- Model 2540
- 23 gauge
- Drives 1/2″-1-3/8″ pins
- 750 pins per charge
- Non-marring tip
- $199 bare tool, $249 kit
- ETA Q1 2021
In the first Milwaukee Pipeline broadcast, Milwaukee Tool announced they are launching a new cordless 23-gauge pin nailer on the M12 platform. This long awaited addition to their line of battery powered nailers is expected to ship early 2021.
Update 3/1/21: Milwaukee has provided a March 2021 launch ETA, and so the new cordless pin nailer should start shipping soon.
Like their other cordless nailers, this new Milwaukee cordless pin nailer is powered by a nitrogen air spring mechanism. Some of the stated benefits of this mechanism are virtually zero ramp-up time and consistently sinking of 1/2″ to 1-3/8″ long pin nails in both hard and soft woods.
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Rather than pressing an actuated tip into the work surface, the pin nailer uses a dual trigger configuration. To fire a pin, you first depress the safety trigger then pull the main trigger.
The non-marring tip has markings on both the front (see above) and sides (see below) to help you accurately locate the placement of the pin.
Above you can see the tool free drive depth adjustment knob, which is pretty standard on most nailers.
The M12 pin nailer also has a dry-fire lockout feature which prevents it from firing if there is no pin in the magazine. If the nailer misfires or jams, you can access the stuck pin by just removing the three screws holding the faceplate to the nailer.
Here you can see that Milwaukee has thoughtfully provided on-board storage for the Allen key needed to remove the faceplate.
The Milwaukee M12 pin nailer can drive up to 750 pin nails per charge, presumably on the 1.5Ah battery included with the kit version.
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Based on Milwaukee’s numbering system and their photos, it looks like you’ll be able to buy the pin nailer as a bare tool or as a kit with a 1.5Ah M12 battery, M12 charger, and soft carrying case.
Milwaukee M12 23-Gauge Pin Nailer Specs
- 23 gauge pin nails
- Nail Length: 1/2″ to 1-3/8″
- LED Work Light
- Reversible Belt Clip
- Battery Fuel Gauge
- Secondary Work Contact Tip
- Magazine Reload Indicator
- Tool-Free Depth Adjustment
- Weighs 3.3 lbs (without battery)
ETA: March 2021
Price: $199 for the bare tool (2540-20) and $249 for the kit (2540-21)
Buy Now: Bare Tool via Tool Nut
Buy Now: Bare Tool via Acme Tools
Buy Now: Kit via Tool Nut
Buy Now: Kit via Acme Tools
Buy Now: Kit via Ohio Power Tool
Note: Acme Tools and Tool Nut are both reporting a mid-April 2021 ETA. As Tool Nut reminds customers on the page, demand is likely to be high, resulting in backorder conditions until supply catches up. Preorders are fulfilled in the order they are received.
Buy Now: Bare Tool via Home Depot
Buy Now: Kit via Home Depot
Home Depot’s links are down at the moment, and are included for when they go live again.
Discussion
There are a few other cordless 23-gauge pin nailers on the market. Makita, Ryobi, and Metabo HPT (formerly Hitachi) all have 20V pin nailers, but as far as I know, only Makita has a 12V version.
The decision to go with a 12V battery form factory is a huge advantage for a product like this pin nailer. The weight savings and smaller size of the M12 platform brings the tool closer in line to pneumatic pin nailers, which are both light and diminutive. The big question is still this: does a 12V tool have enough power to sink up to 1-3/8″ pins into hardwood?
We really won’t know the answer to that question until Milwaukee tool releases the product and more people get their hands on it.
According to the Home Depot listings, both the bare tool and kit come with two non-marring tips. It’s a small thing, but having lost or damaged the non-marring tips on other nailers, I’m glad to see an extra included. It would also be nice to have onboard storage for when you inevitably have to take it off so you don’t lose it.
John Finity
Awesome! Can’t wait!
fred
Long awaited and highly anticipated indeed.
The first (2015 – model XTP01Z) Makita tool of this kind was a joke – had problems with pine and could not handle oak. I’d hope that the newer (XTP02Z) Makita, Ryobi and Hitachi ones are better – and that this Milwaukee proves to be better yet – although a 12V tool and hopefully smaller.
For me – I’ll stick with my Grex 23ga and my Cadex 21ga. pneumatic tools
Lance
Stuart, the battery in these nailers is not where the “power” comes from to sink the nail. The nitrogen cylinder acts as an energy accumulator (a “spring”). The battery can provide energy to the accumulator (relatively) slowly and the accumulator can discharge that energy over a much shorter time period. Same energy over less time = more power.
