$35.00 or $200.00 Tumbler?

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For right around $50 I would, and did buy a Berry's 400 tumbler. It comes in different colors from different vendors but they are all made the same by Berry's.

You can buy it from Berry's of course and from Kenpf's, Cabela's, Sinclair, Brownells and a few others. Look for the best price at the time, I bought the green one from Cabella's when it was on sale.

It's a very solid tumbler that runs forever.
https://www.berrysmfg.com/item/model-400 $79.95

https://kempfgunshop.com/Blueberry_400_Vibratory_Tumbler-berrys_1-6524.html $49.95

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Model-Vibratory-Case-Tumbler-Kit/731769.uts?slotId=0 $69.95

https://www.brownells.com/reloading...rs-accessories/berry-s-tumbler-prod36851.aspx $53.99

https://www.sinclairintl.com/reload.../case-tumblers/berry-s-tumbler-prod36851.aspx $53.99
 
I think it all boils down to how much time can be devoted to tumbling. Wet tumbling, from what I have see, does a far better job than dry tumbling. Wet tumbling, from what I have seen, takes more prep time.
 
If I were to go with a lower priced vibratory it would be the Berry's 400. Reviews too good to chose anything else.
 
I believe that if you reload long enough you will probably end up with both a dry vibrator & wet-pin tumbler. Seem each has its place.

I don't have one, but this dry tumbler from SmartLoader looks very interesting. It has a built in sifter so once your finished, you just open a spout, turn it on & it vibrates all the media out into a separate container. If anyone has tried one they might comment here about how that works out.
 
Another vote for wet tumbling here for cleaning but also still use my vibratory for polishing. I have both the cheapo Harbor Freight dual tumbler for around $35 and a Franklin Arsenal I picked up on sale for $150. for small batches the HF tumbler works great but has a very limited rifle brass capacity of about 20-25 in each depending on caliber. They both do a great job of cleaning primer pockets and making brass look new. I usually use Dawn and a 1/2 9mm case of lemishine for the first hour then dump water and refill with Armorall wash and wax and lemishine for another hour. Brass is shiny and sparkling clean. I use an old food dehydrater we had which looks exactly like the one Hornady now sells for drying brass. load it up and brass is hot and dry in a couple of hours. In the heat of summer I sometimes just put them on an old beach towel and lay in the sun. I still use my walnut in the vibratory tumbler to clean homemade lanolin case lube off of sized brass after sizing. mixed with some nufinish car wax it cleans and leaves a nice protective wax finish as wet tumbling does remove most of the waxy protective finish even with the armorall wash and wax.
 
farm23 said:
I am thinking of getting a tumbler. I only load for 44 & 45 so no range brass to contend with. The reason for even thinking of a tumbler is do better see any faults in my brass. I will not load more than 100 [most of the time less] of brass at any one time. ...
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For that kind of QTY I would buy a vibratory case cleaner (VCC).

After spending decades without, I acquired a red-bowl "Hornady Case Tumbler" VCC (no model# listed). It has done well for many years.

Several years ago I added a Berry's Model 400 (on-sale) and have been very happy with it, also.

If I were in the market for a VCC now, I would probably buy a Berry's 400.

Once you advance to handling/reloading larger QTYs, you will probably want to consider wet tumbling. 3 years ago I bought a Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (FART) package and have been processing all of my brass with that. My two VCCs are still handy for smaller/other tasks.

Enjoy! :)
 
Picked up a Cabelas tumbler about 10 years ago for around $50, and it's still going strong. Cleans up and polishes the cases fine IMO.
 
Dudedog said:
lots of people use Lemishine which has citric acid in it, the canning stuff is less expensive
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This made me laugh; Lemishine wasn't that costly at Walmart. I bought the small bottle of it, 'been using it for over a year, and it's still 2/3's full! I only use the Lee 5cc scoop of it in each drum and a drop of the Dawn and there isn't even a small trace of dirt in or on the cases. I will look in the canning section for the citric acid though just to see how it works. Hard to beat that Lemon shine smell though.
 
The first tumbler I bought was less than $30 and still works after all these years. The only reason I spent more money was to have more capacity.
 
I have everything to wet tumble, and still haven't done it. No excuses, just haven't done it. I have a Lyman "Magnum" for bigger loads and a Hornady M2 (closeout sale) for the little jobs. When my Berrys crapped out the third time I tossed it instead of fixing it again.
 
I have equipment to both wet and dry tumbling.

Wet tumbling sure makes the cases look nice but it is too labor intensive unless you are cleaning larges batches of cases. Wet tumbling cleans quickly, but once you start tumbling, you have to have several hours set aside to get things processed. I do not like leaving the cases in the water any longer than necessary after the tumbling is finished. Separating the pins from the cases gets to be a pain. next time I break out the wet tumbler, I'm going to see how cleaning goes without the pins.

With the dry tumbler, I put the cases in the tumbler, set the timer and let it run during the night. The cases can sit in the media until the next day when I separate the cases from the media, on my schedule. I process cases (resize, prep and tumble) shortly after shooting them so batches are relatively small, a couple hundred at most most of the time. Not much time is required if you do not let the fired cases accumulate.

primalmu said:
The lid has open slits, so there's no keeping the dust in. There's a thread on here regarding one of our members having issues with elevated lead levels due to his vibratory tumbler. I'll definitely pass on that...
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Most of the vibrating tumblers that have slotted lids that I am familiar with came with solid lids or solid lids are available from the vendor. I'd get one or replace the tumbler if you cannot find a solid lid. There is no need to send all the dust everywhere.

