Recommend Me a Good Tumbler

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CdnCombatMedic

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Been saving up all my brass for about three years now and want to start rolling my own. I have seen many tumblers for sale.

Can anyone recommend me a good one.

If It matters, I intend to reload for 223,9mm, and 45ACP in the near future.
 
A friend and I bought a Lyman Turbo Tumbler and shared it. We both reloaded a lot and it saw constant use. It lasted about 11 years. I bought an RCBS 5 years ago just for myself. It packed it in last month. The Lyman, for me, was a better buy, however RCBS does have a lifetime warranty. I called them and they said to return it and they would repair or replace it. I use a lot of RCBS equipment and it is generally quite good. Maybe I just got a bad one. Because of the warranty I would probably go with the RCBS. :D
 
all the lyman use the same motor, so you just have to pick the size of the bowl and how much money you wanna spend- there's a BIG price jump between the 3200 and the 2500, and make sure you get the auto-flo feature so you don't have to dump the bowl-you still have to clean the media out from inside the cases - i use the rcbs separator, but the rest depends on VOLUME- it's based on the number of 38 special cases you clean in a session- i find if i run mine and do 1000 at a time that's more than enough for a year or so- doing 250 rounds of 44 mag at the range is at least a couple of hours, provided you shoot 5 and patch- blazing away accomplishes NOTHING
 
Dillon.

Best warranty in the business.

My ten year old D2000 tumbler was destroyed in a flooded basement, I called about possible repairs, they said send it in they would send a new one, no charge. They did!

This is one of many reasons I am loyal to Dillon.

You will never regret buying quality.
 
I've had one of those orange Lymans for at least 25 years; I don't even recall the model, but it holds at least 2 litres of brass at a time. It shows no signs of wearing out yet!
 
DFarmer said:
I have been running a Lyman 600 for at least 10 years. No problems at all. Auto flow would be nice. This one has to wear out first.
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you can buy just the bowl, which will give you the auto-flo feature from lyman- i had the old 3200 ( the big orange one) and was contemplating changing the bowl until it shook the center post loose, then the motor went to hummm, so i just replaced the whole unit with the 2500- the bowl for that thing was 60 us with the auto flow; the smaller ones would have been less; the motor was 55 us, and a whole new 2500 was 125 or so- and that's not including shipping
 
Either a Thumler Model B or Lortone QT-12 rotary rock tumbler. They cost a bit more, but they're quiet and built like a brick outhouse.
 
I may be starting an argument here, but I have actually been using a sonic cleaner instead of tumbling. I personally find it does a bit of a better job because it cleans the entire cartridge nicely, plus there is no tumbling media left in the cartridge. I have been using a mix of white vinegar and baking soda
 
I bought one of the new lymans, it lasted 3 months. For warranty they said I would have to send the whole unit to the states. Shipping would have cost me more than it was worth. I built my own using a gear driven motor, rollers, and a 20 litre olive barrel and it works way better than the Lyman did. I find roller type tumblers do a better job than the vibrator type, but that's my 2cents.
 
Well, I had a Hornady. It was over priced and I had problems with the motor or bearings from early on. Only got a couple for years light use (sometime with problems) out of it. I did not get offered a replacement on the motor or anything when I called Hornady. I did not expect anything after 2 years but some people rave about their service/warranty. Not my experience.

I have a lyman now, 1200 something model. Its cheaper and better. I got two bowls with mine. I did not want two bowls but needed a tumbler quick. I'm glad I got 2 lids. The regular lid that comes with the large bowl has cutouts in it and this makes it very noisy and I guess dust could escape. I put the smaller lid on top of the larger lid (a tight fit) and this makes it pretty quiete. A much better tumbler for better value.
 
Been using a Lyman Turbo that I bought off the EE for 4 years. I don't know how long the previous owner used it but it shows no signs of dying out anytime soon.

I buy 50lb bags of walnut shell for less than $20 and add Nu-Finish car polish.
 
I have been using a couple Thumler Industrial vibrating tumblers for a while now. The build quality is like a brick s***house. They are designed to polish rocks and run for months/years at a time.

Nothing else comes close.
 
Thumbler Vibratory tumbler user here.

bought in 1990, used a bit for a couple of years then. Stored until 2002, used extensively for 2 years. Out again in 2008, used quite often up to present. No problems.

Probably tumbled 50,000+ pieces of brass at about 3 hours ave per load of 500.
 
I have a Lyman turbo tumber, its been running almost every day for 5 years and keeps going. All for $65 new. Cannot beat that!

Some friends have gone through 2 dillions in the same time. Franklin Arsenal brand are junk! Why save $20 for a headache.

good luck on your pick.
 
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