Why Does My Nail Gun Shoot Two Nails?

Is your nail gun shooting two nails at a time whenever you use it? This is a pretty common issue with a lot of nail guns out there. It probably makes you wonder why your gun is shooting two nails at once. It can be pretty dangerous to work with, so you have to get this fixed whenever you experience this issue.

Well, I am here to discuss all that here. I will go through all the reasons and causes of this issue. Let’s not waste any more time and get right into it.

Causes for a nail gun to shoot two nails 

This issue is called Double kiss in the professional woodworking world. To put it simply, it’s when you pull the trigger once, but two nails fire simultaneously. Now, this can happen due to a variety of reasons. So, let’s check them out one by one.

• Wrong nail gauge 

The first and apparent reason for your nail gun shooting two nails at once is using the wrong nail gauge. If the nail size you are using isn’t compatible with your nail gun, then you will face this double kiss issue.

You can either check the instruction manual of your nail gun. Or you can check on the nail boxes to find which gun they are compatible with. Make sure to get the right nail gauges that work with your nail gun.

• Bouncing of safety 

Double kiss also occurs when you are releasing and reapplying your nail gun’s pressure foot safety feature. This makes the nail gun jump off the workpiece. It goes up to a distance where the safety of the nail gun disengages. Then, once the nail gun comes back into the workpiece, the safety reengages. This causes the nail gun to shoot that unwanted second nail.

• You are not applying enough pressure.

Another cause of this issue is that you are not applying the pressure you should be doing. You have to put enough pressure on your nail gun to keep its head on the workpiece surface. When you fail to do that, and a low air pressure compounds up to that, you end up with a double kiss issue. Because of the lower pressure, the gun bounces up and causes a second shot to happen.

• Drive pin issues

This is also a probable cause of your nail gun shooting two nails at a time. When the drive pin inside the gun gets out of the line or mushroomed, it tends to grab two nail heads. This results in getting these double kiss issues in your nail gun.

Typically, the solution to this problem is taking it to a professional. Because it’s a bit technical, and you may not know what’s going on if you are new to this. So, it’s best to leave the repairs of this issue to the professionals.

• Low-quality nails 

Well, you shouldn’t use low-quality nails anyways. While it’s bad for several reasons, the double kiss issue is one of them. When you use low-quality nails, the nail gun can hardly comprehend that. As a result, it fails to work properly, shooting two nails in one trigger.

So, you should avoid using low-quality nails completely to make sure that this issue doesn’t occur in your case at all.

• Worn out parts 

Sometimes your nail gun can also be the issue. If the safety feature or any other part related to shooting the nails wears out or gets damaged, you can face this issue. In this scenario, you will need to replace the damaged or worn-out part with a new one. Most of the time, it’s better to rely on professionals to do this.

Now, these are some general causes that can happen to any nail gun regardless of the brand. Aside from these, there are some brand-specific issues or issues with a particular model of nail gun. In such cases, you should refer back to the manual or check out some forums related to the model of nail gun you have.

This might not sound like that serious of an issue at first. So, the question always pops up, is it dangerous, and does it pose any threat at all?

Is it dangerous?

Straight up, this issue can be extremely dangerous. It can have severe impacts on your nail gun and you as well. Let’s get through why it is so difficult.

• First of all, you have to understand the mechanics of the issue. When your nail gun shoots the first nail, it goes into the wood just like it should. But if it shoots another nail immediately, the second nail can easily hit the head of the first nail. This can lead the second nail to rebound and hit you directly.
• Another thing that can happen is that when the second nail fires and hits the head of the last nail, it can jam the driver shaft of your nail gun. It also poses a threat to the piston of the nail gun. This can eventually ruin the whole gun.

In either scenario, it’s very dangerous to let this problem persist. So, whenever you are experiencing this issue for the first time, you should get it fixed right away. You don’t want to take any risk of injuries or damaging the nail gun.

For the most part, it’s better to opt for a professional mechanic to repair the nail gun rather than doing it yourself. Unless it’s one of those issues that you can fix yourself, like changing the nail gauge, you should go for professional help all the time.

Conclusion 

All in all, now you know why your nail gun shoots two nails at a time. It’s the kind of problem that you can’t ignore or avoid. The consequences can be pretty dangerous. So, you should stop using the nail gun immediately and get it repaired as soon as possible whenever you have this issue.