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How Far Can A Nail Gun Shoot? – All types Covered

Written by Willie Osgood
Last Update: January 12, 2023

It doesn’t matter what kind of carpentry project you’re tackling – trimming, shiplap, or anything else. Using a nail gun will improve your nailing consistency as well as speed up the job. The hammer and nail still play a valuable role, but the sooner you can complete a project quicker you can start another.

Electrical, compressed air, and combustible gas power nail guns. These tools can be very dangerous if they are not used correctly. Some models of nail guns can shoot faster and travel a fair distance. Ensure you know the correct distance for each nail gun to know which one is best for the job you need to do.

How Far Can a Nail Gun Shoot?

Pneumatic nailers

Pneumatic nail gun

Pneumatic gun nailers can go as far as the amount of air pressure they are provided with. High as the pressure is, more air can be compressed into space.

Brad nailers

How Far Can A Nail Gun Shoot - Brad nailers

The Brad nailers can go as high as 358.8 feet with 60-100 pounds per square inch.

Framing nailers

How Far Can A Framing nailer Shoot

Framing nailers have the capacity to go to the length of 466.48 feet with 70-130PSI.

Finish nailers

Finish nailers

Finish gun nailers are incredibly strong and can go as far as 466.48 feet long with a PSI of 80-130.

Roofing nailers

Roofing nailers

Roofing gun nailers are shot with the PSI of 90-120 and can go as high as 430.600 feet.

Staple guns

Staple guns

With a PSI unit of 100, the staple gun nailers can go 358.83 feet long.

Palm nailers

Palm nailers

Palm nailers, when shot with full force, can go as high as 430.600 feet consisting of 50-120 PSI.

Heavy-duty nailers

Heavy-duty nailers

Heavy-duty nailers can go as long as 430.600 feet as they can be shot in 120 PSI.

Power nailers

How Far Can A Nail Gun Shoot - Power nailers

In some models, nails can be ejected at speeds of up to 1,400 feet per second! That’s the equivalent of 472 meters per second.

Powder actuated nailers

Powder actuated nailers

These can shoot around 50 to 100 yards, depending on the models.

Deciding Factors for Nail Gun Shooting Distance

Condition of the gun

When fired from a high-pressure gun in good condition, a short nail shot travels farther and faster than a long nail shot fired from a poor condition, less-powerful gun.

The air pressure

High-pressure nail guns are going to shoot further than the poor condition nail guns. If you have an air pressure problem or leak, then the nail will not have much power to shoot very far at all.

FAQs

1. Do nail guns qualify as self-defense weapons?

Ans. They are not reliable self-defense weapons. Your only real consequence will be to frustrate the one you’re shooting. It would be better to just use a normal hammer.

2. Do nail guns break fingers?

Ans. Generally, only relatively low amounts of energy are needed to cause serious damage: a projectile traveling 150 feet per second will penetrate the skin, whereas 195 feet per second may cause fractures in bones

About the author

Willie Osgood

An Avid Metalworker

Willie doesn’t really consider himself an artist, rather a craftsman involved in practical trades. Yet, most of his projects require him to make interesting and fine objects. Being the eldest son of a carpenter, his background is 100 percent rooted in crafting. He found the art of blacksmithing quite appealing since his teenage years… that fire, the sound of swinging hammers, and those long and shiny blades that came out as a finished product. Soon he literally became obsessed with metal – the way it moved, worked, and changed when heated or cooled.

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