Brass tumbler recommendations

[willy3]

I've been reloading for almost 50 years so I am hardly a novice but I would appreciate some advice from fellow reloaders. I have been using a Vibra-Shine Vortex tumbler for over 15 years with great results. About a year ago I came into possession of a variety of different calibers of brass and needed another tumbler for the convenience of being able to tumble more than one batch at a time. I'd seen the Frankford Arsenal EZ model tumbler at a reasonable price in different gun shops and decided to purchase one. Within about 4-5 months of moderate use (less than the Vortex model) the EZ tumbler just stopped working.. The damn thing just sat there and hummed and sputtered. As it was still under warranty, I contacted the manufacturer and they cordially replaced it with a new unit. The new one didn't last as long as the first one and died a quick death. Even if the nice people at Frankford replace this one I am less than enthusiastic about the EZ. In researching tumblers on the internet, I can't find any brand that gets rave reviews regardless of price. I only wish that Vibra-Shine still made the Vortex but that won't happen. Has any of my brothers had exceptional service from any particular brand/model??

[James6406]

I use a Lyman turbo (orange container) with the crushed walnut media. Have been using the same one since 1984 with no problems. Looking up the most current similar model I see the Lyman Turbo Twin which sells in the $70 to $80 range. It looks like it is about twice the price of the Frankford but is built to last.

[Skirmisher]

Make sure you get one with a life time warranty. I use a Hornady. They've replaced mine twice (over 35 years of hard use). The only cost was shipping to them. They are electro-mechanical devices and will cease to function one day.

[Hip's Ax]

At first I bought a vibrating tumbler, a Berry's as it was on sale at a nice price. Used it for some months but hated the noise, the only place I had to set it up was in the cellar right under my TV chair. I bought a used Thumler's Model B off of EPay shortly there after. So quiet and does a wonderful job. I loved it so much I bought another and its obvious that my used one is very old. Built like a tank the only wearing part seems to be the drive belt which I need to replace every few years.

[plainsman456]

I just ordered another Lyman for use with walnut media,the other has corn cob in it.

I bought 2 of a smaller type that i thought would be ok but one's motor burned up after about a year.

So i had my buddy that owns an auto parts store get me some new bearings and i greased them before putting it back together.

As i type this it is running but if i stop it i have to take the bottom off and turn the motor by hand to start it.

The new one ordered today cost about 130.00 and if it works as well as the other i will be happy.

[plainsman456]

I just remembered the name of the tumblers i got for about 30 dollars that have crappped out.

Smartreloader was the name on them,won't make that mistake again.

[jcwit]

Very little from SmartReloader is truly smart.

With that said, I have a Cabela's 400 made by Berry manufacturing thats been in use for over 12 years now with no signs of quitting. Its from Cabela's as I stated and with their lifetime satisfaction warrenty I have little to worry about if it ever does bite the dust.

Also, it made right here in the U.S.A. by Americans. Yes it has a chinese motor, but per the manufacturer if and when anyone wishes to make a motor here they will switch.

[Polish Jeff]

The Lyman Twin Turbo has worked fine for my needs... Plug it in and let it go! I am a fan of the walnut media and "Nu-Finish" car polish/scratch remover.

[44Vaquero]

70498

I build this one myself for my Grandfather. It only took me a couple of hours and about $35.00. It works every bit as good as my Midway tumbler.

[Lloyd Smale]

I love my big dillon due to its size but really prefer lyman tumblers. they seem to agitate more then the others and clean brass faster.

[winelover]

There are tumblers and there are vibrators. Not to be confused. As far as I'm concerned, Tumbler's Tumbler Model B is the cat's meow. Works with wet or dry media. Had mine since the mid 70's and the only thing that wears out is the belt drive (O-ring) as Hip Axe stated.

