That $28 caulk gun with the auto-advance lever is the only tool I don't loan out anymore
Guy at the Habitat store in Austin swore by it, so I grabbed one last month and it laid a perfect bead on my tub without the wrist cramp, but my neighbor borrowed it and now the trigger sticks, anyone else find these things die after one misuse?
My neighbor did the same thing to my caulk gun, borrowed it for a shower project and suddenly the plunger rod was bent like a question mark. Took me a while to figure out he'd been using it to push out old grout from a tube he'd left in the freezer, which is a whole other level of nonsense. That thing died on the spot, and now I just point to my shed and say "nope" whenever he asks for anything. The auto-advance ones are picky, they don't like being forced backward or sideways. A buddy of mine swears by soaking the trigger in WD-40 overnight, but mine never recovered from the freezer incident. Might be worth trying before you buy another one, but honestly, some tools are just one-trick ponies.
Hell yeah, I feel that. @the_brian, my old caulk gun did the same thing after my brother in law used it to pry open a paint can. I took the trigger assembly apart, scrubbed everything with a wire brush, and hit the rod with some lithium grease instead of WD-40. It still clicks weird when I squeeze it, but it holds up for basic jobs now. That said, if yours is bent like a hook, just cut your losses and get a cheap new one. Some tools just ain't worth resurrecting.