Tumbler Size Recommendations

[jbeltz7]

I'm sure it is buried somewhere on this board but I should be working on my Jeep brakes not on the web.

I'm about to order a Lyman tumbler from MidSouth and want to know if I should go with the 2500 size or will the 600/1200 size work? I plan on reloading <500 rounds of .357/.45 pistol cases per month with an occasional batch of .300 WinMag rifle cases thrown in.

Also curious if the smaller tubs or larger tubs vibrate at different intensities.

TIA!

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

The bigger the better:
1 - The small dillon and the large dillon energy consumption is only 28 watts. So, for one hour tumblimg, you can tumble more and save energy by not having to tumble another batch.
2 - Because it is bigger your cases "swim" in more media and move more. The tumbling time is less.
3 - The only things that can prevent to buy a bigger one is in my book money (cost more) or space.

Thank you

 

[rg1]

Unless you do very large batches of cases the 1200 sized bowl is the way to go. I had a 600 bowl that was too small and bought a 1200. I bought the large Dillion for 50bmg cases. The 1200 would do 25 of these large cases while the big Dillion will do 100 at a time. The 1200 is 1 gallon while the 2500 is 2 and the Dillion 2001CV is 3 gallon. The big Dillion does have a different vibration than the Lyman. Either vibration is just to cause the media to rotate and swirl in its bowl. The big Dillion does have more movement in its vibration I guess to move the larger quantity of media. The 1200 advertises 350 .38 cases a load while the auto-flo 2200 at 750 and the 2500 at 900 a load. The auto-flo bowls are nice. Pull the plug and let the media run out in a pan. It still won't remove all the media and will leave some media inside the cases. The cases being heavier at the head will want to sit upright and keeps media in some cases. It helps to pick up the tumbler and tilt it side to side to turn the cases over or mix the cases to turn them over. Cases in my auto-flo bowl will mostly be sitting up after all the media is gone and media is trapped inside the cases. With your new vibratory tumbler, whichever brand or size you buy, a media separator is a good investment.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Just a testimonial... I have been using a Lyman Turbo 1200 for the last 20 years. I have cleaned out the motor comparment maybe twice in that time and have had to tighten the rubber mounts down once. With the right media (I use a very finely ground corncob with chromium oxide added) it does a fine job...

 

[ReloaderFred]

I have two of the Thumbler's Ultra-Vibe-18 tumblers and one Berry's tumbler: http://www.berrysmfg.com/81.php

The UV-18 tumblers are larger, and one of them I purchased new in 1979, and the other one used about 5 years ago. The Berry's is the fastest tumbler I've ever used, but it has a smaller capacity, which it makes up for with speed in cleaning.

I would be very comfortable with recommending either of those tumblers.

Hope this helps.

Fred