Tumbler recommendations

I use the Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler for my bulk processing. It can easily fit 500+ pieces of .223 brass. I have run it with about 900 cases before, but noticed that it took significantly longer to get them clean.

Here is a picture of about 300ish(guessing on count) pieces of brass that I cleaned last night. I think they were in there for about 90 minutes, but I was drinking a bit and it might have been closer to 2 hours. Hopefully the images load properly.

Hi...
I use four different dry tumblers. A huge Dillon, a Thumblers and two Lyman, one large and one small. All work fine...I have had the Thumblers for decades with absolutely zero problems. I bought it new sometime in the early '80s...it gets used every week at least one load and sometimes more. The other three were bought at auctions for very little money and are used just like the Thumblers unit, except the Dillon that only gets used for really large batches of brass.
I usually separate my brass by caliber before tumbling to avoid case nesting. I throw a half a used dryer sheet in each tumbler for each load except for the Dillon which gets two half sheets because of the large quantity of brass that I usually run in it.
I have been using a Dillon media separator for the last year since my ancient RCBS separator's hinges gave up the ghost last summer. My walnut media seems to hold up for a long time...much longer than the corn cob media and it does a better job of cleaning and shining the brass. I usually tumble my brass for 3-4 hours.
Typically I tumble my big bore revolver brass first after a shooting session and then the semi auto pistol brass followed by the .38/357 brass and rifle brass. I do generally tumble my rifle brass together because there is little chance of it nesting.

I sometimes wait several shooting sessions to tumble some calibers because of the large amount of brass that I have in some of those calibers. I have so much 9mm brass, I may never reload all of it in my life but I hope my son will.

lordpaxman said:

Very pretty! And I’ll bet it shoots better too!

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Of course! When I'm happy........I always shoot better.

I just purchased this from Optics Planet; thought it was a really good price $165; https://www.opticsplanet.com/frankf...-tools-platinum-series-rotary-tumbler-7l.html
The bouns being the #5 of SS media included plus some solution for the first couple cycles. I was going back and forth between this one and the Lyman but once I found the price for the FART machine I was in, what a stinkin' good deal! Now the proud owner of a fart machine!

I have a Lyman Cyclone and am quite happy with it. Comes with pins and a strainer.
Most people also seem quite happy with their F.A.R.T.s
I still use my old Frankford dry media separator with the wet tumbled cases, seems to work well.

https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/1...MIktrd5K2y6wIVNQPnCh3brgBSEAQYASABEgK68PD_BwE
-you need a 5 gal plastic bucket for it
Get a magnet to chase down pins, they like to try to escape.

My Franford Arsenal vibrating tumbler gave up the ghost after 16 years. I just received a Berry's, and I think that I am really going to like it. Faster than the FA, and quieter as well.

I just got the smaller FART, and although I've only run one batch of .45 so far I couldn't be happieer. Ran it with a little dish soap and some lemon juice. I didn't have the patience to wait for the Lemishine & wash&wax to get here.

lordpaxman said:

And I’ll bet it shoots better too!

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Well... maybe not, but it sure looks purty.The 18lb HF one is a bit rich for me.
So I bought the dual drum rotary tumbler.
I gotta be careful about how much brass I put in it.
But when I do my part, they look almost brand new.
(Even after 10+ firings with scorchin' hot fast powders.)

I didn't have the patience to wait for the Lemishine & wash&wax to get here.

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Most grocery stores have Citric Acid in the canning section, that's what is in LemiShine .
Next time I have an Amazon order I will order (search Citric acid)
https://www.amazon.com/Milliard-Cit...=1&keywords=citric+acid&qid=1598289024&sr=8-1
$15 for 5lbs, 5lbs will last a long time.

I have been buying Ball brand from the grocery store but it is about $8 for 8oz, $15 for 5lbs is a MUCH better deal!
It depends on your water PH but in my Cyclone it takes about a .45 case full.

I just use whatever auto wash and wax the car is getting and the car gets what's on sale. (usually Turtle)

Just Relax said:

I just purchased this from Optics Planet; thought it was a really good price $165; https://www.opticsplanet.com/frankf...-tools-platinum-series-rotary-tumbler-7l.html
The bouns being the #5 of SS media included plus some solution for the first couple cycles. I was going back and forth between this one and the Lyman but once I found the price for the FART machine I was in, what a stinkin' good deal! Now the proud owner of a fart machine!

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Midway currently has these at 147.99, out of stock today but backorder is ok.

I use the Frankford Arsenal tumbler with pins. Clean brass is easier for me to inspect. I like not having the dust from dry tumbling.

I buy citric acid from eBay to remove stains in my pool. Its like $8-$10 a lb.