Milwaukee 1/2" Inch Impact Wrench

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave a review on this product since it already had so many positive reviews and mine would come across as just another 5-star review lost in the noise…but what the heck, this is a great tool. If you’re researching this tool, then you’ve undoubtedly (or at least you should) already spent hours reading other reviews, looking at other similar models (there are lots out there), watching video reviews, and doing some soul searching. This is not an inexpensive tool. For me, shelling out over 430 dollars (or 21,000 rubles) wasn’t something I was going to do without some research. I have an air compressor and air tools, so what do I need with a “toy” impact gun that runs on batteries? I mean, come on, my air tools are loud and have hoses, and hook to an even louder compressor, so a battery powered impact gun can’t possibly be more powerful than an air impact, right? Yup, it actually can. And the really great part is that it’s a lot more portable. I’m not a professional mechanic (I don’t pay my mortgage from the proceeds of me working on cars) but I do perform all my own car maintenance/repairs and I do a fair share for my friends as well. This means sometimes I’m packing up a bunch of my tools and travelling to pay a visit to a sick car. I have packed up my compressor before, but it’s big, and heavy, and a pain and I was looking for something a lot easier and simpler. Queue the cordless impact gun search! I looked at a lot of other cordless impact guns—cheap no-name brands, expensive tool-truck brands, and slightly-less expensive reputable brands. I’ll admit, I don’t know if I would ever really need over 1,000 ft-lbs of reverse torque often, but for me it’s one of those cases where if you’re going to spend this amount of money, shoot for the moon. So, my research basically narrowed the field of contenders down to two models: The Milwaukee 2763-22 and the Ingersoll Rand W7150-K2. Everything I’ve read and watched about the IR and the Milwaukee pretty much said the same thing—they are both great tools, both very powerful (torque specs are almost the same), similarly priced, and you can’t go wrong with either one. Like most everyone else, I was familiar with IR’s pedigree of air tools and this initially had me leaning toward purchasing the IR. There were a few other small items that also made the IR very appealing: it felt a teeny-weeny-bit more comfortable in my hand than the Milwaukee (I was able to hold both prior to buying), and I liked the way the head of the IR was slightly angled and felt this would allow it to have better access to fasteners. So why did I end up buying the Milwaukee? Three things: brushless motor, its 5-year warranty, and a wide range of other tools that use the Milwaukee battery pack. I’ve been impressed with brushless motors for years in the remote control industry and am sold on them; a longer 5-year warranty to help protect my investment.; and lastly, I hate having different battery packs, chargers, and cables for tools. Milwaukee offers a wide range of other cordless tools that use the M18 power pack that I could easily see sitting in my garage in the near future. OK, sorry for the process my medulla oblongata went through before my finger pressed the “Add to Cart” button, but I figure I’m like many of you out there going through the same thing and just wanted to share my story. I’m sure there’ll be at least one med student or Doctor or generic smart-alleck that will say “But the medulla oblongata is responsible for involuntary bodily functions like breathing, digestion, and heart functions, so you wouldn’t have used it! The prefrontal cortex would have been used for this purchase.” Um, yeah, we all know that, but I wouldn’t have been able to press “Add to Cart” if my heart weren’t beating, now would I? Blah, blah, blah, so how does it perform? I love it. As soon as it arrived, I started zipping off lug nuts with the half charge the battery came with. If it weren’t raining that day, I probably would have started walking around my neighborhood removing neighbor’s lug nuts. You know the old saying “when all you have is a hammer, all you see are nails”? Well, this thing was my hammer and I was looking for some nails! Lug nuts were no problem. I removed an axle nut…no problem. I want to say I removed the crank bolt from a Honda with it (since that seems to be the ultimate uber test for an impact gun), but I can’t, only because I don’t have a Honda. If you have one, bring it by my house and we can give it a shot. I’ve only had this thing a little over a month and its uses up to now have basically been for simple things, but I’m still tickled pink with it. I find myself using it more than my air impact and not because it’s “oh-my-gosh-this-thing-is-so-uber-awesome-powered-and-way-better-than-my-air-impact”, but mostly because it’s just so simple and easy….and because it’s way more powerful than my air impact. Battery life is outstanding—all the things I just said I did with this tool have brought the battery-life indicator down to 3 out of 4 bars. This also includes all the time I spent in my kitchen pretending I was Flash Gordon and shooting bad guys with my Milwaukee Ray Gun (it does have a lightning bolt on the side after all). In fact, the battery life is so good that if you’re at the upper limits of your budget and trying to save as much as you can, you can probably get away with buying just one battery. But hey, it’s always good to have an extra battery anyway, right? I haven’t had this tool long enough to comment on its longevity or how it would hold up in a professional shop environment, so I’d have to defer to other reviewers that have more time under their belt with this tool. But, for someone like me who’ll use this several times a month, I have no doubt it will last for years. At the end of the day, I’m very happy with my decision to buy this and I would do it all over again. Now I’ve got my eye on the 3/8” model….