REMINGTON 496 Powder Actuated Fastening Tool
Tool: REMINGTON 496 Powder Actuated Fastening Tool
The Journeyman Carpenter who taught me to use a ‘Ramset’* used to yell: “Fire in the hole!” BAM! into the concrete goes the nail. Firing nails with my Remington 496 tool never seems to lose it’s appeal, even when the recoil occasionally hurts my wrist.
Rating: 
Specifications:
- Uses .27 caliber 10-shot strip loads.
- Fastens up to 3″ power fasteners.
- Up to 8 fastenings per minute.
- Metal construction with high impact molded housing and a cushion grip handle.
- Lightweight, superior balance for easy handling.
- Weighs just under 4.25 lbs.
- Comes with lockable carrying case, goggles, spall shield, hex wrench, and cleaning brush.
Experience:
Well, it’s fun to use! I bought the Remington 496 for use when framing out basements. My 496 only sees limited use in my field but I’ve completed some big jobs with it, firing hundreds of nails. I finished my own shop using this tool to fasten 2x to the walls. I insulated between the 2x and screwed on plywood sheets, which is great for attaching cabinets, shelving and thumbtacking plans to.
Comments:
There are several other fasteners on the market but since my paycheck doesn’t depend on this tool I picked up a reasonably priced model. The only drag to this tool regards feeding the ten-shot strip. If you insert a half-used strip, it’s hard to tell if you’re at a good charge. This only sucks when you’re holding the material with one hand and have the shot all set up and there’s no load.
I have a funny story about my Remington 496 and there’s a lesson with it. After working with my Remingon 496 I left it on my kitchen counter. My mother stopped and asked what it was. I picked it up and pressed it against a tile on my kitchen floor and said it was for shooting nails into concrete, you just push hard and pull the trigger and BAM! I shot a 1/2″ hole right through my kitchen floor and through the subfloor. Nope, there wasn’t a nail in the gun but there were charges. When you pull the trigger a rod slams the nail home… or in the absence of nail the rod will slam into whatever is in the way. Never play with Powder Actuated Fasteners. You might just shoot a hole through your kitchen floor. …or worse.
Links:
Remington 496 Semi Automatic Powder Actuated Tool at Amazon.com
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*Ramset is a company with over 50 years of innovation and leadership in the development of powder actuated fastening systems. In the construction world ‘Ramset’ is synonymous with Powder Actuated Fastening.
Filed under: Specialty | Tagged: Concrete, Powder Actuated, Ramset, Remington