Brass/Media Seperator - Do they work?

[MinnMooney]

I'm getting tired of banging my brass on a board to get the media out after tumbling. The wide-opened .45ACP brass is easy to toss around and get most of the media out but the small, bottle-necked cases like .223Rem and .204Ruger take quite a few shakes to make sure that all of the media is removed.
What is your experiance with case tumbling type media seperators like an RCBS ?
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0004487076

Or a hand-built model ?
http://www.alpharubicon.com/warlord/leo/mediasep.htm

I'm not interested in getting MOST of the media out of my cases (little good that would do :banghead but ALL of the media.

Do they work?

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

My homemade one works great.

It is a six sided wood frame covered in 1/4" hail screen.
The hexagon shape really rattles the cases around in there!

Give it a few spins on the attached dowel rod and everything comes out!


Here is another one I made out of a gallon coffee can & hail screen soldered to the bottom. PVC pipe handle.


rcmodel

 

[scrat]

i just use an old spagehti strainer

 

[jcwit]

I'll 2nd scrat, course there still might be a couple in the flash holes.

 

[kcshooter]

I bought the whole kit by frankford arsenal that has the tumbler and separator. A few turns and it's all gone. Again, some may have a grain stuck in the flash holes, but I deprime after cleaning so it works for me.

 

[snuffy]

This is the FA, (midway), separator. It just plain works! Those 40 cases were spun 10-15 times. ALL the media is out! .223 may take a little longer, maybe 20-25 turns, it's ALL out,(corn cob). A lot depends on how fine your media is. I use what's supplied by the suppliers for tumbling cases. Some get theirs from other sources, be sure to get the finest they have.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I've used the covered brass separator from Berry's for several years now, and I wouldn't be without it. Here's the link: http://www.berrysmfg.com/237.php

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[nambu1]

I started with a spegheti strainer, I still use it sometimes. I got one from Midway years ago and work very well. You have to rotate slowly or the static will cause some the media to fly out onto the floor.

 

[rcmodel]

Get yourself a can of this & it won't!

http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100759&navAction=jump&navCount=1&id=prod4260

I use it on tumbler media, powder hoppers, funnels, TV screens, popcorn packing when I open a box, truck seat in the winter, etc, etc!
Great stuff!

rcmodel

 

[Otto]

Made mine for 2 bucks. No need to give Dillon $65 for one.

 

[redneck2]

You can try to get by with something cheap, but do yourself a favor, cough up the $30 or so for the one from Midway and be done with it. There are times to save money. This isn't one IMO.

I got 50# of really fine media from MSC. Harbor Freight stuff and pet bedding is way too coarse. The stuff I got is slightly larger than coarse sand and comes out of .223's very easily. Cleans very well.

 

[kennedy]

+1 on frankfort arsenel rotery tumbler, directions say turn 10 times then reverse a few more, works perfect every time, best reloading investment I have made.

 

[Rokman]

Oh yeah they work. I got a Cabela's brand and it works in just a few back-and-forth turns.

 

[Walkalong]

I use a home made set up. I have seriously considered a set up like the Berry's Fred linked to. That would be even easier and faster.

 

[Navy joe]

I use the gigantic Dillon one, after a few hundred thousand pieces of brass cleaned it pays for itself with all the missed aggravation of trying to get by. I like your homemade squirrel cage RC, you should sue Dillon for stealing your idea.

 

[MinnMooney]

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

rcmodel -
Those are two good media separators! I'm going to built the six-sided one with the dowel rod.
Does that "Static Gaurd" really help to get the media out of the casings? Does it do anything to the powder or primer reliability?

Thanks to everyone for the good ideas. I tried a spagetti colander and it removed the media very well but the walnut particles were too big for the small holes in the colander.

That big, blue bucket looks like it would work great for up to about 400-1000 casings!!

 

[redneck2]

One of the things we didn't say. When you get the store bought ones, there's a sleeve that fits into the top of the bucket. Helps keep the media from dumping onto the floor. When you're cranking, the brass wants to all go to one side and throw the bucket off balance dumping everything. The sleeve helps a LOT.

For the $15 difference between buying one versus trying to make one, it seems foolish to waste the time and money.

 

[rcmodel]

Does that "Static Gaurd" really help to get the media out of the casings?

No.
I don't use it on the cases.
Just spray the seperator and tupperware container so the media doesn't go flying or stick to them due to static.

rcmodel

 

[bobotech]

I like the RCBS one that you linked to in the first post. That's what I have. I spin it a few times one way then spin it the other way. Gets all the media out and the cover prevents any from flying away. So quick and easy. I would not go with out one.

The top cover makes it a lot nicer in my opinion.

 

[SSN Vet]

the green RCBS rotary media seperator with the clam shell works AWESOME!

a little pricey, but it is clean and neet and minimizes exposure to lead contaminated media

 

[Otto]

That big, blue bucket looks like it would work great for up to about 400-1000 casings!!

It does work great because there's absolutely no spilled media.
The thing took all of 20 minutes to make.

I'm not knocking Frankford Arensal, but read the reviews on Midway before you buy one. Also, FA may only cost $30 but that doesn't include the $14 shipping.

 

[Bula]

I bought the Cabelas one and it rocks (made by RCBS I think) hinges are real cheapy though. I do like that it's enclosed. Lots of dust sometimes.

 

[SSN Vet]

http://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=3167&route=C11J035

this is you're baby....

I paid $30 from Midway and it was money well spent....

spin it ten turns one way, reverse direction for ten more turns...DONE!

No media left in bottle neck rifle cases
No media spilled
No dust cloud escaping to the "people tank"

 

[Mal H]

Like many here, I bought the Midway version and never looked back. It works just fine. It was part of a special deal with several items for a low price, $19 IIRC, but that was about 10 years ago also.

I do try to spin it outside when possible since there's lead in them thar [strike]hills[/strike] dust! (mostly from primer residue) The covered version would solve that problem.