Customer Reviews
Hitachi NV45AB2 Does Well 
2005-10-25
In the middle of roofing a difficult tall steep hip roof house with 8 hips and 4 valleys I decided I could not have done without a nailer. The Hitachi is a side loader, using full round head, wire collated nails. Having used a half box (3600) nails from the "Collated" brand from Lowe's I discovered that turning down the pressure to around 90 lbs alleviated the bent head and most went in straight on, flush head.
Of curious note, with these nails and this gun, I know when the coil is done, as the last nail falls out of the gun and tinkles down the roof when the next to the last nail is used.
The gun is light and has some rubber bumpers that help protect somewhat when dangled from the ladder, bumping the roof.
I have no comparison to other guns, and have given this 4 stars as some nails go in sideways. It is easily adjusted for depth with locking twist knob and the sideways nails could be the roof, the cheap nails, or my holding it at a slight angle. This roof is 12/12 (45 degrees) and is a ladder only approach.
Having the green Hitahchi Framing Nailer, I will say I love it and have used Hitachi nails in it and it performs flawlessly, nails excellent, gun no failures with power to spare.
Hold trigger firmly, as if loosely held, a slight hiss of air leak and less drive to nail with nail sitting a little proud.
I WOULD BUY THIS NAILER AGAIN IF GIVEN THE CHOICE.
The Best Roofer 
2005-09-03
I have a bunch of these and they are bulletproof. They work for a really long time (like 7 years full time roofing) with almost no repairs. When you do have to repair them the key wear parts like trigger valves are easy to find and cheap. For example the bostitch trigger valve retails for around 35 bucks the Hitachi ball and o ring for their trigger is about 10 bucks. A word of caution don't buy the light weight model unless you are a complete pansy because it is not nearly as good.
Here are some competitors guns and briefly what I think as I have owned most of them:
Bostitch- big and fat but not bad. Not many pros use them after using a Hitachi.
Porter Cable- When you need to buy parts think of a outrageously high price then double or triple it. Compounded by their bad parts shipping times. You might want to get your gun going in less than 2 weeks if you are using to make money.( they aparently really ticked me off)
Max- excellent tool as good as the Hitachi some may even say better but their parts stock isn't nearly as good. And lets face it if you are going to use the gun much eventually you will need parts.
Makita- When did they start making air tools. Band wagon to the left please.
Dewallet- Part issues anyone ? nice yellow black and Decker.
Paslode- I hate every paslode I have ever tried. Big cheap and a cylinder which is soft and wears like cheap pantyhose. Even the impulse which is a great concept if you didn't have to constantly clean it and send it away to get it fixed because suddenly after you clean it the tool suddenly quits.
If you are looking for a good gun try the Hitachi. I am positive you will like it. (As much as you can like a tool that will make you do a crappy job like roofing).
If I said it once I said it a hundred times.....AWESOME!!! 2004-10-03
I am a part time handyman and a full time enthusiast of quality tools that do the job right the first time. I read reviews, get advice and use friends tools or rentals prior to purchasing. And prior to buying the Hitachi (what an awesome roofing machine) I rented and was sold on the Bostich RN46-1.
The Bostich I rented performed well. It jammed once every coil and I did have to set some of its nails with a hammer, but all in all a good machine. Then there was the one I purchased. This nailer must have slipped past quality control at Bostich. What a peice of doo. This unit jammed evey 10th nail and I was setting every 5th with a hammer. It took what should have been a 20 hour job and turned it into a 40 hour job. What a shame for a product whoes companies reputation for its nailer is very high. So it was at this point I went the path of the Hitachi.
I have only seen and used one other Hitachi in my travels and that was a framing gun. I was impressed with its balance, weight and perfomance. It was this experiance a few years ago and the reviews here on Amazon that led me to the coil roofing nailer NV45AB2.
All I can say is AWESOME! TOTALLY AWESOME (I am a child of the 80's)!! I took the gun out of the box, gave it a few drops of oil and went to town on a roof repair. I used 5 full coils of nails and did not have one jam nor did I have to set any of the nails manually. AWESOME!!! I can't say it enough. Had I gone this route to begin with I would have saved 20 hours on my original job and hundreds of dallars. And the price!!! Amazon has the best price in town ($385 at Home Depot and $325 at Lowes).
