For case cleaning I have tried the vibrating units. (Frankford) worked good. (inexpensive combo) Walnut cleans faster, corncob polished better and doesn't get stuck in flash hole.
Ultrasonic unit (Frankford). I was disappointed, the unit worked but required lots of cycles, rest time between runs of cycles.
Finally I broke down and spent the money for a wet tumbler. I purchased a Lyman Cyclone, lots of people like the Frankford one.
Cyclone came with pins and trays but no pin pickup magnet, you will want one if you go this route.
With car wash and wax and a dab of citric acid it works GREAT. Money well spent, cases come out looking like new---spotless, takes about an hour and 1/2 + drying time.
If they are deprimed first the primer pockets are spotless as well.
(note, this probably makes no difference in how the ammo shoots but the clean cases make me happy
)
I usually sort the brass then do a quick run of about 1/2 hour. (dirty sandy range) After drying I deprime then run them for another hour.
The wet setup is more expensive initially but cheaper in the long run as you never need to replace media.
Also no possibly contaminated dust to deal with.
Never used 4227 in .357 but some people like it, hope the W296 works out for you (it needs mag primers), and hopefully the AA#9 will be better with them as well.
Please keep us posted on how things work out.
MBCs coated bullets come in two hardness levels. The ones they list for .38 are usually BHN12, the ones they have for .357 are BHN18. I believe ACME bullets are BHN16.
For light to light to light-medium loads I had better results with the softer BHN12 ones, the BHN18 are hard enough for FP loads in .357.
I haven't shot any FP .357 loads with the ACMES but they are probably hard enough as well.
Some companies offer bullets harder than BHN18 but I think BHN18 is hard enough.
