Milwaukee M18 FUEL 1/2 in. Hammer Drill/Driver (Bare Tool)

Milwaukee M18 FUEL 1/2 in. Hammer Drill/Driver (Bare Tool)

By Milwaukee · Cordless Drills · Power Tools

  • POWERSTATE brushless: 1,400 in-lbs torque, 0-2,000 RPM
  • Hammer mode 0-54,000 BPM for masonry
  • 1/2 in. all-metal ratcheting chuck
  • Auto-Stop Control Mode
  • REDLINK PLUS overload protection

Lowest price seen
$229.00
from $229.00 at MaxTool · Checked Oct 8, 2026

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Summary

The Milwaukee 2904-20 is the fourth-generation M18 FUEL cordless 1/2-inch hammer drill/driver, sold as a bare tool with no battery and no charger. It is built for tradespeople and serious DIYers who already own M18 packs, but check the chuck runout reports and make sure you have a compatible battery and charger before you buy the body alone.

Strengths

  • Pro Tool Reviews measured 539 in-lb of soft torque with a standard 5.0Ah pack and 591 in-lb with the 6.0Ah High Output pack.
  • In the same independent test the 2904 cut a spade bit in 3.36s, a self-feed bit in 2.59s and concrete in 3.74s.
  • AUTOSTOP, REDLINK PLUS and the supplied side handle add real protection against a binding bit.
  • A genuine percussion mode at 33,000 blows per minute handles occasional brick, block and light concrete.
  • Owners already on M18 need only the bare body; the 5Ah and 6.0Ah packs fit the same tool.
  • One April 2026 owner had a failed chuck replaced under warranty in about two weeks.

Weaknesses

  • The bare tool has no battery or charger; the two-pack 2904-22 kit is the more practical first buy.
  • The 1,400 in-lb figure is a catalog peak, not a laboratory-measured continuous drilling torque.
  • Owners report chuck runout; one April 2026 owner sent the drill in twice without the wobble being fixed.
  • The keyless chuck can seize on a bit, and a replacement chuck 42-66-2720 was out of stock at one authorized repair shop.
  • Ice-anglers report gear-like clicking and stall or kickback cutoff on large augers.
  • With a big pack and the side handle fitted, the tool is heavy for overhead work.

Verified specifications

IdentityMilwaukee model 2904-20, 18V M18 platform, fourth-generation FUEL brushless hammer drill; it is not ONE-KEY (the 2906-20 adds that).
Torquemanufacturer-rated peak 1,400 in-lb (about 158 N·m), not a measured sustained drilling torque.
Speedtwo gears, low 0–500 rpm and high 0–2,100 rpm, with up to 0–33,000 hammer blows per minute on high.
Chuck1/2-inch (13mm) all-metal ratcheting keyless chuck with carbide jaws; complete chuck service part 42-66-2720 and reverse-thread retaining screw 05-88-0019.
Cutting capacity1/2-inch steel, 1-1/2-inch flat or auger bit in wood, 3-1/2-inch hole saw, 2-9/16-inch self-feed bit and 5/8-inch screw.
SafetyAUTOSTOP anti-rotation ships on; the manual toggles it by pulling the trigger five times with the selector in center lock.
Size6.9 in long and about 3.3 lb bare; a large pack and the side handle add working bulk.
In the boxthe tool, a side handle and a belt clip, with no battery, charger or hard case.
Batterycompatible M18 packs, for example the XC5.0 pack 48-11-1850; the separate M12/M18 charger is 48-59-1812.
Service documentMilwaukee bulletin 54-24-2990R (May 2025) covers 2904-20 serial prefix M64A.
Warrantyfive-year limited defect warranty on the tool; batteries and chargers carry separate terms.
Full research notes and sources

Chuck problems owners report

In r/MilwaukeeTool threads, owners describe a visibly wobbling drill bit and a chuck that will not hold or release properly. One April 2026 owner bought a new 2904-20 the previous December, saw red-marked runout and bent bits, and sent the drill in for warranty service; it came back twice with the runout unresolved. Another owner, also in April 2026, had a failed chuck replaced under warranty and reported a new tool in about two weeks. A 2023 owner with a seized chuck said a replacement chuck solved it.

Impact damage is a separate story: a March 2026 owner described wobble after the drill fell about eight feet, which is not a manufacturing fault. Nobody has published a failure rate for the 2904-20 chuck, so treat the reports as a known risk and check straight bits in several orientations before you start a job.

Battery, charger and running costs

The 2904-20 ships without power. On top of the bare body you need an M18 pack and a charger, and buyers new to the platform should price the $329 2904-22 two-battery kit (Home Depot, October 2026) against buying the parts separately. A standard 48-11-1850 5Ah pack was offered at $99 through July 19, 2026 (Home Depot), and the M12/M18 charger 48-59-1812 lists at $89 (Home Depot, October 2026).

Charging a 5Ah pack is cheap in electricity: at $0.20/kWh and roughly 80% wall-to-cell efficiency, 100 full-equivalent recharges a year use about 11.25kWh and cost about $2.25. That is an engineering estimate, not a metered figure, and cutting bits, hole saws and screws are the real running cost, varying with the material you drill.

Parts, service and warranty

Milwaukee publishes a model- and serial-specific parts list, so the tool is repairable rather than disposable. At Power Tool Repair, an authorized US repair shop, the complete chuck 42-66-2720 listed at $49.13 and was out of stock, the gearbox service assembly 14-29-2904 at $81.88, the electronics assembly 14-20-6560 at $179.80, the rotor 16-07-2983 at $39.61 and the housing 31-44-7060 at $16.45 (October 2026). Swapping the chuck is not a casual job: it uses a reverse-thread retaining screw and a factory torque spec.

The tool carries a five-year limited defect warranty; the battery and charger have their own shorter terms. Service runs through Milwaukee’s authorized centers and eService. Owner outcomes are mixed: one April 2026 chuck claim ended with a replacement in about two weeks, while another owner reported two ineffective repairs.

Is it worth it?

At around $229 for the bare body, the 2904-20 is fair value only if you already run M18 batteries and need genuine hammer drilling. Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Tool Nut and Northern Tool all listed the bare tool at $229 (October 2026); the two-battery 2904-22 kit was $329 (Home Depot, October 2026). If the platform is new to you, price the kit or a bare body plus a pack and charger before you commit. If hammer action does not matter, the non-hammer 2903-20 was $219 (Home Depot, October 2026), the ONE-KEY 2906-20 was $279, and on other platforms the Makita XPH14Z was $199 and the DEWALT DCD999B was $239.

Which model this is

The 2904-20 is the bare tool. The 2904-22 is the same drill in a kit with two 5Ah packs, a charger and a hard case. The 2903-20 is the non-hammer sibling, and the 2906-20 adds ONE-KEY tracking. Do not confuse any of these with the older 2804-20, or with a 1/4-inch hex impact driver.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Stores and parts:

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