$320 to spend on a tumbler. which one should i get

accumark said:
I to am looking for a tumbler question does it clean the inside as well as the primer pockets as good as a ultrasonic cleaner? Thanks Jim
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In my experience, wet SS media tumbling is far superior to ultrasonic cleaning--every area is clean.
 
Have an RCBS Sidewinder that I bought used at gun show.
That drum crack into multiple pieces.
They(RCBS)sent me a replacement. God bless them.
That one started leaking after a year and I tried to fix it.
Tries it last night on a drum of of GP11 brass and it leaked again leaving a dark puddle on the wood floor.
Debating weather to give RCBS another chance or not.
 
P&d enterprises had the Lyman cyclone for 252$. At least they did 2 months or so ago. I bought mine there. It comes with the sifting trays as well. Ready to go out of the box.
 
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Mudduck said:
WE have some very knowledgeable long time reloaders here who still use the dry media vibratory units and Im curious as to why they have never switched.
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Just to satisfy your curiosity, MD. I have never switched to SS pins and liquid cleaning, since, in over 50 years of reloading, I have never found that
brass that looks really shiny and clean [i.e. SS pins] shoots even one iota better than brass that has been through the vibratory unit.
I do not even clean my brass in the vibratory unit at each reloading, but after 2 or 3 reloads, or if I anneal necks.
However, when shooting at the range, I take a small wad of fine steel wool with me and remove the carbon from the outside of the neck of the case
immediately after firing it. When fresh, it comes off easily, and leaves the neck shiny and easy on my dies. D
 
I ordered a franford off of ebay last week and it came in yesterday, $285 to the door. Already ran about 1500 rounds of 9mm through it and have another load in right now. Once I figure out how to separate the pins more easily this thing will be awesome (I have a magnet and additional screen now). Something about the look of shiny brass.....must be pack rat syndrome.
 
sookie_69 said:
I ordered a franford off of ebay last week and it came in yesterday, $285 to the door. Already ran about 1500 rounds of 9mm through it and have another load in right now. Once I figure out how to separate the pins more easily this thing will be awesome (I have a magnet and additional screen now). Something about the look of shiny brass.....must be pack rat syndrome.
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A rotary separator of some sort is the way to go. I use the one that came with this FA kit and the FA magnet.

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Jon. said:
P&d enterprises had the Lyman cyclone for 252$. At least they did 2 months or so ago. I bought mine there. It comes with the sifting trays as well. Ready to go out of the box.
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I bought the FA and while it works well I found that invariably one of the two end caps would leak and I would have to tighten them on with a strap wrench to stop the leaking which was a pain in the a$$ because then they were a b*tch to get off.

I then bought the Lyman Cyclone (got a great deal on it - $125 US with free shipping) and much prefer it to the FA. Only one end cap so less to leak. Also, the rubber gasket is much softer than those in the FA so it seals easily and just with moderate hand pressure. Not a single leak so far. The provided two part plastic sifter and mesh trays make separating the brass & pins much easier than the plastic end grills in the FA. Nothing really wrong with the FA but overall the Lyman is the better unit.
 
ted_dent said:
I bought the FA and while it works well I found that invariably one of the two end caps would leak and I would have to tighten them on with a strap wrench to stop the leaking which was a pain in the a$$ because then they were a b*tch to get off.

I then bought the Lyman Cyclone (got a great deal on it - $125 US with free shipping) and much prefer it to the FA. Only one end cap so less to leak. Also, the rubber gasket is much softer than those in the FA so it seals easily and just with moderate hand pressure. Not a single leak so far. The provided two part plastic sifter and mesh trays make separating the brass & pins much easier than the plastic end grills in the FA. Nothing really wrong with the FA but overall the Lyman is the better unit.
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I only open one end of my FA drum, the other stays on tight. I've not had any leak issues.

The caps themselves can hold a lot of water from when you fill or rinse so what sometimes appears to be leakage is actually just the retained water in the rim of the cap draining out.
 
matteblack said:
I use a Lortone "rock" tumbler for my brass. I dont think they are priced as high as a firearms companies offerings and it works just fine for me.
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Same here, Got a used one on ebay for under 60.00 shipped and pins off another seller and I was off to the races for under 100.00. I have a single stage press and reload small batches at a time so it works great for me. I did it this way to see what all the fuss was about. And I am glad I went this way. Love it. mine is a small 3 lb drum. I get 15 308 cases at a time. And that suits me fine, gives me time to do any case prep from the previous batch. I reload about 100 a week for my needs.

But, I am keeping my eye out for a used dual drum one, lol.
 
I love my Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler but I've had it slightly leak also, maybe a different rubber seal would help? Not a big deal though just have to tighten the crap out of it.
 
Stevo said:
I only open one end of my FA drum, the other stays on tight. I've not had any leak issues.

The caps themselves can hold a lot of water from when you fill or rinse so what sometimes appears to be leakage is actually just the retained water in the rim of the cap draining out.
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I tried using just one end and really tightening the other one. It worked until the next time I used the tumbler. The tightened end began leaking. What's up with that? The rubber gasket on the Lyman seems much softer than the ones on the FA so I'm guessing that's maybe why it compresses easier and seals better. Don't get me wrong, I like the FA, I just think that overall the Lyman is the better unit.
 
odsixer said:
I love my Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler but I've had it slightly leak also, maybe a different rubber seal would help? Not a big deal though just have to tighten the crap out of it.
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I find the rubber gasket on the Lyman is much softer than on the FA. I think that allows it to compress more easily and seal better. Reading reviews on the FA it seems the leaking is a fairly common problem.
 
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