The Hitachi/Metabo nailers work on the exact same principal.
The energy to drive the nail wouldn’t be any less if there was a hand crank to manually wind up the cylinder, it would just be impractically slow to use. You could make a Milwaukee USB powered pin nailer (a single 18650 cell), but it would fire at 1/3 the rate and fire 1/3 the nails on a charge compared to an M12 (three 18650 cells).
Big Richard
First off, I don’t think a Stuart wrote this article, looks like their name was Benjamen.
Second, they clearly stated “Like their other cordless nailers, this new Milwaukee cordless pin nailer is powered by a nitrogen air spring mechanism.” They never said the battery “powered” it.
Lance
You’re right, this was Benjamin. Sorry!
From the Discussion section of this article:
“The big question is still this: does a 12V tool have enough power to sink up to 1-3/8″ pins into hardwood?”
The tool is powered by the battery, not the nitrogen air spring mechanism. Like I said, that’s just an energy accumulator.
A nailer like this uses energy from the battery, but its ability to deliver a certain amount of energy (foot-lbs or in-lbs) to the fastener is completely independent of the battery. A more powerful battery can reduce the time between nails fired (increase firing rate) but it will not increase the size or depth of nail that can be driven, or the material density it can penetrate. That is dependent completely on the amount of energy the accumulator can store.
Milwaukee could make an M12 framing nailer if they wanted to, but the rate of fire would be too low for most users. This is because the M12 battery can’t supply the tool with enough power to charge the accumulator in the required time. If a slow framing nailer was acceptable, like 1 nail/second instead of 3, then an M12 framing nailer would be feasible.
On that note, this is surely why the M18 Framing nailer is packaged with a 5Ah battery; it has 10 cells to draw power from so it can fire at 3 nails/second. The drawback is the weight… at 11.3 lbs with the battery it’s heavy, 1.1lbs heavier than the Hitachi/Metabo framing nailer with their included compact 3Ah battery. Obviously there’s a compromise being made there to make the nailer fast, since Milwaukee had a couple of years to benchmark the Hitachi before releasing their own version, and it’s only slightly faster.
Big Richard
For the most part I agree with you, you are correct that it is the nitrogen spring that is driving the nail, and that the electric motor pressurizes the piston after firing on the upstroke. So wouldn’t the battery/motor power still determine how powerful of a spring they can pack into the tool, as well as how fast it cycles? Say a 10.8v motor can only charge a 50ft-lb spring but a 18v motor can charge a 80ft-lb spring (totally made up numbers)?
I’m not terribly familiar with their complete inner workings, but it seems like battery/motor power would have some effect on its overall strength in addition to cycle speed. Who knows.
Koko The Talking Ape
That’s more or less correct. The nitrogen spring isn’t a source of power itself. It accumulates energy from the batteries, much like a capacitor in an electric circuit. And like a capacitor, the spring can discharge a large amount of energy rapidly.
So you are correct, 12v doesn’t determine the ultimate power with which the pin is driven. It determines the RATE of power delivery. That power can come out at relatively low levels but steadily, as in a drill, or it can come out at high levels at intervals.
I read a sci-fi story where a guy has a minature chemical factory that produces rocket fuel, but it’s powered by a treadmill. Walking on that treadmill for months, he expends the same energy, plus friction and other losses, to lift himself and his ship out of Earth’s gravity that the fuel will expend in 30 seconds or so. Human-powered spaceflight!
Lou Gradica
Hello there the the link to but the tool is not working
Stuart
HD took down the listing. Links will work when they’re closer to launching.
Paul
Can’t wait for the Milwaukee. I feel bad because I got a makita 23ga but it was ordered from the UK and isn’t the same as the US version. Everyone saw me using mine on sites and bought one but they are mostly plastic to mine that’s metal. Great gun, works better than a pneumatic, problem is Its makita (different batteries) and the 18ga nailer is funky. I love my new Milwaukee 18ga and can’t wait for the 23ga.
Lou
Hitachi is a garbage i have Ryobi is very very good is bit havy and big otherwise workes awsome ..I hope Milwaukee don’t screw it up like makita and Hitachi..
Rafe
The newer version of the Makita 18v is great. I’ve owned probably 10 23G nailers over the past ten years and it’s one of the best ones I’ve put my hands on as far as reliability and quality of use.
