Tumblers for cleaning brass

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mikemyers

mikemyers

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There seem to be lots of choices for buying a tumbler to clean old brass before re-using it. The least expensive choice seems to be to go to Harbour Freight, if cost is the main concern.

I never bought a tumbler in the past, and don't know if I need to now. To learn about them, I went to Midway USA, sorted the list of tumblers by price, high to low, and crossed off anything too big or that didn't seem applicable for me. Then I went through the reviews, paying the most attention to anything negative.

After reading about the RCBS tumbler, that came off my list - very negative review.

After half an hour or so, I started going to various websites, to see what people like, and what I consider "good". Here's a video of the tumbler that I think might be best for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGGXz_s4Aww

I figure you get what you pay for, and if my choice comes down to this one, for around $100 or so,or Harbour Freight for half that, I'll get the one that's shown in the video.

I need to talk to the support people at Thumler before buying anything - I live in a condo, and if the tumbler is going to make so much noise that people complain, that's a big problem for me.

model-uv10-tumbler.jpg

I'm not buying anything just yet - need to start reloading before I start buying accessories, but I'd like to sort out all this stuff ahead of time.

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And while I'm getting things sorted out, I need to find out if it's better to deprime the cases before or after tumbling. Then there's a question of what media is best for cleaning brass.
 
are you on the first floor of your condo? if not i can see the vibrations being a bit annoying. but not really any worse than a washing machine. honestly, if someone did complain then just run the tumbler when you wash clothes.

wet tumbling might be a less noisy option (dont know i dont wet tumble)

i would recommend against the frankford arsenal tumblr. i took a few year break from reloading until i moved out of the barracks. in the process i gave away allot of my stuff to help friends get started, so i picked up one up one of them. its ok.... but there are way better ones on the market.
 
I used a Lyman Turbo that I bought used 15 years before I broke it. I replaced it with a 65 buck Lyman Turbo 1200 about 5 years ago. No complaints.
 
Last edited:
Forget the Harbor Freight one. Chinese made.

Take a close look at one made by Berry Plastics, fully made in the U.S. except for the motor which no one makes available, slightly more than the Harbor Freight tumbler.
available from Graff's, Cabela's, or under their own name. Cabela's gives a unlimited satisfaction warranty.
 
First, decide between wet or dry tumbling. It appears you want to dry tumble. I started with the Frankford vibratory (dry) tumbler. Buy something better. Mine has worked ok, but there are better ones. If dry tumbling, don't bother depriming beforehand, IMHO. Nothing to be gained, dry tumbling won't clean primer pockets much. I used a mixture of walnut and corn cob, mineral spirits and Nufinish. Get one with an air tight top cover, to keep the dust down.

Wet tumbling - the Frankford rotary tumbler is the way to go. I really like mine. Can be bought in some places for $160, which includes 5 lbs of the stainless media. Deprime before tumbling, primer pockets will be cleaned (if important to you). It is also easier to drain/dry the cases with the primers gone.
 
After buying a Frankford Arsenal Rotary tumbler a few weeks ago, I will never go back to dry tumbling. It goes on sale for about $159 on Amazon from time to time... still higher than you want but well worth it.

One argument against wet tumbling is that it takes more work. I agree with this but, since the Frankford Arsenal tumbler can clean about 4x the brass that my dry tumbler can and it takes about 1 hour per load verses several hours, it is no comparison.

The last argument for wet tumbling with stainless steel pins is how clean the brass gets. My brass comes out as good as new.
 
My HarborFreight tumbler has been going strong for a few years now. I probably even overfill it most of the time. My only complaint is that the rubber gasket that sits on top of the rim, between the lid, falls off everytime I dump it as of recently. Not a big deal, I have just been too lazy to adhere it again.
 
To fill in some blanks..... no pun intended..... I'm near the top of a ten story condominium building. There is a washing machine and dryer just outside my door, and they don't seem to annoy anyone, so the building must be reasonably soundproof. I can also do this out on my concrete balcony, if I wanted.

Quantity - if past experience is any example, I doubt I will ever have more to do than 200 to 400 shell cases. For me, that would be a lot.

