Cheap tumbler options? For a newb

[fdc]

Depends on what your interest are. The other "hobbies" I would have (as in "if I had loose money and plenty of time") require more investment, and more real estate than I currently have access to.

Woodworking; initial investment: $5k (table saw, drill press, lathe, dust extraction system, hand tools (planes, chisels), bits, ...), plus real estate immobilization, with a significant running cost.
Metal working; initial investment: $15k, with the same real estate immobilization and higher material cost.

I'm not even getting started about off-road cars, quad / motorbikes, mechanics... All in all, guns and ammo are pretty cheap.

Does $80 stop me ? No. But if I can optimize $80 and get a few more rounds downrange, I will. It is all a matter of priorities.

The same way, I just bought a bunch of SDHC cards for my tech gear (DSLR, camcorder, etc...), I could have paid $50 a piece with overnight shipping from the US, or I could pay $10 a piece with a month-long delay from China, for the exact same end product. I chose the later.

We are in alignment, I am a woodworker, metalworker, motorcyclist, flyfishing enthusiast, and sport shooter and shootin' guns is pricey. I use European woodworking equipment, American metal working equipment, European motorbikes, and American flyfishing gear. Shootin' guns is as spendy as any of these other hobbies - neck and neck. I don't own a Norinco. I make guitars, ride at the track and guided flyfishers for real money as I made a living doing it. I am earning my chops in the shooting world and the courses require 800 to 1000 rounds a shot. Guns and the shoootin' thereof are spendy. Period.