Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

Coil nailer buying guide

Updated: 21 October 2026

You have a compressor, a run of timber, and a search page full of drums. A coil nailer buying guide only helps if it starts with the nail, not the brand. Length, head, shank and firing mode decide whether the gun can do the job. The pound price is the check after that. The [coil nailer comparison](/hub/staplers-and-nail-guns/coil-nailer) holds the eleven amazon.co.uk listings this page uses, from £85.46 to £679.44. A qualifying purchase through those links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Figures were taken from those listings on 20 October 2026. We did not fire the guns.

You have a compressor, a run of timber, and a search page full of drums. A coil nailer buying guide only helps if it starts with the nail, not the brand.

Our top picks

meite meite CN70B

Best overall

meite meite CN70B
10.0/10about £149.99
View offer
3 Plus 3 Plus HCN45SP

Best value

3 Plus 3 Plus HCN45SP
8.8/10about £85.46
View offer
Tacwise Tacwise JCN90V

Rank 3

Tacwise Tacwise JCN90V
8.4/10about £298.95
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Three guns that share a name
  2. 2.The six checks, in order
  3. 3.What the listing is not telling you
  4. 4.Where to go next

Three guns that share a name

Roofing, siding and long fencing nails can all arrive in a coil, and the catalogues still use one product name. The roofing pair is the 3 Plus HCN45SP at £85.46, for 11-gauge full-head nails from 3/4 inch to 1 3/4 inch at 15°, and the meite CN45R at £129.98 for 22–45 mm. A UK size chart from KYA puts roofing coils in about a 19–45 mm band with a wide head. That is a different family from a board nail, even when both pages say 15 degrees. The middle group is 25–70 mm: the meite CN55, CN65, CN70B and CN65S, and the Tacwise FCN55V. The long end is the Tacwise JCN90V at £298.95, the only row that prints 50–90 mm. The DeWalt DPN64C stops at 64 mm. The Makita AN901 at £679.44 does not print a nail chart on the UK bullets.

The six checks, in order

Match length and head before you match a logo. Industrial Tool Supplies tells buyers to line up length, shank, angle, finish and head, because a full round roofing head will not sit in a siding nose. If you need 90 mm rails, leave every gun that stops at 57 mm or 65 mm. Shank is next. The CN55 is listed at 2.1–2.3 mm, the CN65S at 2.3–2.5 mm, and the JCN90V at 2.5–3.3 mm. A thicker merchant nail can jam a thinner nose. Then firing mode, depth, the printed pressure band, and the box. The CN55 bullets do not name a depth adjuster. Stated bands are mostly 70–120 PSI. None of the eleven states litres per minute or includes a compressor. Tacwise lists a case, glasses and oil on the FCN55V. The CN55’s included line is the gun.
meite meite CN70B

Testsieger

meite meite CN70B
10.0/10about £149.99
View offer

What the listing is not telling you

Air consumption is the largest blank. A litres-per-minute figure copied from a gun outside this set would be an invention. Review geography is the next blank. The HCN45SP’s 4.4 from 1,200 reviews is the biggest star file, and the raw texts are mostly from the United States and Canada. A 5.0 from three reviews on the CN70B has no review text. The CN45R has no rating line. Weights disagree inside single pages. An FCN55V bullet says 2.4 kg and the item-weight field says 4.68 kg. The CN45R prints 3.54 kg and also 5.7 lb. BS EN ISO 11148-13:2018 describes the class of tool. It does not fill a missing shank.

Where to go next

If the job is featheredge or rails, the lengths sit on the coil nailer for fencing page. If one drum might have to do shingles and boards, the roofing nailer or siding nailer page puts the two heads side by side. A shortlist by job is the best coil nailer page. This guide does not name a winner.

Common questions

What nail length do I need before I pick a brand?
Write down the nail the timber needs, then keep only the guns whose printed range includes it. Featheredge boards sit around 50 mm. Rails often run towards 75–90 mm. Shingles in this set stay inside about 19–45 mm, or the inch band on the HCN45SP. A brand that cannot fire that length is the wrong brand.
Is a 15° coil the same for roofing and fencing?
No. Angle is only one line on the nail. KYA’s UK chart separates a short, wide-headed roofing coil from a longer, smaller-headed siding or fencing coil. The HCN45SP is a 15° roofing gun for full-head nails. The CN55 is also described as 15° wire, but for flat-top nails of 25–57 mm at 2.1–2.3 mm. Same degree, different nose.
Do I need sequential fire or bump fire?
Sequential fire is the pattern the Health and Safety Executive describes for large construction nails: the nose meets the timber, then you pull the trigger for one nail. Contact trip, often called bump fire, is faster and is what reviewers blame when a gun double-fires. Choose sequential when the nail is long. The DeWalt DPN64C does not offer bump fire at all.
What if the listing does not state pressure or shank?
Treat the blank as a reason to hesitate, not as a detail you can fill from another brand. The HCN45SP does not state pressure or magazine capacity. The CN70B does not state firing mode, shank, angle, pressure or depth. The Makita AN901’s UK bullets do not state a nail range. You cannot compare it with the guns that print the numbers.
Do I have to buy a compressor as well?
Yes, unless you already own one. None of these eleven listings includes a compressor, and none states air consumption in litres per minute. Use the printed band where the listing gives one, often 70–120 PSI. Do not copy a figure from a gun outside this set. A compressor that sags below the band leaves nails proud.
Can I trust a star line of 1,200 as UK buyers?
You can trust it as the amazon.co.uk star line. You cannot read it as 1,200 British jobs. On the HCN45SP the raw file has two UK reviews and many from the United States and Canada, and the UK review that names a fault says the gun keeps double firing. The CN55’s 4.7 rests on six reviews. Count the file you can actually read, then match the nail.

Related pages

How to use a coil nailer

Coil nailer

Best coil nailer: shingles, boards and 90 mm rails

Coil nailer for fencing: 50 mm boards, 90 mm rails

Roofing nailer vs siding nailer: head, shank, length

Sources

Public UK sources from the research digest, listed below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts are the lines on these listings. Page updated 21 October 2026.

  1. HSE, Nail guns (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. HSE, noise duties for employers (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. HSE, PUWER overview (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. HSE, INDG178 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. BS EN ISO 11148-13:2018 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. Electrical Safety First, nail guns (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. BCAS fact sheet, Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (retrieved 21 October 2026)