Porter-Cable FR350A Round Head 2-Inch to 3-1/2-Inch Framing Nailer

I have plans to begin finishing out my basement in the near future. After researching several different brands of framing nailers, I decided on this one based on the overwhelming number of positive reviews it received. After only breaking it in, I can tell you that I can see why everyone has such good things to say about this nailer. It is without a doubt a quality, powerful, confidence-inspiring piece of equipment that anyone would be proud to own.

I bought it right after I purchased the Porter-Cable CFFN250N combo kit. After breaking in the compressor (very important I might add), I set the regulator at 100 psi, and connected and loaded the nailer with 3″ .120 coated framing nails. I found a couple of scraps of 2×4, stacked them one on top of the other, and let her go. At 100 psi, and with no adjustment to the gun right out of the box, it went through both pieces and sank the first nail perfectly flush, no problem! After a few more test shots, I gave the depth adjustment on the gun a quarter turn just to see what difference it would make. At the same pressure, it put the head of the nail slightly below the surface of the wood, just as it should. As expected, there was quite a bit more recoil with a nailer this size, and I found that just a little more pressure on the board helped when firing a nail. After all, it is shooting a 3″ nail in one shot! I also changed the trigger to the “contact actuation” mode, which shoots a nail every time you touch the tip to the wood. This is a great feature, but as one other reviewer noted, I would suggest using it with caution. In the hands of someone unfamiliar with it’s operation, it could be very dangerous! Nevertheless, it worked flawlessly, and all initial indications are that this gun will serve me well for many years to come. It’s amazing what having the right equipment can do for your confidence level, especially if you’re an amateur like me!

On a side note, I was also very pleased to see that such an affordable and relatively small compressor (2HP, 6 gallons) could produce more than enough pressure to power this gun. The compressor will produce 135 psi, and the gun’s operating range is from 70-120 psi. As noted above, I had no problem with 3″ nails at 100 psi.

Also, I can’t say enough about the deal I got here at Amazon on this nailer. I caught it on a good day at less than $200, ordered the 17-piece accessory kit with it, took advanatage of the $25 off and free shipping offer, and still came out almost $50 cheaper than I would’ve paid for the nailer alone at the big orange store!

Thanks Amazon. You are an asset to the online shopping community!

Just finished house number 2 with this bad boy. You just can’t beat Porter Cable. Stick with the 350A instead of buying the 350mag. It is only about a pound heavier, comes with a case and you save $40.

Very Well Balanced Machine, little fatigue during the day. Great hands-free depth adjustment. Extremely easy to load, advance and clear. You can change from restrictive to sequential fire easily on the trigger.

My Hitachi can now be retired, I will not go back, this is my framing nailer of choice. As another reviewer seems to have found out, this is not an appearance nailer, for something like siding you may want to try the Porter-Cable RN175A Coil. I have had no problems sinking 16D’s in even engineered lumber. For everyday use the 350A is highly recommended.

I bought this based on a lot of positive reviews that I read while researching framing nailers on several different websites. I must say, I am VERY pleased.

First of all, this tool has copious amounts of power. I was able to sink 3.5″ 8d nails with no problem, even while adding a work bench and shelving in my new/old garage which features some really tough dimensional lumber. Further, and in spite of what I had read, I thought that the recoil was minimal.

Some of the reviews I read gave this tool mediocre to above average reviews w.r.t. balance and weight. I’m not sure what inspired these comments. The only issue that I had with balance was when the air hose got caught on something and pulled on the nailer but let’s face it, this is an issue with any air tool. In fact, after using it for residential framing for two days straight, I did not notice any fatigue in my forearm or wrist. When I first opened the case, I looked at the size of the thing and assumed that it would be heavy. Quite the contrary. I’ve had the opportunity to try a few other framing nailers (Senco, Hitachi) and I thought that this felt lighter. Just my opinion.

I live in Chicago, Illinois and have had absolutely no problems finding nails (Lowes and the Borg have multiple selections for this tool). A box of 2500 2-3/8″ nails cost me $25.00. Strangely, this is perhaps one item that is cheaper to buy locally when you factor in shipping charges.

I had read somewhere that the exhaust was not tool free. I bought the nailer conceding this fact however I found that it is not true.

