How To Use A Ramset Hammer Shot

Nigh three years ago, while temporarily off my meds, I volunteered to assistance my son create a chamber in his previously unfinished basement. We put 2X4 force per unit area treated sleepers down over the concrete floor and on the concrete block walls. We put plywood down for the floor, capped it off with laminate flooring, and insulated and drywalled the walls. By far the biggest hurting in the ass of the entire project (bated from hauling everything downward there) was attaching the sleepers to the floor and walls. We used a hammer drill and Tapcon screws, which agree great, simply which are extremely labor intensive. Faced with another project that requires quite a bit of wood-to-concrete mating, and remembering how much fun we didn't accept on the previous job, I figured it was time for a new program. After doing a flake of research, I decided to invest in a Ramset MasterShot powder-actuated smash gun.

The Ramset MasterShot .22 Caliber powder-actuated tool was designed to make attachments to concrete and steel fast and easy. The MasterShot is capable of sinking nails from ½" – 3" long through steel, forest, and concrete. The "powder-actuated" end of the equation comes in the form of .22 quotient single shot pulverisation loads. At that place are three levels of "powder power" to choose from, depending on the length of the nail you're using and what materials you're shooting through. The loads are color-coded: 2 (Brown), iii (Green), and four (Xanthous), with the higher numbers beingness more powerful. Hither's a quick expect at the Ramset MasterShot from Home Depot:

Gunpowder And Three-Inch Nails – What Could Go Incorrect?!

Sometimes we joke around a bit about the over-hyped CAUTIONS!! and WARNINGS!! that accompany pretty much every tool nowadays. This is one tool where they might be worth a read, assuming yous'd rather not cease up with one of this twelvemonth's Darwin Awards. A tool that can propel a 3" nail through steel and physical qualifies as an exception to the "We don't need no stinkin' instructions!" line of thought. To me, anyhow.

The tool itself is pretty sturdy. It weighs in at just nether 4-½ pounds, has a comfortable handle and a heavy-duty butt. The Ramset MasterShot is elementary to operate. To burn a nail (likewise referred to as a pin), just insert the nail into the finish of the barrel. The nails come up with a piece of orange plastic around the shank, which holds them centered in the barrel. Slide open the sleeping room, insert a cartridge into the breech, and shut the chamber. Press the cease of the barrel firmly against your work piece, pull the trigger, and Smash – Part A is now attached to Role B! After firing, briskly open up the bedroom, and the spent cartridge will come flying out.

The following video from Ramset, which appears to be an internal informational prune, gives yous an thought how the guns operate.

The Ramset MasterShot: Say Hello To My Fiddling Friend!

I'thou currently doing quite a chip of renovation work in a three-story duplex. It's an old building, and the outside walls are solid brick, effectually 10" thick, coated with plaster on the inside. The floors and ceilings are concrete, along with several of the interior walls. This sucker is SOLID! And solid is great, except when you're trying to practise certain things, like running wiring or plumbing, or attaching trim, or installing cabinets, or…really, pretty much ANYTHING.

Nosotros had several chores that required introducing woods to physical. The concrete floors have sleepers over them, with varying floor coverings over them. In the kitchen, there were plywood subfloors with vinyl flooring. Apparently there had been some long-term water leakage in the past, considering parts of the subfloor – and the sleepers beneath – were totally rotted out.

Subsequently pulling out all the rotted wood and getting the expanse dried out, we cut and laid out some new 5/4" pressure-treated sleepers. I had bought some ii ½" nails to hold them down. After donning prophylactic glasses and hearing protection, I loaded up the gun, pressed it into the sleeper, and fired abroad.

Yikes. As I mentioned, the Ramset MasterShot can shoot whatever of three powder loads, with the yellow loads beingness the about powerful. Naturally, I had bought a box of the yellow; more power, more better, right? Well, apparently, not ever. Thanks to a combination of more ability and, apparently, some less-dense concrete in the target area, the nail went completely through the sleeper and buried itself in the concrete. At the risk of sounding like a coloring book, dorsum to the big Orange shop I went to fetch boxes of Green and Brown loads. It turned out that the Green loads were a go, and nosotros had the sleepers attached quickly and hands.

