Chuck wrote:
....

Thanks, I will do further research. I have also received answers from
the rec.woodworking site. Interesting how many different opinions there
are. I really appreciate all the help I am getting though. Chuck

Yeah, you know the saying about opinions, I'm sure...

The key is how good is the galvanizing (combined w/ what the locale and
weather are plus even which side of the house it is can make all the
difference in the world as to how badly it weathers).

As noted, I don't have any way to quantify differences, but I'm quite
convinced (there go those opinions again! ) the preponderance of
imported nails has resulted in the general quality being significantly
lower than when your house was built 30 years ago or so.

Undoubtedly there are "equivalently good" available but not likely at
the Borg; we're too small to have one of the national box stores but the
chain lumber and hardware stores have nothing on the shelves that aren't
Chinese imports any longer for common fasteners (they may be indirect
via Canada or some other vendor, but if you look carefully you'll find
the country of origin is almost universally China).

As noted, the complaint (for lack of better word) on the nailer nails
vis a vis loose is simply observation of having used a bunch of both.
I've not tried to do any in-depth research to the actual specifications
of the various manufacturers such as Bostitch, Senco, Hitachi, etc., on
their various nails but I suppose it's probably out there somewhere in
their detailed catalogs.

And, of course, there are standards from the various trade organizations
and ASTM and other standards-writing/sponsoring organizations that will
define actual performance tests and criteria, etc. I've not looked into
them, either.

In short, unless it's a huge area and/or cost is a really constraining
issue, you can't go wrong w/ an extra $50 or so invested in the SS,
particularly if contrast that to the overall project cost I'd think if
you're really concerned about eventual bleeding.

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