use rivet to joint the lattice wall together

[greenhandcarpenter]

Hi guys,
As you may find from my ID, I am a green hand carpenter, and I’ve planned to build myself a yurt.
While in the very first step, I got stucked. I’ve tried to jointed two piece of wood with rivet, just like pacific and other people do. But the rivets always too tight, or even sink into wood.
The rived I am using is core rivet, and I put washer at one end of the rivet. The rivet gun I am using is a hand pushing tool, not electronic or gas powered gun.
Any suggestions about how can I solve this problem will be highly appreciated.
Did I use the wrong type of rivet? Or the guns has to be gas powered? I am sure the wood I am using is hard. Please any suggestions?
Thanks in advance