What to look for in a Tumbler?
- Thread starter rubberdown
- Start date
Sherlock Gnomes
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- St.Catharines
I use the Lyman Turbo tumbler and corn media. The one issue I have with corn is that is gets into the flash holes which I am not sure that other media might have the same issue with.
For the ultimate in tumblers, consider one of of the 'wet' systems that uses stainless steel media.(Check it out on Brownell's web site).
Total investment is more like $250, but the media lasts forever, and your brass, including the primer holes, comes our looking like new.
I went from regular dry media, to ultrasonic, to the stainless media and haven't looked back.
Total investment is more like $250, but the media lasts forever, and your brass, including the primer holes, comes our looking like new.
I went from regular dry media, to ultrasonic, to the stainless media and haven't looked back.
Everything that I have researched and seen shows that stainless is the ultimate way to go. But you have to be willing to invest more to get those results. Some people use corn cob some use walnut (like me) and get real good results. I compared tumblers for a long time and found no reason at all to pay for a big name brand at all. I bought a Frankford Arsenal tumbler, works fantastic, has never let me down and was cheap !! And yes some media does stick in the primer flash hole , but just a little poke with a very small screwdriver and it's clean in 2 seconds.
If you are a handy guy, you can build your own. Lots of ideas out on the intertubes. I made mine out of a cement "sono" tube with plywood stuffed in the ends. 8000 rounds later its still going strong. Also, building your own would allow you to go with stainless media for cheap if thats the route you wanna go. I personally use a 50/50 blend of walnut and corn cob with a little car polish every two or three times i use it. Only seen the need to change the media after I got to 7000 rounds cleaned, but thats just 9mm so for bigger stuff that might need to go more often
paperslayer
Regular
- Location
- Chilliwack
If just for pistol ammo, it doesn't matter. Go cheap. All you are doing is a cosmetic clean, and no tumbler is good at primer pockets, which is the only part of the brass that benefits from cleaning. Personally, I never bothered cleaning pistol brass. It went straight into the Dillon without ever getting cleaned.
You can get a Lortone QT-12 or Thumler Model B rotary rock tumbler for a bit over $200 and never have to buy another one. Unlike most vibratory tumblers, they are quiet. While many use a wet media like SS pins with these tumblers, I prefer conventional media, as I prefer not to have to dry my brass. Putting the media and brass in a plastic bag keeps the rubber barrel clean and minimizes the mess in unloading the tumbler.
Walnut shell lizard bedding from a pet store is a less expensive than the media sold specifically for brass tumbling.
Walnut shell lizard bedding from a pet store is a less expensive than the media sold specifically for brass tumbling.
Frankford Arsenal tumbler from WSS, I believe is under $80 - downside, if you run them for 24h at a time with heavy loads, they tend to break after 2 years.
I'm trying out a Lyman 1200 now, but it's capacity is smaller. I hate it's open type lid (it creates a lot of dust and contaminates your work space) - to reduce this, I put it's factory cardboard box over top, partially sealed with masking tape. It's does a good job cleaning though.
I'm trying out a Lyman 1200 now, but it's capacity is smaller. I hate it's open type lid (it creates a lot of dust and contaminates your work space) - to reduce this, I put it's factory cardboard box over top, partially sealed with masking tape. It's does a good job cleaning though.
Really ??
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
Just to help a bit...
What I generally look for in a tumbler is Brass.
;-)
NS
What I generally look for in a tumbler is Brass.
;-)
NS
Wow, so you were tumbling with SS media 50-60 years ago? A lot has changed since then, now you can buy all the stuff and don't have to make everything. Also, now everyone used pins instead of SS ball bearings.
paperslayer
Regular
- Location
- Chilliwack
Interesting. Thanks for the tip!
One thing that hasn't changed is that it still peens the crap out of the case mouths.
Well the first you mentioned will be used on my ammo brass, the second.....on the wifey LOL
Mainly cosmetic, although an argument could be made that it makes it easier to notice cracks and splits.
I personally use a Franklin Arsenal vibrating setup. I originally used the nice red Lyman walnut mix. It certainly made the brass shiny but, as others have noted, it tends to clog flash holes. I got thoroughly sick of that and bought some very fine crushed walnut shells from Petsmart, sold for lizard cages or something. It generally just flows out of the cases; once in a while a little will clog up inside, but a gentle mouth-down tap is enough to clear the clog. Not as shiny, but good enough, much cheaper and less pain with the flash holes.
I almost always run dirty brass through a depriming die before tumbling. It allows at least some cleaning of the primer pockets (not that I worry too much about that) and a quick look tells me whether or not there's a clog inside when it comes out of the media (rather than finding out with the regular dies, ie).
