theycallmeike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Surrey, BC
I am looking to get into reloading for pistol, .223 and 308 what tumblers and media should I be looking at. Something that is good quality holds a decent amount of brass and not annoyingly noisy.
Setting up for reloading.. what brass tumblers should I be considering?
- Thread starter theycallmeike
- Start date
I've tried out sonic wet, wet rotary, and dry vibratory. If you want like new shiny brass, nothing gets you the results like wet rotary tumbling with stainless steel pins. It keeps all hazardous residues in the water you pour off. The dry vibratory on the other hand takes longer to get the same results, which isn't the end of the world to be honest. But the real draw back to dry vibratory with either corn or walnut for example, is the dust. For that reason alone I stopped using the vibratory for cleaning purposes. The sonic seems to not get things AS clean as the wet tumbler with stainless pins, but more than clean enough for reloading. My biggest issue with it was time. They tend to do smaller batches so it takes longer for that reason.
I've held onto my dry vibratory tumbler because I can use it to apply a coating like a capful of nu-finish with your corn or walnut, for a little long-term corrosion inhibition. But otherwise, I don't use it. Definitely not for cleaning, again for the dust reasons.
As for noise, I find the vibratory and the rotary similar in noise. Perhaps the vibratory a little more annoying because it tends to be "felt" as well as heard.
I've heard good things about Thumler's, but I have no personal experience. I'm a big fan of the Frankford Arsenal Platinum rotary tumbler due to the drum design. It's quieter (not having a metal drum), allows you to see the brass in the tumbler from the sides, has built in strainers which are SUPER useful for rinsing and removing pins, large enough to tumble large amounts of brass (yes there are larger Thumler models out there, but this one will hold more than your typical vibratory).
theycallmeike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Surrey, BC
Dust, That's one thing I was not considering! Awesome response Plinky, thank you.
Where should I be looking to get one of those wet tumblers and the stainless steel pins?
Where should I be looking to get one of those wet tumblers and the stainless steel pins?
You can get the Tumbler from Amazon.ca, and it comes with stainless steel pins. Most tumblers do not come with stainless pins. So factor in another $50 ish for the pins. I got mine in the US since it's not ITAR controlled and saved ~$90 compared to Amazon.ca (if I factor in 13% sales tax locally, and the much smaller sales tax I paid in the US, and currency conversion).
Largest one you can afford. A cardboard box muffles any noise. Media will come with a new tumbler and it doesn't require changing very often. When it does, go buy a big bag of small pet/lizard bedding in Pet Value or the like. Plinky's $50 plus will buy enough for 10 years or more.
I've switched from dry media to a Thumler's Tumbler Model B wet tumbler with stainless pins. Will never go back to dry. Very fast and cases look like new.
Just make sure you de-prime the cases before tumbling. Primer pockets are cleaned to perfection. I have a Lee de-capping die That I use to de-prime everything that will fit in it (the big weatherby's and 338 Lapua etc. won't fit in the die, These calibers I have to size and de-prime with a sizing die first) and then wet tumble them before sizing. This makes the cases easier to size and as there is no dust or grime on the cases, less wear on reloading dies.
The only downside to wet tumbling is drying the cases. I have tried various ways. The one I have found works the best with no water stains is as follows.
- Separate media with a media separator submerged in water.
- I then drain off all water and tumble them in the media separator to get as much water off of and out of the cases as possible.
- I then pour the cases onto a large tea towel, gather the ends of the towel together and roll the cases back and forth in the towel to absorb as much water off the cases as possible.
- Get another dry tea towel and transfer cases to dry towel and repeat rolling cases again.
- I then spread cases out on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 175 degrees F for about 45 minutes or so. I use a convection oven to get air movement over the cases, seems to dry better, but not necessary.
- Take cases out of oven, let cool, sort and load.
You WON'T be disappointed!!!
If you use a case lube that is hard to clean off, you can tumble them again for 1/2 hour or so, and dry again. I use a spray on lube that wipes off easily.
Just watch for pins sticking in the flash holes, this happens on occasion and are not hard to tap out.
A tablespoon or two of Dawn dish soap and about a teaspoon of Lemishine in the water and your brass will look like they're made of gold..
I bought mine from Sinclair International.
Midway USA has them on sale right now for $163.99 US for the tumbler itself.
Just make sure you de-prime the cases before tumbling. Primer pockets are cleaned to perfection. I have a Lee de-capping die That I use to de-prime everything that will fit in it (the big weatherby's and 338 Lapua etc. won't fit in the die, These calibers I have to size and de-prime with a sizing die first) and then wet tumble them before sizing. This makes the cases easier to size and as there is no dust or grime on the cases, less wear on reloading dies.
The only downside to wet tumbling is drying the cases. I have tried various ways. The one I have found works the best with no water stains is as follows.
- Separate media with a media separator submerged in water.
- I then drain off all water and tumble them in the media separator to get as much water off of and out of the cases as possible.
