Tumbler recommendations

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Project355

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Years ago I had the original Lyman tumbler. Since my ex got all of my stuff.... And that Tumblr was probably 34 years old anyway....
Can somebody school me in what's good out there today, please?
 
Thumler's model B for a rotary tumbler, Thumlers ultravibe 10 for a vibratory tumbler.
I have a 25 year old model B I've come to depend on.
 
I use an ultrasonic. Doesn't polish. But everything is clean, clean, clean. I have my own solution I came up with that works wonders. I only do smaller lots of rifle so it works for me as I can easily hand inspect each piece. 40 bucks on Amazon, when I got it, that is.
 
Well.... I'd like to do... Oh.... 400-500 pistol, and maybe 250 or so .223
 
I think about any of the major name brands will do you proud. I assume your talking about a Lyman Vibratory tumbler since Lyman didn't sell rotary tumblers or Ultrasonic cleaners back 34 years ago. I think the days of certain brands that could set your house on fire due to poor engineering are over with the vibratory tumblers, so pick out the color you like the best and go for it. They all work pretty well.
Wait until Black Friday sales come along and get one unless you need it now.
 
Go wet tumbling with stainless steel pins and don't look back. Since I bought mine I haven't used the ultasonic or the dry tumbler since.
Every thing comes out completly clean, out side of the cases, in side of the cases, the primer pockets. They will look like new every time/all the time.
The stuff that comes off the cases is really dirty.

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Dry tumbleing you collect all.this stuff in your media and you add more to it every time you tumble dirty brass.
I will never go back.to dry tumbling .

I made up drying racks to put the wet brass on.
I hit them with the air hose to blow off a bunch of excess water and let them sit out in the sun. It it is gray outside I let them sit for a couple of days to get nice & dry or let them sit over night then throw them in the oven on 190 degrees for 45 minutes.

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400-500 pistol, and maybe 250 or so .223
For vibratory tumbler, hard to beat Berry's 400 with 1000 9mm capacity - https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting...-preparation/berrys-mfg-400-tumbler/p/1210877

I usually run 600-800 9mm cases to get my brass cleaned/polished faster.

Not sure why it takes hours for some reloaders to polish their brass but Berry's tumbler has aggressive tumbling action and usually takes 15-20 minutes with fine grit Harbor Freight walnut media to clean and lightly polish range brass enough to reload and about an hour with media treated with NuFinish/Turtle Wax liquid polish to shine the brass.

For wet tumbling, my choice is Frankford Arsenal with 1000 .223 capacity - https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Platinum-Polishing-Reloading/dp/B07YXCRG61
 
Well... Gonna look close at Berry's, Lyman...only because my past Lyman never failed. I am used to vibratory. Have made my own sorting box and screens in the past. Time doesn't matter to me. I can flip it on in the AM, be ready in the PM.... Like the honey badger, I don't care ;) Dry, to me is never dry. I always used to add a little mineral spirits, or WD-40 "yo hold the dust down. And....my experience tells me that black nasty walnuts cut even better than new, or at least leave a brighter finish.

Thinking on it.... It seems like whatever is available these days.... Jeeze strange times. Gettin to be slim pickins in the marketplace.
 
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Love my Frankford wet tumbler with SS pins. They come out squeaky clean. So clean that they need a tiny bit more lube. What I love is that the insides are shinny too so that I can see a grain of powder in them. I've had to dump charges and a grain or two will stick in there. The inside is so shinny I can see anything!

Just don't tumble big cases like 45-70 and .223 at the same time. Nothing gets cleaned and the small cases are all inside the larger cases.
 

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For smokeless and cleaner brass I use one of the Cabelas vibratory tumblers. For dirty brass and black powder brass I use stainless pins and wet tumble in either a Thumblers model B or also have one of the dual drum rotary tumblers from Harbor Freight that is good for small batches.
 
A Lyman with 2 bowls works for my dry dirty uses, although I rarely mount the small bowl. I burned up 2 old Midways and have had the Lyman for maybe 12 years.
Thumbler still gets some use just because it's still around after all these years. I've not gone wet.....yet.

My experience is pretty limited, but I'd guess all of the major brand vibratorys do the job. I just got a deal on the Lyman.
 
To me, benefits of dry tumbling with NuFinish/Turtle Wax polish are:
  • Residual polymer on brass surface acting as lubricant to make resizing and extraction effort from resizing die easier
  • Preventing tarnishing of brass for months to years
  • Quicker time to reload (as short as 15 minutes for me) without having to deprime brass first
  • Depending on the vibratory tumbler, being able to clean/polish larger batches of brass (1000 9mm cases for Berry's 400 but 600-800 practical, especially for quicker cleaning)
And no one has yet to provide wet tumbled brass with cleaner inside of case producing smaller groups on target.
 
The Frankford Arsenal tumbler with ss pins has been doing me right - clean as a whistle. I de-prime first for various reasons; keeps the schumutz off of my press, cleaner pockets, faster drying time, easier to see flaws and charge.
 
I used to tumble my cases in a Layman vibratory tumbler until I built my own rotary tumbler.
The vibratory tumbler I could process about 200 .223/5.56 brass at a time & would take about 4 hrs to do a good job.
The wet rotary tumbler can do about 700/800 cases at a time & only take 2 hrs.
It cost me about $100 to build, it has a 2' piece of PVC pipe with caps on the ends & two split pieces of 3/4 PVC glued to the inside to get it to tumble brass right.
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Back around 1974 I bought a Thumbler Tumbler and it's still going strong. About 30 years ago I picked up a vibratory tumbler on sale and still have it.
 
I use the smaller Frankfort Arsenal rotary tumbler and really like it. It is a great size, especially for the amount of cases you had in mind to clean.
 
I have the Lyman cyclone wet tumbler and it works great. Never going back to a vibratory tumbler. As others have said, the crap that comes out of a wet tumbler is the same crap that keeps building up on the media in a vibratory tumbler.
 
Quite happy with my Lyman Cyclone.
Wet is a little more hassle but not that much.
Nice spotlessly clean brass may not make reloads that shoot any better but it makes me smile.
 
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I don't understand it......a tumbler thread, 21 posts and no bling closeups! ;) I'll fix that:
Only 2 hours in a Thumbers with pins, and get this kind of 9mm to smile about. Way worth the trouble to me.

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The motor on my big Dillon tumbler bit it. I replaced the bearings on the motor but it didn't not go back together "like new" so I am expecting it to die again. I have been looking at the 18lb Harbor Freight tumbler with removable bowels. Does anyone that actually owns one have any feedback on them?

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It has a drain spout so it can be used for wet tumbling as well as dry tumbling. The online reviews are pretty good.
 
I have been looking at the 18lb Harbor Freight tumbler with removable bowels.
Hmmmmm...Gotta love auto correct!
I had one briefly and it now sits and hums in my Son’s garage. No complaints, it’s an aggressive tumbler, and the deal I got it in had some of the ceramic media that’ll polish metal parts which it does well. I only used it dry so I can’t comment on the wet mode. Good luck!
 
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