Over or under penetration is a fairly mutual occurrence, judging by comments made in various forums and other reviews. The concrete in some walls and floors may be much harder and denser than in others. The other material you're shooting through will as well affect the penetration, depending on how wet or dry out it is, presence of knotholes, and so on. You'll probably have to experiment with unlike loads until you notice the one that sinks your pins best, without overdriving them.

I had a few that ended up protruding ¼" – ½" or so, and these were pretty easy to end off with a hammer. I had a couple of others that stuck out over an inch. I had pretty proficient success finishing these off by using a second charge of the lightest load (the brown). I loaded up the cartridge – WITHOUT inserting a new nail in the barrel – and placed the butt over the protruding smash. This worked pretty well to bulldoze the smash flush, or very close to information technology. Again, experimentation may be required.

After finishing up our floor replacement, and putting a fresh layer of vinyl over it, nosotros needed to re-install some of our kitchen cabinets. The Ramset MasterShot and some 2-½" pins had the base of operations cabinets firmly attached to the wall very quickly. Since nosotros weren't certain what the shear strength of the pins was, nosotros decided to use a dissimilar method to attach the wall cabinets. We did use the tool to attach new baseboards, and to attach some surface-mount electrical boxes and junction boxes.

Other Means To Nail It

In the powder-actuated tool universe, at that place are a diverseness of options. On a tight budget? There are hammer-strike models for around $26, that tin can handle nails up to two-½" long. For fifty bucks, you can move up to a model that looks similar to the hammer-strike model, but has a trigger. Side by side in the lineup is the gun I bought, the Ramset MasterShot. These all employ .22 caliber loads, and the beefiest one can sink nails up to 3" long. They can also shoot nails as brusk every bit ½", and there are various sizes available, including nails with washers for extra holding power.

If yous're building a skyscraper or a bomb shelter, and you lot've got some serious, heavy-duty fastening to do, y'all can step up to the beefier, .25 or .27 caliber models. Many of these are "semi-automated," which means they take strips of 10 nails, rather than having to load a single nail for each shot. Some tin can too shoot threaded studs. Prices range from a couple of hundred dollars upward.

The Ramset MasterShot did a great job in our project. It seems very sturdy, and nosotros had no misfires or malfunctions at all while using it. When we did have serious overdriving a couple of times, the piston that drives the nails in really protruded out the cease of the butt – and stayed there. Later muttering some foul and unhappy words, I once over again dug out the user's guide (twice for one tool – a new record!) Fortunately, I discovered that it'due south an easy fix. They recommend tapping the piston back in with a soft-nosed hammer, only I found a curt piece of 2X4 did the play a trick on just fine.

The tool is very safe, if you lot utilize information technology properly. It won't burn unless the chamber is airtight, and the tip of the barrel is pressed firmly against the work piece. It's relatively placidity, for something that fires a powder load, but I'd yet recommend hearing protection. It has saved us a LOT of time and effort already, and we still accept a lot of work to do on the 2d flooring and in the basement. The expendables for it are reasonable and readily available, both online and in most dwelling improvement stores. If your work involves attaching forest to concrete or steel on a daily basis, you lot'll probable want a faster, beefier tool, maybe ane of the .27 caliber models. For the serious DIYer, or someone who only occasionally goes off his meds to do this kind of work, the Ramset MasterShot should make your job a whole lot less miserable.

The Ramset MasterShot comes with a 90-solar day warranty. It's available from Home Depot for around $90.

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Phil's path to the pinnacle of success as HomeFixated's Senior Writer was long and twisted. At various stages of his life, he worked every bit a framing carpenter, attended motorcycle mechanics school, served every bit an Ground forces MP, did a hot and itchy stint installing insulation in Phoenix, owned and operated a small contracting firm doing residential renovations, and worked every bit an employee of a major airline (Motto: We're non happy 'til You lot'RE not happy). He is currently semi-retired, but continues to take on little projects, such as the total renovation of an old farmhouse. Yes, he is a slow learner. Future projects include a teardown restoration of his 1965 BMW motorcycle, and designing and building a kicking-ass playhouse for his grandsons. Phil loves spending fourth dimension outdoors, hanging out with family and friends, cool tools, and a cold IPA when beer o'clock rolls effectually.