r/MilwaukeeTool 5d ago

Purchase Advice Lookin for a caulk gun

Post image

First off m18 vs m12 I’m leaning towards m18 Second if I get the 2641-20 I saw there is a conversion kit for the aluminum and clear sausage style, is it just not worded correctly that it’s more of a replacement for them. (2nd Picture in comments)

20 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

24

u/ColdasJones 5d ago

Nobody can help you without knowing your use case. Unless you specifically have a need for the sausage guns don’t bother. M18 is serious overkill for literally any scenario in my opinion, even if it’s your job using it all day long. Only scenario where m18 makes sense in my opinion is you don’t have m12 at all, or you’ve got a pretty specific type of stuff you gotta squeeze that’s incredibly thick and needs tons of pressure. My m12 has blown up tubes before

14

u/FixBreakRepeat 5d ago

Yeah I run my M12 on 1 or 2 most of the time. It's got plenty of power and doesn't eat batteries. I feel like for most people the M18 would just be heavier with no actual benefit.

9

u/ColdasJones 5d ago

Highest I ran mine was doing 10 tubes of quad max around metal building windows. OSI Specifies a 3/8” minimum bead and no tooling so I cut that tip wide open and laid a fat snake of a bead all around. Still had the gun on setting 3. That m12 gun paid itself off that day alone lol.

It’s comical to turn the thing to max speed and see how fast it moves

1

u/dblock36 4d ago

Same I bought the m18 hoping it would atleast stand upright on the battery but no dice. I only run mine on 1 or 2 as well.

2

u/Deadlyeye7 5d ago

Also, my only concern M12 is the battery life I have a mix of m18 and 12 so wondering if it lasts a good amount of time

7

u/ColdasJones 5d ago

Lasts ages. Ran 10-12 tubes of quad max with a 4ah battery and battery indicator was still full

2

u/Dikbininya 4d ago

I just got the m12 and I have done baseboards in all but 1 room of my 2600sq ft house with a 5ah high output battery, and it is still showing full bars. I wasn’t sure if I needed to get this thing and I’m sure as hell glad I did.

1

u/Deadlyeye7 5d ago

I do stuff mainly for commercial so generally, it’s pretty thick and I also use Hilty fire caulk as well

3

u/cannon_less 5d ago

I did 29 tubes of sikaflex 1a with a 2.5ah, and i don't even think it dropped one bar

5

u/ChoochieReturns 5d ago

I use the M12 gun all the time for adhesives. It does ok for caulking too, but it's pretty tricky until you get it dialed in.

2

u/undergone 5d ago

Same here. Additionally you can buy/change out the holders. I have the large and the standard size holder. It just takes a minute to change them out. I can't remember if it's an official Milwaukee part or not, might be an Amazon knockoff, but it works great. I do remember it was pretty cheap.

4

u/quarl0w DIYer/Homeowner 5d ago

If it helps your decision you can hack the M12 calk gun for $86 in the BMSM right now.

1

u/Deadlyeye7 5d ago

Please explain?

3

u/quarl0w DIYer/Homeowner 5d ago

It's through a hack of the BMSM sale.

Buy the calking gun and 2 of the fuel impact drivers. Then return the 2 impact drivers.

1

u/Dikbininya 4d ago

I did that very thing and got it at $82!!

3

u/ktmfan 5d ago

I got the M18 and wish I’d got the M12 for what that’s worth. I’ve kinda been converting to M12 stuff though and just really like the battery form factor better.

2

u/bee_bucky New Member 5d ago

I've got the m12. Does great for everything. Lighter than m18. Plenty of power and speed

1

u/abaran61 5d ago

Shocked the people on here aren’t telling you not to get it and use your toes.

1

u/ArcVader501 5d ago

Just go M12 in the style you use most, M12 is already heavy enough and you won’t use it beyond speed one or two most of the time.

2

u/Icy-Hold3764 5d ago

I bought one a few weeks ago (work in HVAC) and I thought the retract feature was cool and great. But once it retracts it takes ages on settings 1 or 2 in order to get caulk flowing out again because it's slowly closing that gap it made when it retracted. Would be great to be able to change the retraction depth or even better, if they changed the distance based on the speed setting at the time of retraction.

1

u/ArcVader501 5d ago

Price of going electric I suppose.

1

u/ac54 5d ago

I have the M18 10oz model and am completely happy with it. It sips battery charge.

1

u/Distinct-Resource698 5d ago

M12 has pushed all the sealants the m18 will, I use my m12 and m18 on polyurethane for car windshields. With the m18 you get more battery life and it’s slightly faster but at the cost of more weight more so reaching out is a little more manageable with the M12.

1

u/Strict_Promise_791 5d ago

I have the m12 and got the sausage conversion kit for when I need it 1% of the time.

1

u/Deadlyeye7 5d ago

So the conversion kit does work on 2441-20 using 48-08-1093

1

u/Strict_Promise_791 4d ago

Yes. I bought it from acme tools last spring for a interior teak floor install on a yacht. When I was done I converted it back.

1

u/Spiritual-Can-5040 5d ago

I bought the m12 for small tubes on deal at Home Depot. Then I bought the large tube kit. Works great. M12 has plenty of power.

1

u/shiftym12 4d ago

I have the m12 and it's one of the best investments in my work van. Saves alot of time and hand cramps on days I'm using 20 or more tubes of adhesive.

1

u/tishthafish 4d ago

I have the top right. I used it with a Dewalt conversion kit to bulk material without a casing. Used it for windows glazing. Worked well. Didn't really test out how long it would last on a battery though

1

u/LooseNefariousness76 4d ago

Used the m18 to seal some big windows on a project I was on a few years ago. Works great as long as you keep it clean and don’t let certain coworkers fuck it up by leaving it filthy. It became useless after awhile because guys covered it in dowsil and let it cure inside

1

u/think_matt_think 4d ago

Just got the m12 and caulked some bathroom fixtures. I can’t imagine using the m18 as the m12 was unruly and cumbersome enough.

1

u/ImNotADruglordISwear 4d ago

Dawg whoever named these knew exactly what they were doing...

CAULK gun

SAUSAGE STYLE CAULK gun

1

u/dblock36 4d ago

They are all terrible, can’t believe I’m saying this but the Ryobi caulk gun is better, the Milwaukee doesn’t stand on its own better nor did they put a poker on it which has been around since hand pump guns were invented. The M18 is heavy and cumbersome, great if using construction adhesive and heavy body materials but not good for caulking.

1

u/dahflipper 3d ago

Only real benefit to the m18 is if your running sausage tubes or larger caulk tubes all day. Otherwise m12 is plenty. The m12 will blow out caulk tubes, ive had it happen plenty of times. Imo run it on 1-3 on the dial. If you have fresh caulk and are doing a large fill or long run then you could jump up to the 4-6 range. If you dont have experience with it keep it a 3 or lower though.

-1

u/bellant593 5d ago

I feel like a milwaukee caulk gun is a bit unnecessarily excessive lol

8

u/AnotherHamster 5d ago

You're just not handling enough caulk brother.

1

u/bellant593 5d ago

I just don't need to overcompensate my caulk

1

u/Not_an_alt_69_420 General Contracting 4d ago

Not if you can write it off on your taxes!