Do yourself a favor and buy the Hitachi. Don't let the Bostich name and their market saturation get the best of you. If you want quality and longevity out of your tools, go with Hitachi. AWESOME!!!
No other nail gun is even close! 2004-06-27
I am a roofing contractor. I have tried a few other brands of nail guns but none can come close to the quality and durability of the Hitatchi! There is nothing else to say. You can not beat this gun. It won't dissapoint you!
Awesome nailer 2003-04-14
I researched several roofing nailers and based my decision on the reviews I read about the Hitachi. I have shingled two roofs so far and have had zero problems. The second roof I did was for a friend and he helped with his Poter Cable nailer. It was picky about the nails that were used, jamed often and had no depth setting. The Hitachi kept plugging along and never missed a beat. The depth setting was crucial for the different situations when installing shingles. After years of hammering nails and seeing other guns in action, I highly recommend the Hitachi NV45AB2.
Does Hitachi Test before shipping 2008-06-25
The Nailer I received would not advance to the next nail. The problem was solved by repositioning the piston cover. There was no rust or contamination on the parts. I assume that this was a one of kind problem. Everything else about the nailer appears to be of the quality expressed in the reviews.
Great roofing nailer 2007-04-24
My company roofs year around. We have some very fast roofers who put in 50 hours a week. They lay down a huge number of shingles a year. They wear out shingling guns quickly.
The hitachi's run reliably for a year and a half. The hitachi's run reliably for another year after being rebuilt. The hitachi's are then sold. Purchasers are warned that the guns are at the end of their useful life. People do buy them. Some are repeat customers.
The bostiches are clumsy and last about three months before our crew refuses to use them any more.
Hitachi is by far the best gun I have used.
Bostich is not bad for sporatic use.
I have not used any other brands.
Not satisfied 
2007-02-06
Purchased a Hitachi NV45AB2 from Amazon. Used two different compressors (4 gal 1 hp CH extreme and a 20 gal Sanborn 5 hp) at various pressures up to 115 psi. But had to hand set about every third nail while applying Corning 40 year shingles. Returned the nailer to Amazon for a second Hitachi NV45AB2 nailer but still had the same problem. Lent the nailer to my son who uses a third brand of compressor (dual tank but don't know the brand). He reported the same problems applying composite siding but said it seem to get better with use. First Hitachi I bought based upon my son's experience with other Hitachi products and its reputation. Don't think I'd purchase another one.
works great 2006-04-17
After reading lots of reviews, I decided to purchase this roofing nailer about a month ago. My husband is using it to replace the roof on our house that was damaged in Hurricane Katrina. He really likes it and hasn't had any problems with it. He said it only jammed once during the whole time he used it to roof the house, it is easy to load, it looks heay but is fairly light, and it has a shingle guide for spacing that is easy to use. He could not think of any "cons".
I am glad I bought it 2006-04-03
I was about to start my first roofing replacement, and seriously considered going the cheap route and buying one of the hundred dollar Harbour Freight import guns to save money, but luckily for me they closed at 7:00 and I didn't make it in time. So I went to my local tool shop and picked up the gun I knew I should buy; the Hitachi. The next day we ran two nail guns, my Hitachi, and a Porter Cable that my buddy barrowed from a coworker. While I was buzzing along row after row stopping only to chalkline and reload nails (like every 10 minutes), I could constantly hear my buddy and his crew whining over on the other side as his Porter Cable nailer repeatedly misfired, jammed, etc. They were at the point after about an hour where they would actually count out loud how many nails they could drive without a problem. I think they reached 12 a couple times. Since the PC nailer slowed us down so much, we found ourselves working into the rain and the dark. The other crew exchanged their PC Nailer for lights so we could see as me and my Hitachi continued to run through row after row in the rain until the roof was covered. I am glad I dropped the extra money on a really high quality tool, and would recomend it without hesitation to anyone.
