Case Tubmler

[SingleSeven]

Hi all,I'm in the market for a new case tumbler. My 30 plus year old Lyman (I think it's a standard model 1200, but all the labels are gone) is cracking at the base so I figured it's time to get a new one. I initially thought the $40 price tag of the Franklin Arsenal vibratory tumbler looked appealing, but I don't want to invest in junk especially after being spoiled with a 30 year tumbler. Also, are the rotary tumblers the way to go? From what I've read they do a great job cleaning and conditioning the brass (including cleaning primer pockets), but it seems like a lot of work having to add water, detergent, and then collecting the stainless steel media afterwards. Recommendations?

[Murphy]

SingleSeven,

I had to same issue some years back and lucked into another Lyman 1200. My old one had seen a ton of use and served me well. Down through the years it seems a lot of outfits have started to market their own tumblers. I truly can't say if the Franklin Arsenal model is any better or worse than any of the others.

I did add a STM Rebel 17 to my gear and will say this. It is a bit of a hassle adding the soap, Lemi-shine and keeping up with the pins (those jokers are tiny). On the other hand, you will never seen your brass any cleaner than after putting it through stainless steel media. Mine look factory new when I finish them after tumbling them in the Rebel 17. There are times I get bored and decide I need to 'make busy' so I decap a ton of 38's, etc. and get busy. Once I remove and dry them from the stainless media, I give them about 30 minutes worth of tumble in corncob media in my Lyman and bad them. Awesome stuff!

Murphy

[wv109323]

My take on it is this. It depends on where you get your brass and how clean you like it.
No doubt the wet media with SS pins will clean anything bright and shiny. The primer pockets being clean are a plus. If you pick up a lot of range brass the rotary tumbler may be the way to go. One drawback is that the SS pins will set you back $40-50 bucks.
If you start with new or clean brass then it is not too hard to keep it acceptably clean with a vibrating tumbler. I don't need to have the shiniest brass on the range.
As far as quality it's not free. I have a Thumbler's Tumbler Ultravibe 18. It is now about 30 years old and on it's second motor. My brother also has the TT rotary tumbler and it is near 40 years old.
I reckon what I am saying is that I can not comment on anything but what I have owned.

[Lloyd Smale]

I have a Frankfort arsonel unit and its actually been good. Its been used a lot. I also have the big Dillon and a lyman and have owned quite a few others. I'm usually not much on lyman stuff because of there poor customer service but the best units I have had have been the lymans. they last and seem to clean brass faster then any of the others. that said I wouldn't be afraid of the Frankfort arsenal unit if your on a tight budget. id bet if I could add up all the run time on mine that it would be about the equivalent of running it steady for a year. Only problem with it is I had one wire conector to the motor come loose and had to crimp on a new one. Funny thing was when it happened I thought to myself there goes that cheap tumbler and just stuck it on the shelf and bought another lyman. A couple years later I was bored one day and took it apart and found out it was just that wire that had come off. Its been back in service ever since.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

My first tumbler, purchased used in the early '80s, was a Thumbler's Tumbler. I used the Lyman corncob media, and it did a good job, but seemed to take forever. That didn't bother me too much back then, because if the vibratory tumblers had been invented yet they hadn't been around long. Brass that was medium-gungy took a couple of days to shine up. Eventually it wore out, the problems being the nylon washers on the ends of the cross rods and the rubber pads on which the drum turned. Parts were available, but by then (about 10 years ago) the vibratory tumblers seemed the way to go. Midway's Frankfort tumbler in the $40 price range was attractive, but there were as many bad customer reviews as good ones, and it seemed to be a **** shoot as to whether you would get a good one or not. I decided to roll the dice, got a good one, and it's still in service. I still use the Lyman media, and my brass looks great in 45 minutes to 3 hours, depending on condition when put in. Midway has a good return policy, so had it been a lemon I could have sent it back. As it stands, price considered, if this one goes out someday I'll buy another like it.

[country gent]

I cant remeber the name of it but my first vibratory tumbler was a little thing with a flat spring top plate with a electric magnet under it. It used plastic tubs for a bowl. This one is still running after 30+ years of service. I had a Lyman auto flow I ran till the bowl mount broke, which I made a new one from sheet metal and ran some more. It gave me 10 years or so service. Then was a big dillion that ran for 20 years or so, when the motor went I called dillon and found out the lifetime warranty wasnt being honored anymore. I could buy the new model for roughly half price if I sent the old one back in. Even the cheap tumblers ussually give good life if several things are done. Occasionally a drop of oil on the motor bearings. Make sure the base is clear so the motor has good air flow around it. Running on carpet or soft surfaces restricts the air flow making the motors run hot. Im currently running a lyman 600

[mold maker]

I have literally worn the motor bearings out on several vibratory tumblers. That's with maintenance but run 23/7 for weeks at a time. I now use 2 wet tumblers and a pair of vib. tumblers that run way less and the results are spectacular.
The process is a little more involved, and it does take extra time to transition the system, but there is no way to duplicate the jewelry finish inside and out.
It depends on how many cases you intend to process and how big a transformation you make. Grungy range brass to brighter than new takes more process than removing the burnt powder residue and calling it good enough.
There is a way to make keeping up with the SS pins simple, it's called a magnet.

[salpal48]

Since I only Use Rotary's. I can Only Comment On them. If your Planing to Purchase 1 Tumbler for all around Cleaning, and longevity . There are 3 That only should be On your List
Lortone, Covington, Diamond Pacific.. I have all Three You will never need another
All of the above have a Minium of 1/2" steel drive shaft and Continuos running Commercial Motors. Built to last made to use

[SingleSeven]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the feedback. I like shiny brass, but I'm also lazy. Maybe lazy isn't the best description, but I'd rather focus more effort on sizing, seating, loading, etc. than on cleaning. My Lyman basically allowed me to throw in a bunch of cases, turn the machine on, come back in 4-5 hours, remove the cases, clean primer pockets, prime, and then reload. From what I hearing about the rotary units you have to mix water, detergent, steel pins, cases, and then separate the water, detergent, and pins from the cases after cleaning, and then wait for the cases to dry before reloading. I'm also wondering if the steel pins weaken the cases appreciably since steel is harder than brass? I looked at reviews for the Lyman 1200s and it seems like their quality has dropped immensely over the years. Still not sure which way I'll go yet, but I truly appreciate your suggestions and recommendations.

[Vinne]

Berry's makes a great one I've had mine for years. https://www.berrysmfg.com/item/model-400.

[SingleSeven]

Thanks for the Berry's link. The clear lid is a definite plus.

[RogerDat]

Berry's is who makes the one at Cabela's http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Model-Vibratory-Case-Tumbler-Kit/731769.uts
These tumblers have a solid reputation. American made. Except for the motor itself, apparently they can't find a good source other than China.

I have run many thousands of cases through mine and still going strong. Not that many years. But I have at least 10k .223 and 5k in .38 and a few thousand in other calibers, all have been through the Cabela's version of that tumbler at least once. Some multiple times.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`m down to a large Dillion and a medium size Franklin for my needs. I went thru that moly coating craze and sold 2 Lyman vibrators with all the moly coating stuff. I had a motor go bonkers on my Dillion quite awhile back. It was when they backed their electronics if they failed. The gent I talked to said that the majority of the vibratory cleaners on the market are made by 1 or 2 companies for a specific clients specs.Robert