I ended up testing it with some shorter 18ga brad nails, fed fine and the slide didn't seem to tilt over. Got this back to the person who needed it, and let them know that part "Hitachi/Metabo HPT/Tanaka Feeder Piece Nt32Ae2 Nt50Ae2 #HIT-885899" is available if they do end up encountering issues. The biggest issue was lack of information on how they could put this back together (and if anything was missing, which of course it is) - so if they need to replace the quick fix they can do so now. If that piece turned out to be critical for function and needed in a hurry, it wouldn't have taken much to make one out of aluminum or plastic at the lathe (and slot it on the mill or bandsaw)
I ended up testing it with some shorter 18ga brad nails, fed fine and the slide didn't seem to tilt over. Got this back to the person who needed it, and let them know that part "Hitachi/Metabo HPT/Tanaka Feeder Piece Nt32Ae2 Nt50Ae2 #HIT-885899" is available if they do end up encountering issues. The biggest issue was lack of information on how they could put this back together (and if anything was missing, which of course it is) - so if they need to replace the quick fix they can do so now.
If that piece turned out to be critical for function and needed in a hurry, it wouldn't have taken much to make one out of aluminum or plastic at the lathe (and slot it on the mill or bandsaw)