Swingline Heavy Duty Stapler, 160 Sheet Capacity, Jam Free, Metal, Black and Gray (39005)

My first one of these got lost when my house was renovated. I had bought it at an Office Max store that was going out of business. It was marked down 60 or 70 percent. I put off replacing it, because of the price. The price on Amazon as I type this is under $22 with free shipping, which is cheaper than what I paid for the first one. To understand just how good that price is, compare it to other staplers. The price is essentially the same as the 60 sheet stapler, which I also have, and which is a good value in its own right(and much more sleek and compact). The next larger size adds about 30 percent to the number of sheets that can be stapled and about 110 percent to the price. This is a big, rugged, mostly metal machine, built to tight enough tolerance to be very effective and reliable.As far as the performance goes, both of mine have been near flawless, as have the ones I've used in various offices. As long as no one drops it on the floor causing misalignment or tries to staple something other than paper, you can expect similar performance. I don't use them enough at home to induce significant wear, so I can't confidently comment on performance in an industrial environment, although I've not seen a Swingline wear out since the Tot 50 that I bought as a child more than half a century ago. One reviewer said he had had one that suffered from wear, and I believe his situation envolved really long-term heavy use. At this price, you just go ahead and use it a few hundred thousand times (20 boxes of 1/4" staples would be 100,000) and then buy another.Note that it has a built-in adjustable guide to speed up production jobs. Also take note of the fact that you may need several sizes of staples, and you may have to switch out staples on a regular basis to cover all sizes of stacks of sheets. The staple sizes are 1/4" (heavy duty only) for 2-25 sheets, 3/8" for 25-60 sheets, 1/2" for 40-90 sheets, 5/8" for 75-120 sheets, and 3/4" for 90-160 sheets. You cannot use your 1/4" standard staples, which will jam the machine big-time. You must use heavy duty staples. Sheet quantities are estimates based on 20 pound paper, which is standard copier/printer paper.If you can use one of these, and they're still under $30, I'd recommend you buy it before someone comes to his senses and doubles the price. Right now, they represent a singular deep dip in the cost/performance curve.

EDIT: I am updating my review as of Sept. 2017. Thanks to a very helpful fellow Amazon customer, I bought a different brand of staples. I was using Swingline (!!) and I purchased Bostitch. This thing works like a DREAM now. It never ever "misfires" now. Always staples perfectly. The most frustrating part is that their own brand of staples are so inferior they cause their well-designed and reliable device to malfunction. There was no price difference, either.Oh, the frustration. This thing is definitely 50/50. I regularly staple bundles of 45-90 pages in my day-to-day office duties. Prior to buying this stapler, I was dealing with a messy tangle of paper clips every day. Staples make my files much easier to manage and keep them better organized and neat thanks to being flatter. PLUS I never have to worry about removing them when the shredding truck comes.About half the time, this thing works like a dream. The other half, one prong of the staple goes through as it should, and the other becomes a bungled mess on the top of the pages, leaving an unsightly and sharp lump. I even made sure I ordered the proper staple size for my page count needs! It's especially frustrating because I can't figure out the rhyme or reason for it happening. I'm applying smooth and even pressure to the lever. The staples are the correct size. The paper is all smooth and flat with nothing to impede the staple. I won't even begin to try to explain how hard it is to remove heavy duty staples when they "misfire". UGH.But all that said, I still like it better than paper clips. Even if only the one side loops and grabs through, that's enough to bind it. I just take my staple puller and use the metal teeth to gently bend the offensive piece down flat, and move on. But not everyone is going to want to do that, so you've been warned!