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Roofing nailer vs siding nailer

Updated: 21 October 2026

You can hold two coils that both say 15 degrees and still have two tools. One nail is short, thick and full-headed, for shingles and felt. The other is longer and smaller-headed, for cladding, boards or fence rails. A roofing nailer vs siding nailer choice is that fork, and the eleven rows in the [coil nailer comparison](/hub/staplers-and-nail-guns/coil-nailer) do not overlap enough to fake one gun. This page only decides which family you are buying. Figures were taken from the amazon.co.uk bullets and UK fastener pages on 20 October 2026. We did not fire either gun. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You can hold two coils that both say 15 degrees and still have two tools. One nail is short, thick and full-headed, for shingles and felt. The other is longer and smaller-headed, for cladding, boards or fence rails.

Our top picks

meite meite CN55

Best overall

meite meite CN55
9.4/10about £139.90
View offer
3 Plus 3 Plus HCN45SP

Best value

3 Plus 3 Plus HCN45SP
8.8/10about £85.46
View offer
Tacwise Tacwise FCN55V

Rank 3

Tacwise Tacwise FCN55V
8.2/10about £163.91
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two coils that can both say 15 degrees
  2. 2.The roofing guns in this set
  3. 3.The siding and fencing guns
  4. 4.When the listing blurs the job
  5. 5.One gun or two

Two coils that can both say 15 degrees

Industrial Tool Supplies names the usual mistake: buying a first-fix gun for roofing, or a roofing gun for structural timber. The match they want is coil diameter, length and head. Solent Products lists BeA DPN roofing coils at 15°, with a 3.1 mm shank and a 10.1 mm head, in short lengths such as 19–38 mm, galvanised, smooth shank, in coils of 120. The meite CN55 is limited to flat-top nails of 25–57 mm at 2.1–2.3 mm, not a 10.1 mm clout. Bostitch’s UK pages draw the same line outside this set: a roofing RN46 at 19–45 mm and a siding N66C at 32–64 mm. Angle can match. Head, length and shank do not. The HCN45SP says 11 gauge and does not print a millimetre shank.

The roofing guns in this set

The HCN45SP at £85.46 is the best value roofing listing with the shingle guide: full-head nails, 15°, 11 gauge, from 3/4 inch to 1 3/4 inch, single shot or bump. The star line is 4.4 from 1,200 reviews, mostly from the United States and Canada. The UK review that names a fault says it keeps double firing. Pressure, magazine capacity and a nose contact are not stated. Buy it for shingles in that inch band. Do not buy it for featheredge. The meite CN45R at £129.98 states 22–45 mm at 15° and 16°, a 120-nail magazine, 70–120 PSI and a depth adjuster. There is no review line, and the page prints both 3.54 kg and 5.7 lb. You pay about £44 more, with no reviews to check the claims. Neither gun reaches a 50 mm board.
meite meite CN55

Testsieger

meite meite CN55
9.4/10about £139.90
View offer

The siding and fencing guns

The other side of the fork runs from the CN55 at £139.90 (25–57 mm) through the CN65, CN70B and CN65S, up to the Tacwise FCN55V at £163.91, which UK reviews describe on featheredge. The DeWalt DPN64C at £244.27 is sequential only to 64 mm. The Tacwise JCN90V at £298.95 prints 50–90 mm at a 2.5–3.3 mm shank. None of those is a shingle tool. A siding nose is cut for a smaller head than a full roofing clout. The JCN90V is the rail gun in this set, not a felt gun that happens to say coil.

When the listing blurs the job

The CN45R bullets mention work that sounds like fencing, while the nail range stops at 45 mm. A 45 mm maximum cannot fasten a 50 mm featheredge nail or a 75 mm rail. The missing review file does not show a UK buyer using it past that band. Amazon’s filing can blur the category the other way. The JCN90V’s best-sellers line says 130 in brad nailers, and a 50–90 mm coil gun is not an 18-gauge brad nailer. If a title says roofing and fencing, and the range says 22–45 mm, the range wins.

One gun or two

A shed roof and the fence beside it are two purchases if you are doing both. Felt and shingles want the HCN45SP or, if you can accept no reviews, the CN45R. Fence boards want a siding gun in the 50 mm class, such as the FCN55V or the CN55. Rails at 75–90 mm want the JCN90V, which the coil nailer for fencing page treats as the only row that prints that length. You do not need two guns if the whole job is shingles, or cladding inside 57 mm. You do if the weekend includes both a roof and a closeboard run. Who should skip each listing is the best coil nailer page.

Common questions

Are roofing and siding nailers both 15° coil guns?
Often, yes, and that is what makes the mistake easy. The HCN45SP is 15°. The CN55 is described as 15° wire. The CN45R states 15° and 16°. The degree does not make the head, the length or the shank the same.
What is different about the nail head?
A roofing clout is a wide, full head on a short nail. Solent’s BeA DPN example is a 10.1 mm head on a 3.1 mm shank, in short lengths, sold in coils of 120. Siding and fencing coils in this set are flat-top or conical, with a smaller head, and the CN55’s shank is listed at 2.1–2.3 mm over 25–57 mm. The wide head will not feed a nose cut for the smaller one.
Can the HCN45SP fix featheredge?
No. Its nails are full-head roofing nails from 3/4 inch to 1 3/4 inch. Featheredge guides talk about 50 mm galvanised ring shank. That length and that head are the siding family. The price, £85.46, does not change the nose.
Can the CN55 fix shingles?
Not as a roofing nailer. It is listed for flat-top nails of 25–57 mm at 2.1–2.3 mm, and a UK review used 50 mm ring shank. A short full-head clout, of the kind listed at about 3.1 mm by 10.1 mm, is a different coil. Using it in the CN55 is the wrong-family mistake. For shingles in this set, start with the HCN45SP or the CN45R.
Why is a roofing coil often about 120 nails and a siding coil 300–400?
The roofing nails are shorter and the heads are larger, so fewer fit on a coil of a similar drum. Solent’s BeA roofing coils are sold as 120. The CN45R’s magazine is stated at 120. The CN55 is up to 400, and the FCN55V up to 400 or 300 on the thicker nail. Capacity follows the nail. It does not mean the roofing gun is a fencing gun.
What about the CN45R bullet that also says fencing?
The printed range is still 22–45 mm. A fencing mention in a bullet does not add the missing millimetres. UK board nails around 50 mm, and rail nails at 75–90 mm, sit outside that maximum. There is no review text to show a UK buyer using it on a fence. Read the range, then decide.

Related pages

Coil nailer buying guide

Coil nailer

Best coil nailer: shingles, boards and 90 mm rails

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

How to use a coil nailer: oil the inlet, then load

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)