Abstract: In a pneumatic nailer using compressed air for driving nails, a work chamber contains a drive piston and is in communication with a storage chamber for effecting the return of the drive piston after it has driven a nail. A valve unit controls the supply of additional compressed air into the storage chamber. A switching element is arranged to react when a predetermined compressed air pressure is exceeded for controlling the flow of compressed air through the valve unit to the storage chamber. The switching element can be a pressure limiting valve. The combination of the switching element and valve unit avoids unnecessary compressed air losses in the higher pressure operating ranges.