Casing Tumbler

[Jbob]

Looking for the best deal on a casing tumbler. I see a bunch on ebay for around $45 and wondered if anyone has tried that type. I've been loading about 5 different cals. for about 3 years now during the winter months so it's just a side hobby type thing for accuracy and I'm not turning out a lot. I don't want to put a couple hundred dollars into this and even thought about just making my own in what little spare time I have. Thanks !
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Frankford-Arsen ... Sw0e9Ur25h
Edit:::: After reading a little more reviews I might want to go with a better name brand like this for my small operation.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lyman-1200-Turb ... SwMmBVuAFf

[websterz]

Go with a wet tumbler using either stainless steel pins or chips. It's worth the investment!

[mogunner]

I started out with the Frankford Arsenal dry media tumbler, it works ok but won't get the primer pockets clean. When the motor burns out (and it will) they won't sell you another one as they say that the motor is 80% of the cost of the unit. I have one but only use it to polish the cases a bit after wet tumbling with stainless steel pins, in a Harbor Freight double drum rotary tumbler. I use a drop or two of Dawn and a pinch of Lemishine "booster", the cases look like new. I tumble them for an hour or so in some crushed walnut shell or corn cob with a bit of Nufinish car polish added to the dry media about a half hour prior to adding the brass, in the Frankford Arsenal vibratory tumbler to do a final polish and add a bit of protective coating.

[awalker1829]

I use a Hornady hot tub-great because it can be used to clean brass as well as large parts. I decap the rifle cases and it does a good job cleaning the primer pockets. The cases air dry-with our dry climate and temperatures, that doesn't take too long.

[Ironnewt]

As mogunner stated, the tumbler motor will eventually burn out. The tumbler motors are the one of the few items that the Dillon warranty does not cover with their no BS Warranty. When the unit I have gives up the ghost, my replacement will be one that uses Stainless Steel pins and a 'wet' solution rather than corn cob, walnut or whatever.

[mogunner]

As mogunner stated, the tumbler motor will eventually burn out. The tumbler motors are the one of the few items that the Dillon warranty does not cover with their no BS Warranty. When the unit I have gives up the ghost, my replacement will be one that uses Stainless Steel pins and a 'wet' solution rather than corn cob, walnut or whatever.

I still use my vibratory tumbler quite a bit, just to get that final "shine" on the completed rounds if they're FMJ, and to get a good protective coating on the brass for long term storage, areas that the wet tumbling just can't do. Together they make a mighty fine team.

[entropy]

Someone left a small rock tumbler sitting on my truck one day, still have no idea who it was. I might use it to do small batches of one size when I'm running the Lyman with larger lots.

[thumbs]

Harbor Freight double tumbler. You can get them on sale for around 50 bucks. Add a coupon and your in the low 40's. I used mine for years. The great advantage is you can run two different cases at once. You know if you run .40 and 9mm the 9's go into the 40's and they won't clean properly. Just separate them into the two tumblers and your set. If in a few years it breaks buy another. Now if you have to run large amounts of brass it may be to small. Check them out. Great bang for the buck.
By the way wet tumbling is the only way to go.

[hudson29]

I have the exact unit the OP linked to and have found it works very well for cleaning the outside of the cases. The inside is still fowled. This weekend I tried a brew of warm water, vinegar, dish soap & salt on some range pickup 380 cases that I intend to reload. After an hour of soaking with occasional agitation the cases did look better but still not completely clean. After about 8 hours in the tumbler they came out looking pretty good, far better that with the tumbler alone.

Amazon had a sale on the Frankford wet tumbler set-up with the stainless media. Its on the way to me now and we shall see if this produces the clean cases I would like to see.

Vintage Paul

[websterz]

It will.

[hudson29]

That's good to hear. It did get rave reviews from buyers on the Amazon ad which helped me to decide.

Do I need to decap the cases or can I leave them in on those cases I only want to quickly reload from range practice?

Vintage Paul

[websterz]

I decap all of my pistol brass. It just adds that finishing touch.
This is a batch I wet tumbled for three hours with stainless steel pins, a squirt of Platinum Dawn dish soap and 1/2 tablespoon of citric acid.

[hudson29]

Those do look terrific. My "wet" tumbler arrived today so more adventures in reloading can commence. I notice the destructions say to run the brass through twice, the first time with no media for a general clean-up, the second after sizing & decapping and trimming. This pass gets the media and finishes the job except for drying. Drying the brass is no issue, how about the stainless media?