MoogleMan3
This is the one I’ve been waiting for! I’m so stoked to add this bad boy to my arsenal.
If reviews are good on this one, it’s a day one purchase for me.
fred
Considering the poor track record with Makita being able to deliver a 23ga pinner that worked – I think that I’d wait until enough reviews – by legitimate pro users – are in on this one – before spending $200 or more.
MoogleMan3
Yeah, I almost bought the makita but held off because of the reviews. I’ll wait for some reviews on the milwaukee too, but I have high hopes based on how well their 2nd gen brad nailer does.
Rafe
The second gen Makita 23 pinner is great. First gen was terrible, returned it immediatly. I’m a professional finish carpenter and require my nailers to be reliable in all areas and I would recommend the newer Makita 23. I’ve owned multiple generations of pneumatic Senco 23 and 21 guage nailers, as well as Cadex. The cordless Makita 23 is more reliable than any of those ever were. I suspect Milwaukee is gonna get it right given the failure and subsequent revival of their first gen 18 guage.
rob
I’m running mostly Makita, but went Hitachi for the nailers. They perform great. What does Makita’s much hated on cordless nailers have to do with Milwaukee?
EJ
This pin nailer seems to be bulky compared to pneumatic ones.
Aaron
Not if you include the weight of the hose and compressor…
fred
Aaron is correct. There is always a tradeoff. A compact air tool that is light in your hand still might not work so well in tight spaces where the air hose can get in the way. Using a whip hose might help if you have a lot of tight-space work to do but sometimes cordless might be better. When the guys were doing moldings in places like small powder rooms – they often opted for one of our Paslode Impulse brad nailers. Even though the gun size was larger than a typical pneumatic – not having to snake to air hose around fixtures was an advantage
andy
But in actual use a lighter air gun always feels better than cordless. The hose seldom seems to add to the feel of it. My crew has several of both.
Charles
true. But not having to lug a cord and compressor, even the m18 version, means we always reach for the battery powered first, except in the shop
Bobby
This would really come in handy with the quarter round trim I’ll be adding after I finish installing flooring.
Koko The Talking Ape
Yep. I imagine dealing with an air hose when you’re up on a ladder isn’t fun. Also you have to lift the weight of that hose over your head.
Aaron SD
This might be a reason to stay a new battery platform. I only have yellow 20v max stuff. Any chance of them coming out with something like this?
Promit
While Dewalt has larger nailers (15/16/18), I’d be very surprised to see them match this one in any reasonable timeframe. Their other nailers are very large 20V tools, which would not suit a pinner. And the DW 12V system is absolutely basic and it doesn’t look like it’s getting bigger any time soon.
Dave
I have a Ryobi 23 gauge nailer that I use with Dewalt battery adapter (purchase on EBay) so I can use my 20V Dewalt batteries. There may Dewalt battery adapters for Milwaukee power tools on EBay. Dewalt batteries are the best.
Joey
I have the same thing. My adapter takes both Dewalt 20V and Milwaukee 18V Batteries – The Milwaukee has a little slop but it still fits.
I am heavy in the M12 line though so I will probably buy this gun for the size but the Ryobi actually works really well.
Kirk
Dewalt is releasing a 12v oscillating tool and 12v jig saw atomic 2nd quarter, you never know!
Big Richard
Better be a barrel grip jig saw for the 12v.
Kirk
Maybe dewalt is holding out to release a cordless pinner that can shoot 2″ pins like their first ever 2″ pneumatic air pin nailer
Toolfreak
And the Bosch 12V nailer will hopefully be released sometime soon…
Kind of odd that Milwaukee is including 1.5Ah 12V batteries with a tool like this, you’d think they’d have 2.0Ah batteries at a minimum and not cheap out.
AC
What bosch 12v nailer?
High & Mighty
I’m a Dewalt guy, but they haven’t impressed me with their cordless 20v nail guns. The 16ga is a gem, but the framing gun is absolutely god awful and the 18ga seems disproportionate for what it’s meant for. I’m in the market for a cordless pin gun, but I can’t convince myself to get the Dewalt 20v 18ga nail gun. I’d rather tote the pancake and a hose than use
a cordless that weighs the same. I learned my lesson with the framing gun on what not to buy. It would be great if they had a 12v pin gun in their arsenal, but as of right now they barely have enough basic 12v tools as it is. Possibly there’s more to come, but I doubt we’ll ever see a 12v pin gun from Dewalt. For some reason, Dewalt doesn’t think about lightweight tools with a small footprint. This just might be my first Milwaukee tool. I’ll wait for it to hit the market and see what people are saying about it.
