Following the success of the current three Ryobi cordless 18V Airstrike nailers which includes an 18ga brad nailer, 18ga crown nailer, and 16ga finish nailer, Ryobi just recently launched a new 15ga angled finish nailer P330. This new nailer borrows the “Airstrike” nailer design from the previous Ryobi 18V nailers with it’s built in compressed air design in which the nailer itself provides its own air compression to drive nails. This allows the Airstrike nailer to run solely on 18 volt battery power and does away with the need for a compressor and air hose and or fuel cells.
Unlike the previous airstrike nailers, this 15 gauge model uses an angled magazine which facilitates shooting at an angle, especially for getting into inside corners. 15 gauge nails are larger than 18 gauge or even 16 gauge nails as the lower the gauge the thicker the nails will be, and these thicker 15 gauge nails allow for better grip strength into materials than smaller fasteners. Even the nails themselves are different as these are much closer to actual nails. 16ga or 18ga “nails” are really brad nails with square shanks but 15 gauge nails use round shanks and actual nail heads although slightly clipped.
While this may seem like the perfect solution as there are no hoses and additional compressor equipment or costly fuel cells to replace, this nailer is on the large side. It’s larger than a pneumatic 15ga nailer and heavier too at 6.8 lbs without a battery pack. It’s not unwieldy as even a small dude like me was able to easily manage this nailer one handed with a large 4.0 ah lithium battery pack which adds an extra pound more or less. Under casual use, the added weight didn’t bother me but you might have to adjust if you use a pneumatic nailer all day long and especially overhead where the added weight will take its toll.
Under use it performed very well just like the 16ga model I tried out a few months ago. This 15ga model drove the included 2 inch nails without a problem while I installed trim around a window using mdf moulding. Although the nailer is not powered by a compressor, the shots fired do feel similar to that of pneumatic nailers and a bit different than previous nailers from other brands where the shot was all mechanical. That’s because the nailer itself uses internal air compression. The included built in air compression and depth settings were easy to use and adjust. The way the built in air compression fires a nail is upon pressing the trigger, the nailer quickly compresses enough air to fire a nail. There’s a split second of time after you press the trigger and the nailer fires the nail so it’s not an instant nail shot like with pneumatic nailers although its plenty quick even for repeated firing. Included are 2 modes- a single fire mode in which after making contact with the work piece fires a nail with a trigger press, and a bump fire mode in which you hold the trigger and bump the tip on contact for repeated firing to speed up production. Also this nailer is rated for up to 750 nails fired using a 4.0 ah lithium battery which is very good for a cordless nailer. I didn’t run that many nails in testing but in my use installing trim around a large 8 foot window with a 4.0 ah battery I still had 4 out of 4 bars left on the battery fuel gauge when finished. I have no doubt users will get around the 750 nails stated per charge on a large 4.0 ah battery.
And just like the previous nailers, it loads up on features like a built in LED light above the tip and has a specific button on the handle that lights up the light simply by gripping the nailer. The light can also be activated by trigger press and stays lit for an additional 10 seconds after all buttons are released. This nailer comes with a belt clip and can be mounted on the right side of the handle or on the left side of the bottom of the magazine for both right handed and left handed users making it easy going up ladders. It comes with a non marring tip which comes off so you can easily fire at an angle as you can’t really get the nails to shoot below the surface at an angle while the non marring tip is in place. And just in case you lose the installed tip, there’s an extra non marring tip on the bottom of the magazine. As far as jammed nails go, I didn’t get any jammed nails while testing this 15ga angled nailer and that’s a good thing. But in case you do, it’s easy to remove a jammed nail with the tool less nail release system. Watch the above video for a closer look.
Overall, I found this to be another great Ryobi Airstrike nailer and it follows the tradition set by the previous nailers and is a great alternative to fuel powered nailers and pneumatic nailers. It’s not perfect as it is larger and heavier than similar pneumatic nailers but users looking to ditch the air compressor and air hose should be OK with its size and weight.
Specifications:
- Nail Gauge: 15 Gauge Finish Nails
- Magazine Capacity: 105 Finish Nails
- Nail Length: 1 in. to 2-1/2 in.
- Nails per Charge using P108 Battery: 750
- Fastener Collation: Glue Strip
- Tool Weight: 6.8 lbs without battery
- Built in LED light with 10 second delay
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