The cost of the device is the least of my worries. I'd much rather spend more, and have fewer potential problems.

In all the years that I reloaded 30 years ago, I never seriously considered a tumbler. It just never came up. Even now, it's nowhere even close to the top of my list.

Ideally, I would find something small, quiet, and reliable.
 
Ideally, I would find something small, quiet, and reliable.
Click to expand...

This is the only one I have owned, so I dont know how it compares to others, but the HB tumbler seems a little loud to me.
 
The Frankfort Arsenal tumbler, at least mine is LOUD. It has been retired to be used as an emergency spare.

I have a Berry tumbler. It is quiet and reliable but I do not work it as hard as jcwit. If you live near a Cabela's, they have a great warrantee.

I also have the small Dillon tumbler. Pricey relative to others but it is the best dry tumbler that I have owned.

I cannot speak for the other brands.
 
I bought a Dillon vibratory case cleaner and media separator. After about 10 years of use, I dropped the media separator and cracked the hinge. I called Dillon to order a new one, and they sent me a new one free of charge, even though I told them it was my fault.

I'm a Dillon fan.
 
Unless you're going to be doing a LOT of cleaning, go cheap. When my first one gave up, I bought some U/I type for about $40. Been several years now but it still works as well as I could want. Does not get heavy use, and is fairly loud. Its blue, prob a Chinese one but didn't come from HF.
 
With dry tumblers the old saw "you get what you pay for" is mostly true.;) I had a Dillon for many years (25) and it cleaned well and ran quietly. Then the motor crapped out. Called them and they had discontinued it years before. They would not replace it or fix it for free but for a nominal cost they would modify it to use the new style motor for me. Basically put my old bowl on their new base.:scrutiny: I found a Frankfort Arsenal tumbler for even less money and bought it. It cleaned well but was quite a bit louder when operating and had a smaller bowl. It worked for a month and the motor seized up. Called FA and they sent me a new one no questions asked. This one has worked for 4 years so far. In the mean time I found a used Thumlers rotary tumbler for less than the FA cost and I latched onto it fast. Now I wet tumble all my brass and use the FA vibe with corn cob and NU Finish to coat my brass after it is cleaned in the Thumlers before I put it away. YMMV
 
I dry tumbled for over 20 years with a plain old Lyman 600, it is still going strong. I recently bought a HF dual rock tumbler to start wet tumbling, and it works very well also, not noisy and cases come out beautifully clean in only a few hours. If you think the noise of a vibratory cleaner would bother your neighobors set it on one of those "fatigue mats", soft rubbery mats designed to stand on for long periods of time. Honestly while I like my wet tumbling system now, for no more than you are going to have in the 500 or less cases a plain old vibratory tumbler would work just fine.
 
I have the Thumblers 10 and a Lyman Turbo. No comparison (yes the Lymans is a bit bigger)

The Thumblers is made in the USA (even the motor) It is so quiet it is hard to tell if it is running. It is a quality tumbler. The folks there are very nice and should you need anything (you will not) they will help you out.

It costs a but more but it is worth it.

Buy it you will not regret it. If it was Blue people would be praising and worshiping it.;)
 
I second the Thumbler's Tumbler,had mine for 25+years bought from a friend and I don't know how long he had it. The motor gave up a couple of years ago and a new motor was $100 I think. IIRC I payed $50 then so I think I got my money's worth out of it.
 
Thanks, 'Rule3'. I think I have my answer.

"The Thumblers is made in the USA (even the motor) It is so quiet it is hard to tell if it is running. It is a quality tumbler. The folks there are very nice and should you need anything (you will not) they will help you out. It costs a but more but it is worth it."

Lots of good choices, but this seems to have been made specifically for me. Small, high-quality, and quiet.
 
jcwit said:
Forget the Harbor Freight one. Chinese made.

