Concord Carpenter

Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT

By Robert Robillard on Tool Reviews

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Weight and Balance

The Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT measures 11.4” long and weighs 7.0 pounds. size wise its not that much larger than my Bositch SmartPoint brad nailer. Its very well balanced, but heavier than a pneumatic brad nailer.

Cutting that compressor hose offers greater flexibility and mobility but does come with a cost of added weight of a battery, motor and components. A cots or better yet, a convenience that many will want!!!

Line of Sight

The tools line of sight is excellent and you can expect the fasteners to be embedded dead center and 1/4” above the contact tip. Like any nailer, once you learn this, your fastener placement will be dead-on with placing straight on shots.

Room For Improvement?

This Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT is an innovative piece of art. Its clear that product development team and engineers wanted to get it right, as opposed to rushing into the cordless nailer race too soon.

Overall I’m extremely impressed with this tool and wish it were available for our Head-2-Head test last fall.

The only area that is worth noting that could be improved is when installing angle driven fasteners. I know, what your thinking, “who drives brad nails at an angle?” Well if you’ve ever installed crown molding and are trying to tuck your nails into a detail or crevice, you’ll know what I’m referring to.

When toe nailing or installing 2” brads at a 45-degree angle [at all four holding / tilt positions], I was unable to get consistent depth results.

Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT Specs

• Nail Sizes: 5/8” – 2-1/8”
• Magazine Capacity: 110 nails
• 1200 nails per charge on a REDLITHIUM 2.0 Compact Battery
• Sequential and Contact Actuation Modes
• Dry-Fire Lockout
• Adjustable Belt Hook
• LED Work Light

 Overall Impression

While testing we arrived at all of our questions in the beginning of this article and more. The Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT is a durable, well-balanced nailer that consistently and reliably installs fasteners like a pneumatic nailer would.

We could not get the brad nailer to lag, or jam in our extensive shop and jobsite testing and usage. You can expect to put in a full days work on one 2.0 amp hour battery pack, be productive, install accurately placed fasteners and finish with a job well done!

This nailer, like the rest of the Fuel line, will it make your more productive, efficient and ultimately money by staying in service longer than the competition and allow you to cut the hose!

Cost

The Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brushless Brad Nailer 2740-21CT sells for $379 for the kit, and $329 for the bare tool.

Bottom Line

The Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT is “100% BRAD ASS,” so pull the trigger and get yourself one!”

* I see a t-shirt logo somewhere here.

Milwaukee FUEL 18 Gauge Brad Nailer 2740-21CT Video Review