Wide-Crown Roofing Staples, Field Notes & Real-World Specs

If you spec roofing fasteners, you’ll know the value of 16 Ga Staples. The product on my bench today: Industrial Bostitch BCS2 16 Ga. Wide Crown Roofing Staples—made in Lixinzhuang Industrial, Dingzhou, Hebei, China—with a 25.0 mm crown that plays nicely with Bostitch BCS2-2500 series tools. Honestly, they look straightforward, but the devil’s in the wire, coating, and consistency.

What sets them apart (and where they fit)

Use them for roofing underlayment, lathing, insulation, packaging, and the occasional shop fixture. The wider crown spreads load—less tearing on felt or housewrap—while the 16-gauge wire brings sturdier holding compared with lighter gauges. In the field, many crews tell me these hold up well on OSB and plywood; in windy installs, that extra crown width matters. To be honest, bad staples jam, good ones disappear into the workflow—these tend to be the latter.

Product Specifications (quick view)

Manufacturing & QC (the short version)

• Materials: low-carbon steel wire rod → drawn to 16 ga; optional 304 SS for corrosion resistance.
• Forming: crown bending + leg cut; chisel grind; adhesive collation in sticks.
• Coating: electro-galvanized or hot-dip galvanized (request spec); resin bond for feed reliability.
• Testing: dimensions per ASTM F1667; drive depth and jam-count in BCS2 tools; salt-spray per ASTM B117 (48–240 h depending on coating).
• Service life: ≈5–12 years outdoors with galvanized in temperate climates; coastal or acidic environments shorten that—stainless recommended.

Application snapshots

• Roofing felt and synthetic underlayment—wide crown resists tear-through during gusts.
• Lath and sheathing—quick tack before nailing, common on repair crews.
• Insulation & packaging—surprisingly handy for heavy kraft and foam facers.
• Crafting and fixtures—shops use them for jigs where wider hold is helpful.

Vendor comparison (what buyers actually ask)

Customization & pack-out

Options include private-label cartons, barcode/UDI, pallet schemes for big-box compliance, and divergent point legs for better hold in softwood. MOQ tends to be reasonable; buyers in construction supply say the OEM artwork turnaround is quick—about a week, give or take.

Field data and feedback

• Internal drive tests: ≤0.2% jam rate over 10,000 shots in BCS2 tools (clean tool, dry OSB).
• Salt-spray: EG ≈48–96 h; HDG ≈120–240 h to first red rust (coating-dependent) [lab conditions].
• Roofing crew, Midwest: reported 23% fewer reload stops versus mixed-brand stock (one-week sample).

“Feeds clean, no drama,” one foreman told me. Another noted that the crown “saves the felt when the wind kicks up.” That’s the whole point of 16 Ga Staples in this class: dependable hold with a forgiving footprint.

Final thought: if you need wide-crown 16 Ga Staples for roofing, lath, or insulation lines—and want predictable QC from a Hebei plant that knows the BCS2 platform—this is a safe bet. Not flashy. Just reliable.

Authoritative citations

1. ASTM F1667 – Standard Specification for Driven Fasteners: Nails, Spikes, and Staples.
2. ASTM B117 – Standard Practice for Operating Salt Spray (Fog) Apparatus.
3. ISO 9001 – Quality Management Systems Requirements.
4. BOSTITCH BCS2 Series Tool Specifications and Compatibility Guides (manufacturer literature).