I was going through some things the other day and found a lot of range brass and my corn cob tumbler just isn't cutting it with getting all the grime out of it so I'm thinking about getting a wet tumbler. I figured the main benefit of it would be being able to look inside the cases for better inspection, no crud in my dies and media. I'm a little torn what to get here. I see the Frankfort arsenal, RCBS and HF tumblers. Any suggestions and why? I will be doing mostly 223 and 9mm.
FART vs HF tumbler?
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Doublehelix
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I love my FART. I have nothing to compare it against, so I can't say it is better or worse than anything else out there. I have used mine for 2+ years now and have cleaned tens of thousands of rounds without any issues. I am 100% satisfied, and if it broke tomorrow, I would order a new one before the day was out.
In addition to the FART, I have the Frankfort Arsenal wet media separator. This works really, really well and has some really cools small, but totally worthwhile features that make it work well with wet tumbling (for example, a screen strainer at one of the corners so you can pour out the water and not lose the pins, plus a nice lid so you can easily tumble the pins out of the brass). I also highly recommend this tumbler over any others that I have used in the past for dry media tumbling. It was well worth the investment.
I also have the Frankfort Arsenal brass dryer, which is also awesome, but I hear folks say that any old food dehydrator will work, and that even Wal-Mart sells some really inexpensive ones. I have a wall plug timer for mine, so I can set it and leave it, and it will shut off automatically after an hour or so. I can even set it to dry and go to bed and have to worry about it being on all night. This happens more than I expected, especially if I am processing several loads in a day, the last load always seems to come off of the tumbler right at bed time.
In addition to the FART, I have the Frankfort Arsenal wet media separator. This works really, really well and has some really cools small, but totally worthwhile features that make it work well with wet tumbling (for example, a screen strainer at one of the corners so you can pour out the water and not lose the pins, plus a nice lid so you can easily tumble the pins out of the brass). I also highly recommend this tumbler over any others that I have used in the past for dry media tumbling. It was well worth the investment.
I also have the Frankfort Arsenal brass dryer, which is also awesome, but I hear folks say that any old food dehydrator will work, and that even Wal-Mart sells some really inexpensive ones. I have a wall plug timer for mine, so I can set it and leave it, and it will shut off automatically after an hour or so. I can even set it to dry and go to bed and have to worry about it being on all night. This happens more than I expected, especially if I am processing several loads in a day, the last load always seems to come off of the tumbler right at bed time.
I got the FART kit at the end of last year when Cabela's had them on sale. I really like it and have done over 60 lbs of brass so far this year with great results.
It is gear driven, so it's noisy. Not an issue for me since my reloading room isn't attached to the house. The plus of being gear driven is that it can do 8 to 9 lbs of brass per batch. Total weight, including pins and water is limited to 30 lbs. I think some of the belt driven models are quieter but suggest a limit of 2 to 4 lbs of brass.
Dave
It is gear driven, so it's noisy. Not an issue for me since my reloading room isn't attached to the house. The plus of being gear driven is that it can do 8 to 9 lbs of brass per batch. Total weight, including pins and water is limited to 30 lbs. I think some of the belt driven models are quieter but suggest a limit of 2 to 4 lbs of brass.
Dave
I have been using a Harbor Freight dual tumbler for the last 2 years. It just works and it gave me an entry into wet tumbling cheaply to see if it was best for me. I've never had to do anything to it...it just works. I typically only process 20 or 30 cases at a time, so its low capacity isn't a problem for me. (20-30 cases of .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor in each drum) I calculated how much Lemishine to add each time, dissolved it in the right amount of water and put the solution into an emptied handsoap pump bottle. It lets me give a squirt of Dawn, then a squirt of Lemi for each batch. Quick and easy. I usually tumble 2 hrs and can detect no "damage" to cases even under a microscope. The tumbling action is rather mild. I have about a pound of SS pins (from eBay) that stay in the tumblers....wet. My practice is...after tumbling a couple of hours, I put the containers in my sink and run water into them until the water is clear...then I hand pick the cases out while allowing the pins to fall out. The pins fall out pretty easily if you keep the case submerged and give it a little shake with the neck down. Dry them on a towel then into my garage sale ($2) food dehydrator for a couple of hours to dry. Total investment....$55 for tumbler, $25 for SS pins, $2 for dehydrator. My original plan was to try wet tumbling and replace with one of the "real" systems if I liked wet tumbling. I love wet tumbling, but my "temporary, cheap" has worked so well for me that I haven't felt the need to step up to anything else. If my batches were larger, that might be a different story.