Take a close look at one made by Berry Plastics, fully made in the U.S. except for the motor which no one makes available, slightly more than the Harbor Freight tumbler.
available from Graff's, Cabela's, or under their own name. Cabela's gives a unlimited satisfaction warranty.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was going to say, buy the Berry's 400 because it's the best.
http://www.berrysmfg.com/products-c47-Berrys_Products.aspx

Like said, the Graf's http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/search/keywords/400+tumbler
Cabela's http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...=400+tumbler&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
Sinclair http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi.../case-tumblers/berry-s-tumbler-prod36851.aspx
Brownells http://www.brownells.com/reloading/...rs-accessories/berry-s-tumbler-prod36851.aspx
and probably a few others are all the same tumbler but for the color.
 
While a tumbler isn't necessary I would not load without one. I would say it's essential and not an accessory. You don't want to scratch a die.
 
tcanthonyii said:
While a tumbler isn't necessary I would not load without one. I would say it's essential and not an accessory. You don't want to scratch a die.
Click to expand...


Copied from the Redding Reloading Equipment Website:
http://www.redding-reloading.com/tech-line-a-tips-faqs/149-scratched-cases-causes-and-cures
Note: Once again, for everything I thought I knew about dies, I found ten more things I knew nothing about until just now. Check out the Redding website - lots more good information there....


Scratched Cases: Causes and Cures
A problem that customers occasionally encounter while reloading, is that of cases being scratched in the reloading dies. There can be many reasons for this condition to occur, but they are usually traceable to the level of cleanliness of both the dies and the cases. Generally speaking, almost all instances of case scratching can be traced to foreign material that becomes imbedded in/or adheres to the inside surfaces of the die itself.

As a part of their final processing, Redding dies are cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner to remove any foreign material which may remain from the manufacturing process. This is the same procedure used to super-clean aerospace parts, hydraulic valve bodies, and the like.

Case scratching problems can usually be traced to the reloading area and some of the equipment that may be in or near it. A few guidelines that will help are listed below:

  • Keep the abrasive dust and particles from spent primers cleaned up and away from all equipment.
  • If you have a small bench grinder, it should be kept away from the reloading bench, preferably in another room.
  • Loading on the range, especially in windy or dusty conditions, can introduce cleanliness problems that can be hard to manage.
  • Case tumblers are another potential source of problems. While the cases may come out shiny, they will actually have a thin film of abrasive residue on them. Cases should be thoroughly cleaned and/or washed before going into the dies.
  • Nickel plated cases are often associated with die scratching problems. Small particles of the hard nickel plating may be present from trimming and/or deburring operations and can find their way inside the dies.
  • It is important to understand that foreign material does not have to be hard to cause problems. Brass chips from trimming and deburring can find their way inside the resizing die, where they can literally be welded to the inside of the die under the extreme pressures generated by full-length resizing. When this happens, the "brass against brass" action will gall the cases, leaving an apparent scratch. The condition will rapidly worsen as brass continues to build up.


Cleaning Your Dies

We are often asked, "How should I clean my dies?" The answer is to use the same procedures, with the same equipment and solvents, that you use to clean the bore of your rifle or handgun. Use the same diligence and effort as well, since the brushing and copper solvents will work well on any brass deposits that may have accumulated inside the die.

Another question that comes up is, "Can I do any internal polishing?" Again, the answer is, "Yes, with care!" The best arrangement is to chuck the die in a lathe, after stripping it down and removing the internal parts. Use #400 or #600 wet/dry auto body paper wrapped around a small wooden dowel. Keep the paper wet with a thin petroleum product with the consistency of WD-40 or kerosene. Using this method, you will easily be able to remove any foreign material or brass build-up from the inside of the die.

Since our dies are heat-treated to approximately 62 Rockwell C, you can polish for a long time without changing the internal dimensions. Do not use ordinary sandpaper or anything coarser than #400, as you will scratch the interior of the die surface and void the lifetime warranty.

It is very important to give the dies a thorough cleaning, after the polishing operation. They should be thoroughly washed, flushed, and wiped several times. Again, just as when cleaning your rifle, check the dies for cleanliness with several wet patches and then lube and dry patch them.

In summary, the name of the game when it comes to avoiding scratched cases is cleanliness! A little attention paid to keeping your reloading area clean, and periodically cleaning your dies, will insure that they give you years of trouble-free service.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact our tech line (607) 753-3331
 
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