Winelover

[Hip's Ax]

Winelover has it right. I use my old Model B dry with my normal tumbleing duties (and there are weeks in the year I run the heck out of it) and my new Model B is the new High Speed version and I use that with ceramic and water for my black powder cases. Best I can tell a Model B is a life time purchase.

I am also looking at a really big Covington Tumbler, its a 40 pounder as there are times I have a lot of 30-06 cases et al to tumble. Got to keep those Garands fed. :)

[Epd230]

I use the smaller Dillon model. Have had it for over 12 years. Recently put it to almost constant use when I cam into a large load of brass. It never gave me one problem.

Only regret was that I bought the small one!

Who would have thought, size does matter:lol:

[plainsman456]

I also have one of the Thumblers rotary machines.

The drive belts i buy by the dozen.

The thing has been going strong for about 25 years,but seems a little slow when compared to the newer types.

[lars1367]

I have 2 from Harbor Freight. Not a bad unit for the price I paid, less than half of retail.

[Recluse]

I'm a Thumler's Tumbler guy all the way, but I don't do wet cleaning all that often. Instead I use the walnut I get for about a buck a pound at Petsmart, toss in a capful of mineral spirits and a capful of NuFinish, set the timer for all night and when I go to pull the brass out, it's very clean, very shiny and has enough of a film of NuFinish on it that it doesn't tarnish nearly as fast as the untreated STM cleaned brass.

The stainless pins and citric acid and Dawn combination inarguably do the best job at cleaning, but for long-term storage, I still end up running them through the tumbler with some wax mixed in to stave off the tarnish. I also store the brass in medium-sized Rubbermaid shoeboxes and toss in a couple of handfuls of dessicants.

I've been running this particular Thumler's since 1988 and it has run at least once a week, most times more often than that, for anywhere from twelve to twenty-four hours non-stop. I've replaced the drive-belt several times over the past couple of decades and I recently replaced the plastic lid after it cracked and I was not able to repair it to my satisfaction.

I consider Thumler's to be the Dillon of brass cleaners. You buy it once and that's that.

:coffee:

[winelover]

Recluse, what model has a plastic lid? The Model B has a metal one, or prior to 1988 it did!

Winelover

[joec]

If mine quits working the double tumbler shown here will replace it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Tumbler

['74 sharps]

Thumlers Model B. Love it.......

[jcwit]

Everyones tumbler is the best and highly recommended by them.

For some reason I lean towards those made in the U.S.A by American workers, thereby supporting our economy.

For me it a Berry's, fits in my price range.

[sparky45]

I made my own Tumbler off plans by a fellow that goes by Bigdawg. It is marvelous.

[Hip's Ax]

Recluse, what model has a plastic lid? The Model B has a metal one, or prior to 1988 it did!

Winelover

I have a AR-6 Thumler's that I use for small batches. It has a plastic disc for a lid and a rubber barrel, the lid fits in a groove in the barrel.

[Bullwolf]

My 2 cents on vibratory case tumblers.

I currently own and use a pair of Lyman tumblers for my home reloading needs, a Pro 1200 with 2 bowls including an auto flow bowl. I also have a smaller Lyman 600.

I would guess that I started tumbling my brass in walnut or corn cob media around the 80's. Both of my Lyman tumblers are still working, although the 600 has been stored outside, and has also seen some rock polishing duty. It consequently has required that a bit of extra work/maintenance be performed to keep it in service.

I like using the Lyman 1200 mostly because I separately purchased an auto-flow bowl, and I like having the ability to remove the plug and then vibrate out the media to empty it, without having to dump the whole thing upside down.

http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_210584_imageset_02?$main-Large$

I have to admit that I don't use the plug feature to remove the media every time, but when I want it, it's pretty darn convenient.

I also own and use RCBS's version of a case and media separator occasionally. When I want to go this route, I just upend the contents of the tumbler bowl into the separator and rapidly crank the handle to fling the media out of the brass.
http://www.natchezss.com/images/products/RC87076.jpg

Lately however, I have been pre-washing my brass with citric acid and dawn dish soap, and then vibratory tumble later with a cap of car wax added to my media. Since I don't need to separate media from my fired brass while doing the citric acid wash thing, I haven't been using the separation methods as much.

