arrived, I was excited to put it to use … until I realized, it does not come with any nails. I ordered 2500 2.5” Galvanized Finish Nails. I got them for my next project; installing Dentil Molding on the exterior of the 1730’s Colonial I am restoring. Nails were super easy to install. Nice they are visible from the side (see pic). You know when you need to add more. You can adjust the Depth Settings to account for wood type and thickness. It was real simple to get the perfect depth on my test board/2x4 (see 3 holes in pic). Nail holes are relatively clean and no hammer dents. The new Gen II redesign makes seeing where the nail is actually going easy. Compatible with all 1” to 2.5” 16 Gauge finishing nails. Smaller nails will be great, when doing trim work inside. Has Sequential and Contact Actuation firing modes. Allowing single fire or rapid bump fire. Ideal for Residential, and, being FUEL, Professional use. I know my thumb is going to love me for getting this!

Tried to use on cabinets in our shop. The actuator is located in the wrong place. Milwaukee should have placed it at the tip because it cannot drive brads when holding the nailer on an angle. Would be great if you only use the gun when driving nails at 90 degrees. The nailer unfortunately is a poor design. Next time Milwaukee make a prototype and let professionals use it on their jobs for feedback on the pluses and minuses of a tool before manufacturing them in mass only to have returns and huge list sales!

Selected the Milwaukee M18 Finish Nailer primarily for installing crown molding, baseboards, quarter round, and trim. The first plus is not having to haul around and set up an air compressor. The nailer accepts 1" to 2.5" 16 gauge finish nails. It has the capacity for 110 nails. Two selectable firing modes, sequential or contact, make it perfect for both the novice and professional. Easy switching between the two modes. The depth control is easy to adjust with no tools required. Functions great!

My very old and loud electric air compressor developed a leak in the manifold and replacement part is no longer available. Since I'm already on the Milwaukee platform, it was a no-brainer to upgrade my air tool to this Milwaukee M18 Fuel 16-gauge straight finish nailer. Hurricane Lee came by and blew out two of my windows, causing me to build and replace the trim around both windows and set new windows in. What a difference to use this cordless straight finish nailer without any air compressor or air hose! No more taking time finding an outlet to plug in the air compressor, find and connect an air hose to it, and wait for compressor to ramp up to correct psi. This straight finish nailer is grab-n-go! It has lots of handy features too - like an on-board LED light to make it easier to see in dark/shady areas. If you fire a nail and it has not set all the way flush or just below the surface, there is a tool-free depth drive adjustment so that the following nails shot seat properly. No need to worry about firing the nailer when you run out of nails because this nailer has a dry fire lockout feature when there are 5 nails left in the tool, thus preventing any damage to the tool. I've fired quite a few finish nails so far, with no jams. In the event of a jam though, there is a latch at the front that opens to release the jam. I really like how fast this straight finish nailer fires - no having to wait for it to ramp up like other brands. With this precise trim work, I found myself using the contact actuation mode, but this also has a sequential firing mode if the job allows for that. I can use this nailer for installing baseboards, crown molding, door casings, window sills, and even door thresholds. This finish nailer is durable, capable, and I will be looking to convert more of my air compressor tools to Milwaukee battery-operated options.

This finish nailer is great! It is easy to control and is accurate. There are three features that I love on this gun. The first is the jam latch (see pictures). This is a game changer! I don’t know how many times when my gun jams; I am struggling to unjam it. This feature makes it a breeze, not that I have had this gun jam! The second feature is the power selection – the ability to control the depth is so important. Finally, the power/actuation selector is awesome. I have a few Milwaukee tools and heated jackets that use the M12 battery, so I got the M18 18-volt XC starter kit (Model # 48-59-1850) which has both battery chargers in one unit which is very convenient. It took about 1 hour for the 5.0 Ah battery to charge. With the 5.0 Ah battery this guy is a beast and lasts forever! Another awesome tool by Milwaukee!

I own basically all nailers that Milwaukee has come out with over the years and I thought Milwaukee did a good job with this new 16 gauge straight finish nailer. I don't even need to get into the advantages of not having to use a pneumatic nailer, and this nailer performs as well if not better than pneumatic versions without the hassle of hoses and compressors. I have yet to have a misfire or jam with this nailer and have had no issues so far with baseboards and crown moldings. Milwaukee added an on board storage for different tips which I thought was a great upgrade to their line of nailers. Well balanced in your hand even with different size batteries. Good addition to my lineup of nailers!!

I've had 2 of these gun and had problems with both of them. It works great for about 8 to 9 months, then I have nothing but problems with if jambing about every 10 or so nails. I like milwaukee and have pretty much all of there nail guns. But the price you pay for just the gun and then add the batteries ontop of that is really steep for a gun that I can't get to last longer than a year without sending it off for repairs. I've tried all different brands of nail with no change.

This is an outstanding nailer. No feed jams, no miss fires, and all the additional settings are excellent. If I have one complaint is that the rubber tip on the is kind of crappy, moves around a lot a occasionally falls off, I wish it was like the one they have on their 15ga finish angle nailer which is stiff and secure to end

Awesome finish nailer!! Powerful but yet accurate and easy to use. Best nailer i have ever used. Just Wish it came with a bigger battery though.

It’s great… when it works. I have used this nailer minimally and it began to consistently jam. Sent it in twice now for repairs. Just got it back for the second time and noticed a crack in the magazine that wasn’t there before. Going to have to send it back AGAIN. So frustrating to not be able to use the tool I purchased and have repairs go so poorly.

So disappointed!! I love my Milwaukee tools but this one definitely leave something to be desired. I was so excited when I was gifted this nailer for my birthday. Took it to a job with a VERY tight deadline, left my air nailer at home an hour away from my job site. This nailer would not sink 2” nails. Depth adjustment did nothing. Tried 3 different brands of nails. Had to sink EVERY nail by hand. Nothing in owners manual on trouble shooting this issue either.