Several years ago, coming back from one of Dale Walkers Banditfests, I picked up a framing nail in a nearly new Bridgestone 010.
I bought one of these from a tire store, went home pulled the wheel and tire and installed per instructions. I got almost 7k out of that tire and not once did it leak or get weird.
Anyone that has ridden with me knows I'm not too easy on rubber.
You have to install from the inside. Make sure the inside is clean, no grease or rubber lube. I cleaned my tire with a couple shots of Berrymans carb cleaner, then used 60 grit sand paper, dusted it off and hit it again with cleaner. I then used the cement that comes with the patch, gooped it on and pushed the plug from the inside out, through the hole and pushed the patch down into the cement.
You can google where to get the patch.
Edit: My rule of thumb to avoid nails: Avoid any building materials stores or the driveways going into and out of them....and I avoid riding where there is new housing construction going on.
Knocking on wood, I've not had a single nail in almost 5 years.