[websterz]

Keep the full load (brass, media and solution) at or under 30 pounds. I run the load one time, for a full three hours, and it comes out sparkling. Let the pins air dry on a cookie sheet and store them in a plastic bowl. I store the drum with both ends open so it can dry fully between uses. Some folks swear by LemiShine but plain crystallized citric acid works just as well and is quite a bit cheaper on Amazon. Just don't use more than about half a tablespoon, or leave the brass sitting in it too long after it finishes tumbling or you'll turn your brass pink. This won't damage it but it will look a bit odd. Also, I prefer the Platinum Dawn dish soap. It's concentrated so it will only take one good squirt. Add the brass, media and citric acid before filling the drum with water, and add the soap after. Otherwise it will foam up and make a mess. And the easiest way to remove the pins after rinsing the cases is either with a dedicated media separator or a two-piece minnow trap. I do this over a big plastic storage tub. There will always be a few pins left in the cases after they dry so be sure to run them thru the separator after to get the last few pins out. I think that about covers it.

[Maine 20th]

RCBS for me. They replaced burnt out unit for free. Does great job with corn cob. Pistol and rifle. God Bless America. Pro Libertate Patria

[hudson29]

RCBS for me. They replaced burnt out unit for free. Does great job with corn cob. Pistol and rifle. God Bless America. Pro Libertate Patria

A good warrantee makes a difference to me. I got the Frankford Arsenal dry tumbler and have gotten a lot of use out it over the last year and a bit. I have no idea what will happen when it quits.

Possibly the new wet tumbler might mean less use for the dry one. I haven't worked that out yet.

This is still a new field for me.

[Lotema]

I had the Hornady dry tumbler. The bowl cracked after about a year, but not enough so that I couldn't still use it. Worked pretty well. Outside of the cases were clean but the insides and the primer pockets were never really cleaned, using corn cob media.

Just got the Frankford wet tumbler delivered yesterday and processed about 300 pieces of 7.62x54r in about 2 hours. I actually did 2 separate batches (once fired brass in one tumble and 200 or so 10x "retired" brass) at an hour each. All of the brass came out spotless, inside and out, primer pocket included. I'm a convert for sure. I'd run the corn cob vibrating tumbler over night and it wouldn't get anywhere near as clean. This thing rocks. Wish I had started with the wet tumbling from the get go.

[websterz]

I had the Hornady dry tumbler. The bowl cracked after about a year, but not enough so that I couldn't still use it. Worked pretty well. Outside of the cases were clean but the insides and the primer pockets were never really cleaned, using corn cob media.

Just got the Frankford wet tumbler delivered yesterday and processed about 300 pieces of 7.62x54r in about 2 hours. I actually did 2 separate batches (once fired brass in one tumble and 200 or so 10x "retired" brass) at an hour each. All of the brass came out spotless, inside and out, primer pocket included. I'm a convert for sure. I'd run the corn cob vibrating tumbler over night and it wouldn't get anywhere near as clean. This thing rocks. Wish I had started with the wet tumbling from the get go.

The best thing IMO is that all of the lead residue that used to form a cloud of dust when you dumped out the tumbler is now trapped in the liquid solution and easily disposed of. And the brass just comes out so damn pretty!!

[Lotema]

The best thing IMO is that all of the lead residue that used to form a cloud of dust when you dumped out the tumbler is now trapped in the liquid solution and easily disposed of. And the brass just comes out so damn pretty!!

Absolutely! Hard to believe how much better the wet tumble is.

[hudson29]

Keep the full load (brass, media and solution) at or under 30 pounds. I run the load one time, for a full three hours, and it comes out sparkling. Let the pins air dry on a cookie sheet and store them in a plastic bowl. I store the drum with both ends open so it can dry fully between uses. Some folks swear by LemiShine but plain crystallized citric acid works just as well and is quite a bit cheaper on Amazon. Just don't use more than about half a tablespoon, or leave the brass sitting in it too long after it finishes tumbling or you'll turn your brass pink. This won't damage it but it will look a bit odd. Also, I prefer the Platinum Dawn dish soap. It's concentrated so it will only take one good squirt. Add the brass, media and citric acid before filling the drum with water, and add the soap after. Otherwise it will foam up and make a mess. And the easiest way to remove the pins after rinsing the cases is either with a dedicated media separator or a two-piece minnow trap. I do this over a big plastic storage tub. There will always be a few pins left in the cases after they dry so be sure to run them thru the separator after to get the last few pins out. I think that about covers it.

You guys are giving me a lot of good reasons to get going on this.

In the work flow above the sizing & trimming are omitted. Are you sizing on the press prior to capping and only trimming as needed?

I used to check case length right at the start but got out of the habit as the cases never seemed to need trimming. I'm talkin' plain ole range pickup pistol brass not rifle. The destructions that came with the wet tumbler had a more complicated work flow - initial clean with no media, decap, size, trim then the final clean with media. That is a huge amount more than I was doing before.