Ultrasonic or Media Tumblers

littleshooter

littleshooter

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Hi There

New to reloading be kind. I am looking at getting a case cleaner. I will not be loading alot, mostly rifle brass. Can anyone tell me pros and cons and their options on Ultrasonic cleaner or a tumbler type media cleaner? I would mostly be cleaning brass in 75-100 (approx) cases at a time.

Thanks for the help.....
 
I bought a Thumler's Tumbler Model B Rotary Tumbler (and haven't even used it yet).:redface:

They are powerful enough to polish rocks, so brass cases are no problem for them.

It also gives you the choice of tumbling wet or dry.

Some guys here have used ceramic in them while tumbling wet and seem to have switched over to stainless steel media now.

When I finally get around to using mine, I think I'll try the SS media.
 
MapleSugar said:
I bought a Thumler's Tumbler Model B Rotary Tumbler (and haven't even used it yet).:redface:
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Click to expand...

I ahve been using this unit with the SS pins for over a year now. Prior to that I had 2 vibratory cleaners. The SS and the Thumler is by far the best setup IMO. Costs a few $ more initially but you never have to replace the media so in the long run its cheaper. And no more cleaning primer pockets!!
 
I use a small ultrasonic. It works well for small batches of rifle brass. I just run my range pickups through it while cleaning the guns after a range trip. Works well with just a drop of soap and small amount of white vinegar.

It won't get your brass shiny like a media tumbler, but you don't have to clean media out of primer pockets either...
 
I have had a thumby's tumbler for 25+ years and have allways used wanut media and just left it running for a couple of days ...for Christmas i got a sonic cleaner ...works real good when you find the right mix and baby sit the thing ...works at 480 seconds at a time ...so you have to keep coming back and resetting it ...the other day i got Stainless pins ...well put in brass fill with water add lemon shine kitchen soap ..set timmer for 4hrs ...brass comes out new and shinny inside and out and in the primer pockets .....why didnt i find them years ago .......Stainless pins all the way
 
Agreed 175%.... SS all the way. So much nicer to just toss em in and forget about em, no more hitting the button on the Ultrasonic every 8 minutes.

Come out nice and shiny with little effort and I can do about 150-170 per run compared to what I can fit in my Ultrasonic.

Pins last forever... Love it.
 
The 480 seconds thing is a limitation of the small/cheap US units. Bigger machines don't have that limitation. They also have two transducers which are each more powerful and a heater that is more powerful. I can set my timer for an hour, but it only takes about 10 min to clean the cases in that machine when I use the Hornady solution (Citronox).
 
The sonic cleaner works pretty good for small amounts of brass (50 to 100 6mm ppc), need to reset about 3 or 4 times for the 8 minute cycle. Have to wait quite a while though for it to heat up the solution first to get best results.
Also works great for cleaning small parts.


Rodney
 
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