I have done most the bad things you shouldn't to do with a tumbler, like set them on thick pile carpet, run them in extreme heat, or left them on for stupidly long periods of time. I have to say that despite all this, the Lyman's that I purchased have worked pretty decently for me over the years.

Now for my Dillon plug.

I used to work as a hand loader at a small local indoor shooting range. (Handgun ammo mostly) I worked for a company located on site that re-loaded range brass in a room in the back using a pair of Dillon progressive RL1000 machines with case feeders, and the inline Ammo Load machines.
http://www.ammoload.com/markIII-tapered.jpg http://www.ammoload.com/MarkIII-Straight-sm.jpg

We processed a seriously large amount of brass from the shooting range. Think in terms of pallets full of shrink wrapped boxes of ammo, and 55 gallon drums full of specific calibers of brass. Most of the reloads were sold economically for the gun range customers, but a small percentage of the reloads were also sent to other ranges, and gun shows as well.

All of the brass got recycled from the shooting range, even the brass that was sold as scrap got ran through a bank of Dillon tumblers with the large size bowls.
The brass was then separated from the media using large size Dillon media separators.
http://hcshootinggear.com/catalog/images/dillon-cm500-media-separator-douilles2-zoom.jpg

Most of this work was performed by the case sorters who knew little or nothing about loading and shooting. Imagine the lowest common denominator, the highest amount of neglect possible, heavy handling, and rough usage. Other than the occasional lost parts, the tumblers and separators performed like champions under pretty rough conditions.

The tumbling media was never changed, (at least not that I ever witnessed) and was black and filthy, and the tumblers were ran pretty much full time. I recall only one of the constantly running Dillon tumblers ever having a problem. It was sent back, and we promptly received a replacement from Dillon.

Hand loading only for myself now, I will NEVER come close to processing the sheer volume of brass, and the amount of reloading that I did while working at the gun range.

If I sold brass for a living, (I don't) and tumbling a ridiculously large amount of cartridge brass was important to me, or if I wished to purchase only one vibratory tumbler that I doubt I could wear out in my lifetime, I would definitely fork over the cash and go with the Dillon based on personal experience.

However, as you can see my choice of Lyman tumblers has worked out fine for me over the years. I suspect that most of the major brand names would also have served just as well.

I think that picking the right tumbler is just a matter of cost, personal preference and perhaps even a small amount of luck if you are doing this at the hobbyist level, rather than commercially.


- Bullwolf

[357mags]

The biggest, brand name one you can find!

[s1120]

70498

I build this one myself for my Grandfather. It only took me a couple of hours and about $35.00. It works every bit as good as my Midway tumbler.

Thats pretty cool. Any background on it?

[gunoil]

just build this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_FpiTzVYP8

Find a free motor,, about 400 rpm.

midwayusa.com for the ss media

amazingmagnets.com for the magnets (2x2 inch/1/2 inch thick)

plastic bowl ,walmart or somewhere

bolt down to table

lemi-shine and dawn at walmart (lemi-shine sells quick)

i use hot water and rinse with hot water, lay out on beach towel.

media travels so fast it peens brass back to life.

glue magnets on with black silicone, 2 pole up/2 poles down.

Theres a thread on here some where, bunch of members have built these.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/E52D630F-ECBD-4346-A8A4-53AEFB476C20-210-000002398A74456C_zps0e2ce52a.mp4

Should be a sticky: some members really had built some fancy ones, i dont know how to find that thread from months ago.

Sig938,db9,xds45,tcp738,G26,micro desert eagle,NAA22magnum.

[44Vaquero]

PM sent S1120

[Stonecrusher]

44 Vaquero, that is pretty ingenious. If I didn't already have a tumbler I would build one just like it!