salpal48
Member
The comparison between the FART and HF is very Unfair . most people Know that The HF tumbler Is junk. My tumblers Include Lortone , Diamond Pacific, Thumlers and Older sears, Or Star diamond.. All of the ones I listed are well over 20 years old with Belt driven Commercial motors.
The Fart is all Plastic . while the other are all steel.
I have enclosed
a photo
The Fart is all Plastic . while the other are all steel.
I have enclosed
a photo
santacruzdave
Member
Lots of choices for wet tumbling. I was skeptable, and did not want to spend a lot to try out wet tumbling. I bought the HF dual tumbler. It's rated at 6 pounds. I can get 5 or 6 hundred 9mm cases and a pound of so of steel pins in one batch. The advantage is the HF tumbler is cheap. With discount coupons I think I paid less than $50 including shipping. The disadvantage is low capacity.
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I cant afford a thumblers or i would prefer the steel over plastic.
@santacruzdave @DocScott
Do you guys get the super clean/like new look or just clean using the HF one?
Do you guys get the super clean/like new look or just clean using the HF one?
Point_Taken
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Get the FART, if you can wait, I've seen them on sale (when I got mine) for about $120 from Amazon. Smoking deal and definitely the best way to go for cleaning brass. I have no comparison to others, so I can't comment on their efficacy, but the FART works great. I also recommend getting the brass/media separator thingy. It makes getting all the steel pins out super quick/easy.
santacruzdave
Member
With about 3 hours of tumbling, the HF tumbler gets my handgun cases (9mm, .357. 44 Mag) clean as new. I've not done any rifle cases yet.
salpal48
Member
Even though I said the HF tumblers were junk , I have one. Out of the box if you get a good One your generally OK. but they should be Tuned up. meaning @ the factory in China. they must be slapped together . I took mine totally apart and tighten the loose screws bolt , aline the shafts and adjust the fan Change the belt to an O-ring. After doing this the Little machine runs fairly well. But you have to spend some time with it
rbernie
Contributing Member
I just wash the cases in the kitchen sink in hot water with Simple Green and dishwashing detergent, and dry tumble as needed from there. My handgun reloads don't even get dry tumbled any more - just washing them by hand gets them clean and safe for reloading.
If i could find one for that price i may just jump on it but finding out i need a magnet, separator, etc it would put me into a lot of money.
This is the way I'm doing it now but i had an instance the other day where powder possibly got wet and not being able to see in the case really well i figured this would be another tool in helping find cracks in the cases, media, get rid of dirt from the range, etc.
Cabela's had the sale around Christmas time, so it could be a while. Sign up for notifications and see what turns up. DocScott, post #5, has a pretty good system with the HF tumblers. Anything bigger and you probably will need a media separator. And, a hardware store magnet in a plastic bag to help get the pins off is what I use. Only a couple of $ there.
Dave
rbernie
Contributing Member
Was the water from outside the case or were the cases not dried long enough? I usually towel dry them (put a bunch into a towel that I wrap up and sling around), and then let them air dry in the garage for a couple of weeks before loading. If you don't dry them long enough, water will puddle in the primer (regardless of whether you wet tumbled or just washed them) and play merryhob with reliable ignition.
I've never had a cracked case mouth that, if it managed to sneak through all of my cleaning and prep, didn't also provide tactile feedback during the bullet seating process (Dillon 550) that something was amiss.
DRAINSMITH
Member
As someone noted Hornady has one out. That would be nice. On the 26 of Oct last year they announced that it would be in their new line up. As most of you know if it says Hornady on it I have at least one on my bench. So on the 29th of Oct Midway was taking orders for it on back order. So I ordered it and the new media separator in hopes that I would get it for X-Mass. As of today, they are still on back order. When it comes in I will give it an honest evaluation. Right now the only positive thing it has going for it is that it is red. On the negative, the FART is 7 liter, and the Hornady is only 6 liter. Now, as far as the media separator, from what I can see it has a lot of nice features.
