Wet Tumblers

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RuggedAK

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Hey everyone I am thinking of getting into wet tumbling because my vibratory tumbler is on its last leg. I have been looking around and WOW they are expensive. I finally found a rock tumbler from harbor freight that I was thinking about getting. Has anyone used the Harbor Freight tumbler over the Thumlers or one specifically designed for rifle brass? Here is a link to the one I am thinking of buying. Good idea or bad? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html
 
Have looked into this rock tumbler and even saw a few reviews. But with the added cost of the pins & chemicals it was just a few bucks less than the Frankfort Armory model. Have seen it as low a $196 with free shipping. Looks like a better deal all around.
 
The wet tumbling system works great, brass come's out just like new brass.

Yes there are extra steps, but it is worth it.

Look on ebay for rock tumblers, or craigs list.
 
I use that same HF Model, and have cleaned thousands of cases without a problem. SS pins, a squirt of Dawn, and a 9mm case FULL of Lemi-Shine in each tumbler...together with about 100 cases in each (.30 Carbine, 45 ACP). I deprime and tumble, then size and trim the cases. I have to have the primer pockets ABSOLUTELY spotless...the shiney outside and Factory new insides of the cases are a bonus...:D. After loading, I corn cob tumble in a vibratory tumbler to clean up the finished rounds...
 
I have the same Harborfrieght model and I have been using it for a while now without any issues for .45 auto brass. I do not use SS pins though. Without depriming the brass I put about half a drum worth of brass in each drum, fill them to about 1/2" below the mouth with water, a cap full of lemon juice and a drop of dawn in each. I run it about 3 hrs. and it gets the brass as clean as I need it. It shines them up but I am not too concerned with shiny. I am more interested in clean. I deprime after tumbling and use a primer pocket cleaning tool to ream out the primer pockets. Cleaning the primer pockets is said to be unnecessary by many but I have the time and have found it makes seating the primers simpler and easier. Anyway, I am happy with the tumbler so far. I used my washing machine before I purchased the tumbler.
 
I've been using the Harbor Freight dual drum model for probably a year now; no leaks, no problems. Just finished doing a little over 900 45 ACP cases. Each drum has a 3 lb. capacity so it's easy to know what to use: 1 lb. of SS pins, 1 lb. (16 oz.) of water, and 1 lb. of sized, de-primed brass (75 ea. 45 ACP, 65 ea. 45 Colt, etc.). Add a tbsp. of Dawn and a little Lemi-Shine and in about 1 hour the brass looks like brand new.
Any American Rifleman magazine will have a 20% off HF coupon in it, so that helps with the price.

35W
 
Sign up for a Cheaperthandirt, Cabelas, or Bass Pro catalogue. They usually have coupons for 50% Harbor freight in them so you can get the rock polisher for even cheaper.
 
The Frankford Arsenal wet Tumbler will do up to 30 lbs total with pins. Great capacity compared to the Thumlers Tumbler but both do a great job. I sold my Thumlers and opted for the Frankford and so far I've been impressed with being able to do twice the brass per load.

5 lbs of pins are included so it's a pretty good deal.

Frankford Arsenal Platinum Tumbler
 
I bought a Lortone QT12 when I got started in reloading. I believe I paid $175 from HobbyWarehouse. That was fall 2012. I just checked and they don't seem to carry the qt12 anymore but others still do.

I went with Lortone as they are known for excellence. These are true rock tumblers that are made to run continuously for a month or two at a time to polish rocks. I am running it 2 or 3 hours at a time here and there, so I figure it will last forever.

I have stainless pins but I have found that I don't even really need them. I am getting amazing results with just my water, dawn, and lemishine recipe.
 
When you consider the Frankford comes with $50 worth of the stainless media, it is a pretty good deal, IMHO. I wanted to go the Harbor Freight route but they were out of stock, so I ordered the Frankford and am glad I got that one instead.

My procedure now is to wet tumble them for about 20 minutes WITHOUT media, just Dawn and lemishine. Rinse, run through a universal decapper before they dry (keeps down the primer dust). I sometimes do this with my Lee hand press while watching TV. Then they go back in the tumbler WITH stainless media for 2 hrs.

