Stinger Cap Stapler for Roofing and Wrapping CS150B

I doubt you’re still swinging the ol’ hammer tacker now that so many underlayment and wrap manufacturers require caps for warranties. It’s likely you’ve got a pneumatic tool for that work. If not, this review might make your life a lot easier! Sure, a hammer tacker – or just a hammer with capped nails – is cordless in an old-fashioned way, but not in the way that makes us more productive. A pneumatic cap stapler offers faster, more durable results. National Nail recently introduced an upgraded version of the CS150 with its Stinger Cap Stapler. Bring on the review!

At A Glance

CS150B replaces the CS150 Stinger Cap Stapler
For fastening roof underlayment, house wraps, and foam boards
Shoots 7/16″, 18 gauge staples of 5/8″, 7/8″, 1-1/4″, or 1-1/2″ lengths with 1-inch diameter plastic caps
Uses Stinger pneumatic StaplePac
Capable of firing five staples per second
200 staple and cap capacity

Key Features

Fastener Range: The new Stinger CS150B Cap Stapler expands the fastener range downward to 5/8″ staples from its predecessor. With well over an inch of staple length variability, it’s likely that this will be on the only fastening gun you need.

Collated Staples and Caps: The magazine holds 200 collated staples/caps, exceeding most stapler’s capacities and matching the highest available. That means relatively more time working and less time reloading. Stinger claims it has an improved the magazine design, so we’ll have to investigate that.

Firing Modes and Exhaust: Dual firing modes allow you to choose between sequential and bump (contact) fire modes. There’s also a tool-free, 360°-adjustable exhaust to prevent air and dirt blasts toward your face.
Accessories: Have you ever opened up a pneumatic tool with the intention of getting right to work only to find it didn’t include an air fitting? That won’t happen with the Stinger Cap Stapler’s included fitting. A belt hook is a nice touch, too.

Performance

We’ve been building up a storm in our big motorcoach home development in Central Florida. Owners park their RV homes in expansive driveways and then enjoy a home without wheels for a while. Of course, each of those stationary homes requires roofing and wrapping – the right application for the CS150B Stinger Cap Stapler.

Ergonomics

We’ve got a few cap nailers and we even hammer in capped nails every so often, but securing material to roofs and walls this way isn’t optimal. The manual way is slow as molasses, of course. Even our pneumatic cap nailers, an improvement over manual nailing, jam all the time. Not only does this cost time, but it wastes nails because you never can throw out just the offending nail. You usually have to sacrifice a sequence of nails to clear the jam.

So I hooked up the CS150B and got to work. I loved the light, compact profile right away. The gun works quickly – so quickly, in fact, that I started to push it a little. Stinger’s five-cap-staples-per-second claim is no joke. I rapid-fired about thirty of them and the gun didn’t jam. Not a shabby start at all. The gun never jammed during the rest of my review period.

Since you’re effectively getting the holding power of two fasteners for each cap, being sure that the roof or wrap is pulled tight (not bunched up anywhere) is particularly important. There’s no adjusting the material after the staple is sunk unless you remove the staple completely.

Switching between single actuation and bump fire modes is simple and tool-free. Push the trigger’s red dial out and turn it to select the other mode. No different triggers, no fuss.

Reloading

Just like any other pneumatic fastening gun, you open the magazine and replace the coil of fasteners. But even this seemed easier than our other tools. Sometimes a roll of nails is awkwardly wrapped, and dropping the coil might mean watching as it rolls open down the roof! Putting the Stinger Cap Stapler StaplePac in the magazine doesn’t risk a coil disaster.

In the middle of the review, we got a second CS150B with a slight modification. The product team identified an area of risk and swapped out plastic for metal. It’s a simple tweak, but it’s good to know they’re looking at ways to improve their product even this close to final production.

The Stinger makes starting a roof or wrap so easy that one guy can do it. If you’ve got a finicky gun that jams or are using a hammer and cap nail, it’s a two-man start. But with the CS150B in one hand and the material in the other, you can be a lone ranger.

Price and Value

So how does the Stinger CS150B Cap Stapler rank among its peers?

It can hold 200 fasteners of 5/8″, 7/8″, 1-1/4″, or 1-1/2″ and will set you back about $230. Here’s where the competition sits:

Hitachi N3808AP: 200 fasteners (7/8″, 1-1/4″, and 1-1/2″), $260
DeWalt DWSL18CAP: 160 fasteners (1″ and 1-1/2″), $230
Senco BC58 21GA: 185 fasteners (5/8″ only), $214
Bostitch SL1838BC: 163 staples, 100 caps (3/4″ and 1-1/2″), $224.99

A little more detail: Bostitch and DeWalt have dual firing modes while Hitachi requires a trigger change and Senco does bump fire only.

Given that the Stinger Cap Stapler matches or exceeds the fastener capacity of its peers, has a wider range of fastener lengths, is in the same price range, and has given us outstanding performance, it’s price is one well worth paying.

The Bottom Line

The CS150B Stinger Cap Stapler is faster, lighter, more efficient, and boasts a great fastener length capacity than its closest competitors. With performance that exceeds our other guns, it’s my new go-to tool for roofing and wrapping!