Adam
I have the latest generation Dewalt 16 gauge, and I’m not impressed it doesn’t have enough power, the new Hikoki is much better , but I’m waiting for the new generation 2 16 gauge Milwaukee.
Tim
I hope it’s good. I tried Makita 18 and 23 it sucked. I spent like 900 on grex cordless 18 and 23 gauge. They worked awesome but after 30 days the 23 fell of the second step of a ladder and shattered. A week latter the 18 simply fell apart. For the last year as a pro been using the Ryobi lol. Compressor and pnumatic are on the truck just in case lol.
rob
The Hitachi ones work great (from experience) and the new Milwaukee ones are apparently just as good.
Joatman
Can’t wait to see this in action. If it proves well, I’ll definitely be getting one. Pretty soon the only thing my air compressor will be good for is purging my sprinkler system at the end of the season.
David A.
As a woodworker/Home improver I’m really interested in the performance- can it consistently drive 1-3/8″ pins into hardwood? If it can it will mean all the work I just finished plumbing 1/2″ iron pipes around my garage and the money i spent on a retracting air hose-reel will be rendered obsolete. Plus I will no longer have a good enough excuse to get a small portable air compressor 😉
Big Richard
You did iron pipe for air lines? David, you gotta get some PEX.
Also, a small portable air compressor still has a lot of other uses besides pneumatic nailers. Not sure where that rumor got started. So I still say you have an excuse to buy one.
David A.
Haha! Thanks Big Rich- now I just have to decide which small air compressor I want…
My lizard-brain decided iron pipe was the easiest way to go because I only needed to run about 25 ft of pipe- I picked up the Harbor Freight pipe-threader kit (which worked great btw) and mounted everything to the ceiling. Despite being overkill it works great.
Nick
air is king. And will be for awhile. I’ve had numerous battery nailers go bad and the worst part is you can’t service them. For your setup, stick with the air tools you won’t be disappointed.
Also my small compressor recommendation is the Rolair JC10 plus.
Smaller than that is the cal-air one that’s about $100 or so dollars
Pat McGuire
Just tried to go to the link listed for the pin nailers at Home Depot. It comes back that they are not yet available at these stores.
Terry Thillemann
I’ve Bostich pneumatic finish nailers and figured I’d stay pneumatic so I was going to pull the trigger on a Grex or Senco pin nailer but I’m thankful, hopefully, that this just showed up!!
I love my 12v Milwaukee Fuel Impact for its small and light form factor while being an absolute powerhouse. In fact, I was able to frame an entire basement with almost 1 battery … it’s a beast for its size!!
Can this 12v possibly compete with a Grex or Senco pneumatic? If so, I’m holding off for some reviews as I hate hauling the compressor and hose around.
Kirk
I’m all dewalt 20v , bought the dw original 30° cordless framer when it first came out at $499, hit or miss until I broke down and got the 21° , much better consistency sinking ring shank nails, plus the paslode 30° nails were thinner and bent more right out of the gun. I also rock the ryobi 18v pinner and few other ryobi( from my original tool lineup as a teen)the ryobi works good but just recently has trouble advancing nails(dry fires every other, I gave it a small shot of wd40, now it leaves a grease spot on unprimed trim) and the belt hook popped off and the gun fell from ladder. I just bought the m12 palm nailer kit so I’m already leaning towards picking this up as a bare tool
Kirk
I’m all dewalt 20v , bought the dw original 30° cordless framer when it first came out at $499, hit or miss until I broke down and got the 21°, much better consistency sinking ring shank nails, plus the paslode 30° nails were thinner and bent more right out of the gun. Also have the 16g is tits and 18g doesn’t sink nails in all the way. I also rock the ryobi 18v pinner and few other ryobi( from my original tool lineup as a teen)the ryobi works good but just recently has trouble advancing nails. Dry fires every other, I gave it a small shot of wd40, now it leaves a grease spot on unprimed trim and the belt hook popped off and the gun fell from ladder. I just bought the m12 palm nailer kit so I’m already leaning towards picking this up as a bare tool, the nextec hammer shark didnt cut it
Steve H Huzar
When will it be out
Stuart
Early 2021. That’s all we know so far.
Stuart
March 2021 is the latest ETA.
Patrick
So excited to see this update. For me, this is the Milwaukee tool I’ve been looking forward to the most.
