Advice For A Brass Tumbler

Most times I do not even use the SS pins. Blue coloured Dawn dish soap and Lemi Shine (from CT) does the trick for most of my needs. Lemi Shine is incredible...just rinse your brass well afterwards.
 
Another vote for SS pins and wet tumbling. I did a lot of research before buying, and I'm convinced the commercial rock tumblers are the way to go. They are built to run steady for months, as polishing rocks is a time consuming process. I bought a used Thumlers Tumbler B and it has lasted for years for me. One thing I like to do is case mouth chamfer and/or trim after tumbling, as any form of case cleaning does cause case mouth peening, as previously mentioned.
 
I love CGN, I’ve been thinking and looking at tumblers for weeks. My answer was here the whole time. Can’t wait for my FA SS Platinum Tumbler!!!
 
tootall said:
FA is not the only SS tumbler brand.
I recently got a Lyman Cyclone and it works very well.

But yeah, definitely SS pins!
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I have both :runaway: and I prefer the Lyman. The FA opens at both ends (I don't see any real advantage with this) and I find that leaking is problem unless you really clamp both lids on tight. The Lyman only opens at one end so less chance of leaking. Right now Lyman has a $50 rebate good in Canada and the US. Natchez Shooters has the Lyman on sale for $146.99 so if you deduct the rebate it's only $121.99 US which is a great deal even with paying the exchange and tax.
 
I have a STM high speed wet tumbler and love it, but this method can peen your case mouths. The fix for this is to trim the cases after wet tumbling and remove any peening.

Below on the left is my fault for falling asleep and tumbling too long, the case on the right is brand new right out of the Winchester bag.

The case on the left was fired twice and then wet tumbled, before tumbling the case mouth had been trimmed flat and deburred.

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So yes wet tumbling will pound your case mouths, and to help prevent this do "NOT" overload the tumbler and keep tumble times to minimum.

And if you can't see the peening then get a magnifying glass and get a better look. I had no idea the amount of peening until I took a closeup macro photo of the case mouths.

Last week my old Vibratory tumbler died and I bought a Lyman 1200, some Lizard litter walnut media and some Nu-Finish car polish and this tumbler works great.

Bottom line, the vibratory tumblers will not make your cases sparkling clean, "BUT" you can fall asleep and let them run all night and not peen your case mouths.

I now switch between vibratory tumbling and wet tumbling and have no complaints. I also remember my sore fingers rubbing the cases with 000 steel wool before I had any type tumbler.

The best thing about wet tumbling is if you have firearms that throw perfectly good brass away and makes you go look for it. The wet tumbling and SS media will scrub the cases clean of any embedded dirt and grit that can scratch your dies and cases.

I got a new shiny toy two weeks ago and when you shoot it it gets dirty, you clean it and then start the dirty-clean cycle all over again.

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The FA opens at both ends (I don't see any real advantage with this) and I find that leaking is problem unless you really clamp both lids on tight.
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The Lyman has significant problems with leaking and gasket seal strength as well although the lid is only on one end. It has to do with the angle the end or ends position on the device.

The motion automatically works the seal with leakage or worse unless you keep an eye on it.

This is a problem for the non upright machines.
 
Milanczar said:
The Lyman has significant problems with leaking and gasket seal strength as well although the lid is only on one end. It has to do with the angle the end or ends position on the device.

The motion automatically works the seal with leakage or worse unless you keep an eye on it.

This is a problem for the non upright machines.
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Sorry, but mine hasn't had a single leak and I only have to screw it on hand tight whereas with the FA I have to use a strap wrench to get it tight enough to prevent leaks.
 
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I came across a used Lortone tumbler with stainless media for 60 bucks on Kijiji. It's definitely on the small side, but I don't reload in big volume so being limited to 50-60 .308 cases at a time is fine with me. Having said that, if I ever replace it, it's just to get a bigger tumbler. I really can't say enough about how well it works.
 
Sorry, but mine hasn't had a single leak and I only have to screw it on hand tight whereas with the FA I have to use a strap wrench to get it tight enough to prevent leaks.
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Why are you sorry. That is lucky for you.

As per a casual Google search of the problem your individual experience does not represent an absence of the problem.

I would like to hope they have it fixed as I am now in the market for a new tumbler myself and I would love to get one if I could be sure that it will not be a nusance. :)
 
zZ_denis said:
Frankford Arsenal "platinum" stainless tumbler is the ONLY way to go.
There will be some old farts that will say that they are happy with their vibratory tumblers, but you probably won't find a single person on the whole internet that will recommend it after using the FA tumbler.

You'll pay more upfront for the FA, but your brass will come out WAY cleaner, and WAY faster. Time saved in the long run is worth a lot more than a couple of hundred bucks more you would pay for the FA.

I've used both the vibratory and ultrasonic ones before, and now looking back I cant figure out why I didn't switch to FA sooner.
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I am actually one that has wet SS tumbled for years, and just got back to vibratory dry media.
I wouldn't go back to wet tumble for a few reasons.
 
Not buying the S/S tumbling bandwagon. Expensive to buy, limited capacity, labour intensive & not any where near economy of motion, wet brass to deal with, and who the hell wants to de-prime brass, adding another unnecessary step?

The nice folks at Dillon Precision make a very nice tumbler that cleans 1500 9mm cases in 2 hours that are perfectly acceptable. A little of NewFinish car wax on the corn cob media makes 1250 38 special cases perfectly reloadable in 2 hours. Wet tumbling is over-rated.......
 
You don't have to deprime the brass first

As for me, I also can't believe it took me so long to switch to wet tumbling, not going back to dry now
 
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