What is a better media separator - Rotary or Lyman Auto-Flo?

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Uncle Richard

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What is a better media separator - Rotary (hand crank) or Lymans auto-flow?

I need better separation of the media from brass. My current process consists of vibrating a shifting pan over the Lyman 1200 bowl; however, even though this method gets 99.9% of the media, there is always a couple little granules left in the brass. These few granules ends up in the feeding tube to my Hornady case feeder and jams the cases.

Does either device work better for pistol or rifle brass?

Has anyone had experience with the RCBS (or other) rotary separator or Lyman's auto-flow bowl? Below are the links.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/176956/rcbs-rotary-case-and-media-separator

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/538957/lyman-turbo-600-1200-case-tumbler-auto-flo-conversion-kit
 
media separator by hand

have two lyman tumblers with auto-flo and neither of them do the job correctly, after a lot of racket I still have media in cases and need to put them through a media separator.
 
Might take a look at the Dillon too. I've been using one of theirs for about 12 years now and really like it. Last I checked they had two sizes. I've used the smaller one for processing thousands of pieces of brass.
 
Get yourself an old plastic milk jug, cut the top off but leave the handle, drill a bunch of holes in the bottom of it and you're good to go.

I sift mine into a double shopping bag then just pour it back into the tumbler.

Free... and it has lasted over 25 years so far.

tip: don't bother to take the time to remove the bowl from your tumbler - just lift the whole thing up and pour it into your "manual separator" :)
 
lyman tumblers with auto-flo and neither of them do the job correctly
Click to expand...

+1

The lyman gets MOST of the media out, but as it does, the cartridges end up neck up so the media will not some out. It's also slower than a separator.
 
I have both sizes of the Dillon seperators and love how well and fast they work. I have the biggest Lyman auto flow and did not care how it worked on getting the media out of all the cases.
Charlie.
 
+1

The lyman gets MOST of the media out, but as it does, the cartridges end up neck up so the media will not some out. It's also slower than a separator.
Click to expand...
+2 now. I just run my Lyman for a little longer with the plug out. What doesn't come out in the tumbler comes out during my inspection anyway.
 
Dillon CM500 looks good

Just looked at the dillon CM500 and appears to be very well made.

Only comment I have about it....since it doesn't have a lid, does media go everywhere?
 
I use a cat litter box from the local dollar store. It has the nested strainer in it and works great for separating brass and media. I just lift the strainer and shake it around a bit.
 
I manually sift my brass which eliminates most of the media and pour it back into tumbler. Then I pick up 5 to 10 cases at time from the sifter and tap them while upside down to remove any media remaining in the case. This has worked for me for about 40 years now.
 
Uncle Richard said:
Just looked at the dillon CM500 and appears to be very well made.

Only comment I have about it....since it doesn't have a lid, does media go everywhere?
Click to expand...

You don't have to turn it fast to separate the media from the brass. The media falls into the blue tub. Sometimes I will spill small amounts of media but that is usually when transferring from tumbler to separator.
 
A small garbage can and a spagettiy strainer works verry well I have two strainers and pour the brass back and forth between them sturing the brass with my hand.
Works for me.
 
I have a Lyman 1200 with the slitted top and a sifting pan that came with my Cabelas (Berry) tumbler. Always thought it was completely silly to pay for one of the rotary sifters. However, I always had loose granules of media strewn over my loading bench.
Finally broke down and bought one of the Berrys sifters. May be the best $30 I have spent on reloading gear.;) Dump the tumbler into it, close the lid, and turn about three times each direction. NO more scattered media.
 
Had the Cabelas one that was linked. Worked on, but didn't like the lid. Now have the small Dillion and it's great. A few turns each way and done.
 
The Dillons are the best I've found, but still not 100%. Usually still need to make a second pass after cleaning the unit. Best if done outside due to the dust.
 
I use one of these and never had an issue.

Mediasifter.jpg

I drilled a hole in the center so that it will sit on my RCBS cleaner. I dump the brass and media into a bucket and then place the sifter on the cleaner, Then I dump the brass and media into the sifter, turn on the cleaner and voila, sifter full of brass and bowl full of media. Couldn't be much easier.
 
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