Nailgun

Has the potential to completely shut-down a push, giving players an edge against spears and shotguns alike. Opening with a Crossbow and closing with the Nailgun makes for a fantastic combo, even if another enemy happens to be around the corner.
Can be completely overshadowed in either of these roles once weapons like the Revolver become common in your arsenal.

An okay weapon, unless there is a hard time obtaining better early game gear such as the Revolver or Waterpipe Shotgun it is costly to spend Scrap on nail guns, especially considering it sometimes performs worse then Hunting Bow and Crossbow.

The Nailgun requires a Work Bench Level 1, an effective strategy is to scrap components for Metal Fragments and use a Work Bench Level 1 which can commonly be found out in the open or in decayed bases.

Despite its low damage, it can be effective to defeat opponents with superior gear (when you force them to push you), due to its dazing effect. They won't know where to run and how fast, and will be easily suppressed as a result of its high rate of fire.
Having them push you will, strictly taken, not give you the element of surprise, but if you're under fire by a nailgun, you won't be able to think as clearly and make proper decisions/defensive shots. Most people will be completely overwhelmed and panic, potentially leading to your death even though each particular nail will deal relatively low damage.

This weapon is not meant to be used as your only weapon.
This is a combo piece to complement to early " one shot per clip" weapons fiving you the ability ot finish targets off, however it gets quickly outpaced by your 1st bps(especially the revolver)
building too many of these is also detrimental to your progess due to the Scrap cost.

Surprisingly good weapon, even in mid/late game. Ammo economy is great, due to both being able to pull ammo out of the corpses of your slain enemies, and you can make more ammo out of metal fragments, without a workbench! Cheap to make, and it doesn't hurt to carry as a backup, even in the age of AKs and L96s.