I’ve read a couple of gripes based on the fact that the nailer does not have a holder for the mar-free nose piece. To this I say “big deal.” When you are doing framing work, do you really care if you leave toenail spike marks in the lumber when you are face-nailing??

I was suprised to note that, when the magazine is down to 2-3 nails, the gun no longer fires. I don’t really see this as an issue though.

One other reviewer noted that it is difficult to remove nails from the chamber if for instance, you wish to change nail lengths/sizes. I own several different nailers including Bostich, Campbell Hausfeld and PC. To date, I haven’t found any that are particularly easy w.r.t. removing nails that have already been loaded. On the other hand, loading nails in this gun is simple. You shove a set in the rear of the gun, pull the tensioner back beyond them and let it go. Voila!

To summarize, I am not a professional framer/carpenter. I do not use a tool like this for a living although as a woodworker and homeowner, I probably use my framing nailer more often than most. I think that it is a great product for the money. Can you buy a better nailer? Without even looking, I’m sure you can but at what cost? Finally, the quality of higher-end tools is quite subjective, much like a good pair of home stereo loudspeakers. I think that this particular product is a fantastic combination of quality and value.

Skeptical? Buy one from Home Depot and try it out. If you don’t like it, all you have to lose is 35-45 minutes in line trying to return it! ;o)

We own all 4 brands and many different guages of each Mfg type. We have just upgraded to this model from the FR350. The first thing you need to do is invest in GOOD SAFETY GLASSES! And watch your fingers!!

No problem finding round head nails in our area. Ctrl Oregon. The feature that we like the best is going from full autonail to (semi).

I have an apprentice working with it and this is a good safe feature for him. If you have a need for this size and type of nail gun this is the one you want!

Very easy on the wrist in any prolonged position. I hate reloading some guns but the rear load feature helps get the job done faster!

We recomend the case on this gun to keep it protected when not in use. One note about the case, remember to retract the nail spring load to its fully closed position or the gun will not fit in the case..Nice safety feature.

I have to give the FR350A a 5 out of 5 stars. It has never jammed once in over 250,000 shots of 3.5 in nails! Great design and highly recomended for the home owner and contractor in general

ShowCase Cabinet & Door Co.

I bought the FR350A a few months ago, and use it for all my framing needs. I love that it’s light (much lighter than many other guns I’ve used), it’s powerful enough to sink framing nails in wet or dry wood and I can still run it on a small compressor. The price is very competitive.

One of the best features of this gun is the selectable trigger. With no tools, in just a few seconds, you can switch from single fire to ‘bounce fire’. There’s no switching of triggers, you just turn a dial. I never thought I’d use single fire as much as I do.

I have had no problem finding nails for this model.

I have 4 Porter-Cable pneumatic tools, and this one seems to be just as well made and durable as the others.

All in all, it’s a well made tool at a very attractive price.

This tool loads easily and works very well. However, local nail availability is questionable but that may be a shortcoming unique to my area. Neither Lowe’s nor 84-Lumber stock the 22-degree nails for this tool. My advice would be to plan projects sufficiently ahead and obtain nails from Amazon.com if they are not locally obtainable.

I’ve framed my entire basement now, and didn’t have a single jam or other issue with this gun. Toenailing is sometimes tricky, but very possible. At 100psi I toenailed 3-1/4″ studs and it only left about 1/4″ (at most) of the nail to hammer the rest of the way in. I believe this is fairly typical with guns that aren’t meant to specifically toenail.

Overall excellent and quite satisfied.

I can’t say anything bad about this nailer, I use one just like it at work all the time, It’s a real labor saver, and it’s never given us any trouble, I would recomend this tool to anyone for any framing duties……Brownsboro, TX.

The woodworking is my hobby. This is my first framing nailer. I read many reviews posted in the Web and visited few hardware stores before purchasing this nailer, and I’m completely satisfied with it. I have performed few framing jobs and it worked perfectly meeting my expectation. I have other Porter-Cable nailers : brad and finish nailers. Based on the prior experience with other nail guns I expected this one would work fine too and it did!! I like the sequential firing mode for safety. I use it with the Porter-Cable’s 6 gallon compressor and I had no problem sinking the head so far even with 3 1/2″ nails. The kick-back… just a bit and it didn’t bother me at all. It is well balanced and didn’t cause any fatigue even after few hours working with it. FR350A is a great framing nailer in my opinion. Amazon.com is a great place to buy it.