I'm still working on my built-in, and now it's time to attach face frames to the bookcases. The cases are already installed, and each face frame stile covers where two bookcases meet, so I cannot clamp them on across the sides nor use hidden pocket screws. The stiles on the outer left and right will be scribed to the walls. The rail at the top covers all 6 bookcases but is currently accessible from above since the moulding that goes above it isn't yet installed, so those could be attached with pocket screws. Note that I am using splines for both alignment and gluing purposes. Also note that all of the face frame pieces are already painted.
I'm wondering how I should go about attaching these face frames to the bookcases. I don't want to have to nail from the front because covering up the holes would require repainting, and that's just a pain. So my thought right now is to toenail them from the inside. I've never done that before, so my concern is blowout or something similar. Well my primary concern is getting injured since I've never used a nailgun before, but we can probably ignore that for now. I'm also not sure what length nail to use; the frames and the sides are both 3/4" material. I can obviously only toenail the outer left and right stiles from one side since their other side will be inaccessible, but hopefully that won't cause any problems.
Would toenailing work well in this situation? Some of the stiles are a little bowed due to length (5.5 feet), so they would have to be clamped on using something like three-way clamps before I use the nails. Is there any other approach I should consider?
I will need a nailgun at some point anyway since I probably don't want to install all of the moulding that goes above the bookcases using a hammer. Both of the big-box stores are selling combo kits for $199 right now. One is a PC while the other is a Bostitch. Does anyone have any recommendations on which to go with?
Thanks.