Sorry, I meant cracking inside the case (paper clip test) I figured it would help me better see what's going on inside. I purchased wet tumbled cases from RMR recently and began loading them and i was surprised how much clearer i could see my powder charge and everything going on inside.
Toprudder
Member
I will add my +1 for the FART. I've tumbled a lot of brass with mine for a couple years now. It is noisy, but I typically run it in the garage. I've also run it in the hall bathroom with the door closed and it does not bother anyone.
The advantage I see over the HF tumbler is the large quantity of brass it will hold. I typically will wait until I have enough to run a full load, but I have found that if I fill it to 75% full or less, the brass cleans better as it gets more tumbling action. Still, I can do about 1000 9mm cases at a time.
The advantage of the HF, besides low cost, is that the small size is good for running small amounts of brass, which I have considered doing for some of the calibers that I don't shoot a lot of. The method @DocScot uses is great if you are just going to run 20 or 30 cases at a time.
The advantage I see over the HF tumbler is the large quantity of brass it will hold. I typically will wait until I have enough to run a full load, but I have found that if I fill it to 75% full or less, the brass cleans better as it gets more tumbling action. Still, I can do about 1000 9mm cases at a time.
The advantage of the HF, besides low cost, is that the small size is good for running small amounts of brass, which I have considered doing for some of the calibers that I don't shoot a lot of. The method @DocScot uses is great if you are just going to run 20 or 30 cases at a time.
<*(((><
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My "junk" HF dual canister tumbler is going on 4 years and has processed a lot of batches brass. Still going strong. I've got more than my $35 out of it. Just make sure the belt pulleys are aligned and a few drops of oil here and there periodically is what I recommend to people.
pert near
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I started with the HF tumbler. It worked okay for small loads. I gave it to my sister so her kids could tumble rocks.
Next I got a Thumbler's large drum at a garage sale. It worked great but was a little inconvenient to open & close. It also needed a separate timer. I sold it for enough to buy a FART.
The FART was designed for the task & that's what I recommend. Buy the magnet too, for sure!.
Next I got a Thumbler's large drum at a garage sale. It worked great but was a little inconvenient to open & close. It also needed a separate timer. I sold it for enough to buy a FART.
The FART was designed for the task & that's what I recommend. Buy the magnet too, for sure!.
dwstone1227
Member
I have a name brand corn cob tumbler. I stopped using it after getting a Harbor Freight (junk) tumbler. My “junk”Harbor Freight does an exemplary job of getting my brass clean. I love my junk HF and I really prefer wet tumbling over corn cob. It comes out so much cleaner.
For wet tumbling, I have a Frankfort Arsenal and Thumler Tumbler tumblers. Both work well.
The Frankfort Arsenal comes with some extras that help with dealing with the cases and ss pins.
The Frankfort case dryer is also a nice piece of equipment.
I know some folks have good luck with Harbor Freight equipment, my experience is akin to the success I have at the nearby casinos.
The Frankfort Arsenal comes with some extras that help with dealing with the cases and ss pins.
The Frankfort case dryer is also a nice piece of equipment.
I know some folks have good luck with Harbor Freight equipment, my experience is akin to the success I have at the nearby casinos.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
I have the Lyman Cyclone and like it I would imagine it's about the same quality as the FART, not top notch, but not top $ either. It comes with pins and media separator trays.
You probably will want to get one of the magnets designed to help with pins, mine like to try to escape.
If you buy the HF it's smaller and you need to add in the cost of pins.
Car wash and wax and a bit of citric acid (canning section at the grocery store) work well for me.
Be generous with the soap/wash and wax.
Really glad I spent the money to go to wet tumbling, if you deprime first primer pockets come out spotless.
You probably will want to get one of the magnets designed to help with pins, mine like to try to escape.
If you buy the HF it's smaller and you need to add in the cost of pins.
Car wash and wax and a bit of citric acid (canning section at the grocery store) work well for me.
Be generous with the soap/wash and wax.
Really glad I spent the money to go to wet tumbling, if you deprime first primer pockets come out spotless.
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