Sounds like a lot of trouble, but I wait until I have a lot of brass, at least 500 rounds of one caliber, before I tumble. Between my wife and myself, a couple of trips to the range usually suffices. :) I throw all the 380, 38spl and 9mm in together since they won't nest inside each other. I do all the 40 and 45 separately.

If I were primarily going to run small batches, the Harbor Freight tumbler might make more sense. There is an economy of scale with the Frankford, though.
 
I've been using the Harbor Freight dual drum since 2005 or 2006 and it's still running strong. It does break drive belts on a pretty frequent basis, so it's good to have extras on hand. I typically run approximately 200 9mm cases per drum, or 125 .223 cases or around 75 .308 cases.
 
lckdnldd said:
I have the same Harborfrieght model and I have been using it for a while now without any issues for .45 auto brass. I do not use SS pins though. Without depriming the brass I put about half a drum worth of brass in each drum, fill them to about 1/2" below the mouth with water, a cap full of lemon juice and a drop of dawn in each. I run it about 3 hrs. and it gets the brass as clean as I need it. It shines them up but I am not too concerned with shiny. I am more interested in clean. I deprime after tumbling and use a primer pocket cleaning tool to ream out the primer pockets. Cleaning the primer pockets is said to be unnecessary by many but I have the time and have found it makes seating the primers simpler and easier. Anyway, I am happy with the tumbler so far. I used my washing machine before I purchased the tumbler.
Click to expand...
Could you please post pics of before and after not using the steel pins? I have to dual HF wet tumbler but have been unable to locate pins locally. Before I go through the hassle of on-line ordering, I would like to see if I would be happy with the results.
 
I just took mine out of the box, the first drum I filled was leaking from the bottom. Second drum is spinning now.

Bought the tumbler new in box off Craigslist for $35, then another $37 for pins.
 
@lckdnldd, please forgive me if this is obvious (wife woke me up at 4:30AM). If I am tracking the correctly, the case on the right was tumbled with out the pins? How long did you run it? What did you add to the water? Did you size/deprime first? Have you tried this with rifle cases? Ever get a case stuck in your die from lack of polishing?

I think, since I am up so dame early and it is too rainy to go to the range, I might fire some 45 and 9mm brass.
 
I switched to wet tumbling 8 months ago and wanted to start out with a reasonable investment so I purchase the HF dual tumbler and 2 pounds of pins odd the web. It has worked great for me as I prefer clean brass. I use 1 pound of pins and 120 deprimed 9mm cases then fill with water. Use a 9mm case of Lemi-shine and a squirt of dawn. Run for 1.5 hours or 2 hours if real dirty. Look like brand new. Make sure to rinse well with clean water. Have done probably 5K 9mm and 2k of .223 so far with no issues.

I am considering the Frankford Arsenal tumbler for use on large runs but will keep the harbor freight for those small runs. It does seem like a good value since it comes with pins.

Make sure you have a magnet available if you drop pins or to clean up small pins out of the bottom of buckets,, etc.

Once you go wet tumbling your old media tumblers will sit.
 
I use that same tumbler just in the single drum. I got it for $15 or $20 new off craigs list. I get 20-25 270 cases in it and it works great.
If this hasn't been mentioned yet( no I haven't read the whole thread) when you get your brand new stainless media run it through once without brass. It's dirty stuff and made my first load dirtier than when I started. :scrutiny:
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I am going with the Frankford Arsenal over the HF tumbler. When I dry tumble case it is usually 150-200 cases at a time. The HF tumbler just wont work for me. Again thank you for helping me out. Over all the Frankford Arsenal tumbler will suit me much better.
 
Shooting used to be my hobby. Then, reloading became my hobby. Now, wet tumbling brass is my hobby - shooting and reloading are just the means to the end. LOL
 
ID-shooting said:
@lckdnldd, please forgive me if this is obvious (wife woke me up at 4:30AM). If I am tracking the correctly, the case on the right was tumbled with out the pins? How long did you run it? What did you add to the water? Did you size/deprime first? Have you tried this with rifle cases? Ever get a case stuck in your die from lack of polishing?
Click to expand...

To answer your questions see post #6 above. I have not tried it with rifle cases yet.
 
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