King duck
I have been wanting a pin nailer and I can definitely see the advantage of this being cordless
Peter
So a pin nailer is for jobs that a brad nailer is to big for?
Thank you.
fred
Yes that is one reason to use them. On some small trim moldings an 18ga. brad might split the work – a 21ga. pin would be less likely to do so and a 23ga. pin even less likely.
The other advantage is that 23ga. headless pins – while having less holding power (usually just fine if you are using them to hold moldings in place while the glue dries) than 18ga brads – are nearly invisible – requiring no touch-up.
Peter
Thank you for your explanation Fred.
Stuart
Essentially, yes.
As Fred mention it’s handy for smaller trim work and also smaller scale woodworking projects.
Pin nails don’t have a lot of holding power, but they’re very small and easy to hide.
Koko The Talking Ape
– So they use a a gas spring instead of a capacitor and a solenoid. Is it more efficient? Lighter?
– How does the tool know when the spring is fully “compressed”? There must be a pressure sensor inside. More complex than with a capacitor, which can be monitored with other electronics.
– I wonder if the gas spring is insulated, to prevent heat loss. When the gas is compressed, it heats up. If that heat bleeds off, the gas loses some pressure, which means wasted energy. Of course, when the gas spring is released, it cools down again, and if there are no heat losses, the gas returns to room temperature, and there’s no net loss. But there are always heat losses.
– So I wonder if the gun loses energy if you just let it sit for a while. Does the electric motor come back on if it senses the cylinder has lost pressure? It would be like a Prius, where the gas engine comes on at odd times to replenish the battery, having nothing to do with how you are driving at the moment.
– Or no, that wouldn’t work. The cylinder would just get more and more pressurized over time. They should HEAT the cylinder if it cools off, maybe with little nichrome wires.
– That heating/cooling cycle doesn’t contribute at all to driving the pins, except perhaps indirectly. But it is a possible source of wasted energy, that operates all the time through heat loss, when you aren’t using the tool. It’s like a battery that self-discharges. But there must be some advantage to using it over an electric solenoid, or even a mechanical spring. I’d guess weight.
– Come to that, how is the gas spring compressed? With an electric motor and a screw moving the piston? And then the trigger disengages the screw quickly to let the piston snap forward?
I’ve been waiting forever for this thing. I’m going to jump on it like a cat on a goldfish.
Chris S
The article says “It would also be nice to have onboard storage for when you inevitably have to take it off so you don’t lose it.”
The onboard storage is on the second to last picture with the red non-marring tip attached to the red nub. It’s the triangle piece on the back end of the nail slide facing towards the front.
Milwaukee has done similar with the M18 nailers.
Mat
Bare tool is $199 (not $149 as listed, unfortunately)
Yes, it looks like it can sink pins into hardwood okay. See this video (~ 12:25):
https://youtu.be/vgevavuuzsk
Kent
I recently bought the M18 18 gauge brad nailer, and have run 3-4,000 brads through it in a few weeks. I’m installing 2,000 sq ft of 1×6 t&g pine on the ceiling.
No misfires at all. Except for that time I loaded it with brads from my 16g gun, but user error doesn’t count. It runs for days on a small battery. If the 23 g gun is just as good, it’ll be amazing.
My only hesitation in getting an electric vs pneumatic gun would be the size. They are definitely more bulky, which might be an issue for a 23g gun.
I needed one before this one was available, and got the Matebo HTP because they were blowing it out for $80.
Oleg k
Pin nailer for $200? I love Milwaukee tools but… $200? Without the battery? Come on… Assuming the pins are free for life the deal would make fiscal sense.
Doresoom
The Metabo HPT 18V pinner is $199, and the Makita 18V pinner is $179. Both MSRP for bare tool.
Greg
From what I’ve read on the interwebs this was released last year in august. Matter of fact there are quite a few video reviews of it already.
https://youtu.be/Os_ZtjUhGeQ
Was it recalled for a re-release?
Stuart
It was *announced* in August 2020: https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-pipeline-new-tools-show-2020/
It was not yet released. There might have been a model or two out in the wild to help drum up excitement, but those would have been pre-production models.
John N.
Ahhhhnd….they’re here!
ART
Home Depot announced today, April 10 /2021 the M12 is available for pick as soon as April 15….? Also, may any ‘brand’ of 23g pin nails and types, such as Porter Cable, Dewalt etc. be used with the M12? Any recommendations?
Thanks for any feedback!
Stuart
I believe any brand of 23 gauge pin nail could be used.