Also, there are many ways to keep the dust down as already mentioned. I use a little bit of car wax or the liquid wax sold for tumbling by the major gun emporiums. A little water, mineral spirits (I do not like the smell of mineral sprits:)), dryer sheet strips and other means to tie up the dust work well as well.
 
I'm a dry tumbler guy. I want my cases to be cleaned of actual dirt (might scratch the die) and to look shiny (the better for finding on the deck/ground of the range). I do not care about whether they are light or dark inside. I do not want them to actually be squeaky clean (I don't lube pistol cases, except that I find it occassionally necessary with new brass... I'm not trying to make used brass harder to process!). I do not want to mess around with drying cases. I do not want to mess up and accidentally load a round with some liquid still in the case. The dry tumbler meets all these needs, and the wet tumbler really doesn't. Even if they cost the same, I'd dry tumble.
 
preacherJohn said:
I bought a dual drum rock tumbler from Harbor Freight and my dry tumbler went into retirement forever! They have a single drum model and a double drum model. I caught the double drum on sale, and with my 20% coupon I ended up with about $35 in it. Then a quick trip to Ebay to buy 2lbs of stainless steel shot (one pound for each drum), a small bottle of Lemi shine (detergent for dishwashers) and Dawn dish soap. My brass looks better than new and I only run the drums for about an hour. There's a lot of videos on this at Youtube and you won't find a better way to clean your brass. https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html
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Good entry point. Replace the drum with a 4" PVC pipe with internal caps for a little more capacity. Add a small piece of plastic pipe for agitation. 2# of pins. Clean brass.

Im not saying wet is better than dry, but I prefer wet as my processing times are shorter for large batches.
 
I don't have an issue with wet cases. All my reloading gear is located in my basement, and there's a dehumidifier down there. After separating the media in a Frankfort Arsenal media separator, I rinse the cases in a colander and set them in front of the dehumidifier; after setting there overnight, they're dry. Of course I have more brass that I rotate in reloading, so the recently cleaned ones won't go right into my production but into a storage bin till I need them.

I guess we all have our preferences, but the dry tumbling with all different types of media, wax, and even Flix just didn't float my boat. The cases were always dull looking, and more then half the time I had media stuck in the primer pockets that wouldn't come out unless you "decapped" it out. I like that "shiney look" and in my experience it doesn't get any better then wet tumbling.
 
my cheapo FA tumbler is still going strong 10 years after it's purchase. It was handed to me, and I've used it heavily in the past 5.
 
I remember when I started reloading a lot of people advised the HF rock tumbler. Like others, I got for $40 plus 2lb SS pins for $20. Dawn and LemonShine for $5. Off to the races for $65. I've probably run 6,000 45 Colts rounds, 2,000 10mm rounds, and 3,000-4,000 9mm rounds through it without a hitch.

So that 11 or 12 thousand rounds. I've been thinking about getting a Thumbler Tumbler B but it's tough to pull the trigger on $200 (plus pins) when the HF is whistling along just fine.
 
I jumped right in with the Thumler's Model B and haven't regretted it. I didn't want noise or dust, even just from sifting the cases out of the medium. The Thumler's isn't silent but it just churns away in a comforting way and doesn't take long. Obviously you have to deprime before wet tumbling, so I got a universal depriming die for that. I don't care for dealing with the dirty water -- I bring mine to town and flush it so that the municipal water plant can treat it rather than put it down my septic. But I love the clean, silky feel of the brass after tumbling with pins, citric acid and automotive wash/wax, and the gleaming brass just makes me smile. Having the insides bright is also a plus, especially for a newer reloader like me, so I can see the powder better.

I have read that the citric acid passivizes the brass and makes it resistant to oxidation. Mine seems to stay nice and shiny, and easy to handle, for a long time so far. Citric acid is a great cleaner for certain things, like hard water stains. Just don't get it on your clothes or you will get holes in them.

There are some newer plastic rotary tumblers that look pretty nice, although a bit chunky and large maybe. Having a timer is a nice feature. I forget the name, but someone makes a really sexy update of the Thumler's B, black with roller bearings and other nice things. If money came easier that might be the one I'd get, but I like the Thumlers. Don't forget a magnet for the stainless pin media.
 
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Dry tumbler here... Not had much dust issue, though it is a concern. To minimize that I simply tumble outside away from everything when the weather is nice. Add some water to the mix occasionally, AND quarter up some drier sheets and put in there to clean the media. The drier sheets really seem to grab the junk and extend the life of the tumbling media.
 
I built my wet tumbler out of a electric gear motor and some lumber I had around the house. The most expensive part was those stupid SS pins, but they should last forever. Not a work of art but I can clean alot of brass in a 5 gallon bucket tumbler!
20151027_153433.jpg
 
^ That one looks a lot like how I did mine, except I used 12.7 gallon/100 lb chlorine buckets. One that stays with the machine and another that slides in and out with the “stuff” in it. It will clean 3000 pistol cases per batch.

C16E9818-9FEB-42A4-BFE1-34B51E07D308.jpeg

I built 3 of these big ones for a business and a gantry crane to load and unload the drums. They do batches of 15 gallons per drum.

 
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