Case tumbler Brand?

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RoscoeP

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I am going to buy a case tumbler tomorrow, one that uses corncob media. I know stainless steel is supposed to be better, but I am getting the plain Jane type.
I have a choice of RCBS, Lyman and Hornady, anyone have issues with any of these or good comments on any of the three. I will not need the really large one, probably max 100 .223 at one time.
Any imput much appreciated. Cheers Roscoe
 
you should pony up a few more bucks and buy the stainless. Eventually you will get one. Might as well only buy one. Go on Canadiantreasureseekers.com They have a good selection of stainless media tumblers. Plus its free shipping.
 
I went away from the tumblers and went to the vibatory, I have both the large Lyman and the large RCBS and the cases come out like new. After 40 years of reloading I still haven't found I need the stainless steel pin stuff and I hate wet brass and waiting for it to dry or putting it in the oven to dry and burn up $5.00 worth of electricity. My vibratory ones run almost every night and sometimes all night, so they really get a workout. If I had to dry all the brass I clean in a week I'd stave to death as the oven would be in use all the time and not for cooking.
It also never ceases to amaze me how the bench boys have been able to produce those .100" groups and never once found it necessary to clean the inside of a case. Now it seems absolutely necessary, according to some, for all loads.
But as someone else here is so fond of saying "whatever floats your boat".
 
All 3 of the vibratory tumblers are very similar. I only own the Hornady but they are all just as good. The lyman one has the autoflow feature for emptying out the media, but there are other ways of seperating the media from the brass. I have 2 plastic pails from a wine making place (free) and I drilled tons of holes in the bottom, then put the other bucked underneath. Put a lid on the top bucket, shake and roll the whole thing a little and it seperates the brass from the media. I do it outside while wearing a mask. It will seperate 1000 pistol cases from the media in under a minute.

I don't think that the stainless pin method is necessary either and you won't necessarily get one in the future either. One thing that the stainless pin method has going for it is no dust.
 
So of the three RCBS, Lyman and Hornady which one would you buy and what model number. I am in the market for a new one also??

Thanks guys. I just picked up a rcbs from a member
 
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I bought a Lyman 1200 for close to $100 at a local shop and ended up with a used Frankfort too. I would buy the cheaper one available.

The stainless seems great for those that need them that clean, and I have considered one. But the water mess and drying time can add to the work/wait for those who don't need all the benefits of it. If you want to tumble for a few hours and reload right away you can with the dry media. Also to clean lube of cases or ammo the dry type for 20 minutes is very handy. If I upgrade to stainless I won't be tossing out the old vibratory tumbler/cleaner anytime soon.
 
I just bought the frankfort quick n-ez tumbler kit with tumble and media sifter. I ran my brass for around 3 hours and it looks like regular copper needs a little more time. Nickle plated factory reloads look nice after that amount of time. I also did not add the case polisher to the corncob media.
 
I had a lyman turbo tumbler, it lasted exactly 6 hours before crapping out. It was going to cost me as much for shipping for warranty as to be not worh it. I made my own with a 20 litre olive barrel, and works like a charm
 
Lyman's are great. Bought a used one a few years back and it's still going strong. Would buy another in a heartbeat.

My Frankford sits on the floor and does a good job holding the concrete down underneath it.
 
I have a Hornady M2 and love it, also have a Frankford one and it does a good job but it makes allot more noise... :(

I would buy another Hornady one for sure, I always over load it an it has no problem with 1000 9mm cases or more at a time...I paid $60 for it over a year ago from the usa...
 
Spend a little extra and get a Thumler Model B or a Lortone QT-12 rock tumbler. Even you don't plan on using stainless media, they are much quieter than the typical vibratory tumbler and will last essentially forever.

I am currently using 50-50 walnut/corn cob with a capful of Nu finish in my Lortone. A used fabric softener sheet takes care of the dust. I use the RCBS media separator.

I prefer to use a "dry" process because I prefer not to have to let my brass dry, which is what I did when I simply washed my brass in a jar before getting a tumbler.
 
Ordering Thumbler Tumblers

I was going to order 4 thumbler tumblers to go with the media Im selling I could sell one to you at cost.

Thanks
Pinders Pellet Pins
 
Got the Hornady from Henry. Using 100% walnut with nufinish, don't really care about shine, just want it clean.

No thanks to wet process. Just leave vib. on overnight with a timer, don't have to worry about noise, deal with it in the morning. Can't imagine what wet looks like if you forgot about it till next day.
 
mickbalboa said:
I bought a Cabela's Case Tumbler Kit costs about 65$ and included the vibrator tumbler sifting tray a box of corn media and a bottle of polish.
Has worked great on everything I use.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Got the same kit for Christmas. I haven't tried it out yet though - I'm just waiting to get around to setting up my reloading equipment first.
 
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