- I then pour the cases onto a large tea towel, gather the ends of the towel together and roll the cases back and forth in the towel to absorb as much water off the cases as possible.
- Get another dry tea towel and transfer cases to dry towel and repeat rolling cases again.
- I then spread cases out on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 175 degrees F for about 45 minutes or so. I use a convection oven to get air movement over the cases, seems to dry better, but not necessary.
- Take cases out of oven, let cool, sort and load.
You WON'T be disappointed!!!
If you use a case lube that is hard to clean off, you can tumble them again for 1/2 hour or so, and dry again. I use a spray on lube that wipes off easily.
Just watch for pins sticking in the flash holes, this happens on occasion and are not hard to tap out.
A tablespoon or two of Dawn dish soap and about a teaspoon of Lemishine in the water and your brass will look like they're made of gold..
I bought mine from Sinclair International.
Midway USA has them on sale right now for $163.99 US for the tumbler itself.
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Thumler's Thumbler high speed (Model B I think) is the more popular wet tumbler. It's not cheap but if it's within you budget and you shoot a lot, it's a solid purchase. They run around $275CDN plus tax and $50 for SS media. They're $229USD at Brownells and include the SS media.
If you're on a budget, have a look at the dual 3lb (x2) drum rock tumbler from Harborfreight in the US. They often go on sale for around $39.US plus shipping. If you live near the US border that happens to have a Harborfreight, you can save on shipping. Good for low volume shooters. Heck you can even buy 4 units and still be under the cost of a Thumler.
Heck, if you're near the US border, order a Thumler from Brownells and have it shipped to a post office service center and go pick it up.
If you're on a budget, have a look at the dual 3lb (x2) drum rock tumbler from Harborfreight in the US. They often go on sale for around $39.US plus shipping. If you live near the US border that happens to have a Harborfreight, you can save on shipping. Good for low volume shooters. Heck you can even buy 4 units and still be under the cost of a Thumler.
Heck, if you're near the US border, order a Thumler from Brownells and have it shipped to a post office service center and go pick it up.
Home built stainless steel tumbler is my end goal, but for now walnut media in a vibratory. I had a Lyman 700 for small batches of 500mag and rifle cases but it broke after 5 month of light use. It also sucked at get brass really shiny.
theycallmeike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Surrey, BC
All great info, thank you gentlemen!
theycallmeike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Surrey, BC
Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about this unit ?
Frankford Arsenal 09544 Platinum Series Rotary Case Tumbler
http://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/frame.cfm?ItemID=1356&CategoryID=75
Frankford Arsenal 09544 Platinum Series Rotary Case Tumbler
http://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/frame.cfm?ItemID=1356&CategoryID=75
Either a Thumler Model B or a Lortone QT-12 rotary rock tumbler will give you many years of quiet operation. They can be used for either wet or dry tumbling.
I am currently using my Lortone with walnut media from Princess Auto. The media is initially dusty, but a paper shop towel torn into small pieces in every load picks up most of the dust, such that it is gone after the first few loads.
I am currently using my Lortone with walnut media from Princess Auto. The media is initially dusty, but a paper shop towel torn into small pieces in every load picks up most of the dust, such that it is gone after the first few loads.
I believe a few CGNers bought it and had no issues. I forgot about this one until you mentioned it. Looks like an all-round winner.
I have the Lyman Pro 2400 with the slots in the lid. I cut a circular piece of stiff plastic the diameter of the lid and that sits on top of my lid before fastening the nut and I'll toss in a a laundry sheet cut into strips and that helps keep the dust down. I've seen some folks use a frisbee on top of the lid. It's just noisy so I lock it in the basement washroom when I used it.
As others have said, once you go wet, you won't go back.
inthehizzy
CGN frequent flyer
I have the FA Rotary Platinum tumbler and I love it. Chose it versus the Thumler's. Ordered from Cabela's in the US and it hit my doorstep within the week. 5lbs. Of SS pins come included, plus some brass polish but I used Lemi-Shine. I usually do 100x .30-06 at a time, after depriming/sizing (plus trimming/chamfering/deburring if I'm working on a load that isn't for plinking). Toss it on for 90minutes, temoves rhe case lube and always comes out looking like gold. I tried drying in the oven for an hour or so on preheat (175C) but now I prefer to load them case down in my holders to drain and give it a day it two to air dry. No issues.
theycallmeike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Surrey, BC
Awesome.... looks like I have made a good decision
I found it dusted during operation but that wasn't the only issue. During separation of media from brass, it's pretty much impossible to control the dust other than to wear a filter/mask/respirator. And it's not that it's like running a table saw in terms of dust, but it's also likely far more hazardous in nature due to the chemicals including lead. But even then, it'll get around the room it's in, and I don't feel like wearing a filter/mask/respirator/glove/etc every time I'm in my reloading room because of a fine dusting of lead and other hazardous chemicals. With the other benefits of wet tumbling it just made sense. If I'd do it again I wouldn't have gotten the vibratory.
