What tumbler <$60?

[Quoheleth]

Ok...I give up. After managing to turn 150+ .38 Special cases greenish-colored with the water/vinegar/salt solution, I'm going to have to go for a tumbler and hope to salvage some of these.

I was thinking of the Midway/Franklin Arsenal 110 tumbler kit, on sale for $55, but reading the reviews there, most indicate that after an initial good start the tumbler soon fails after only a few months' moderate use. "Cheap" to save money is one thing... "cheap" forcing me to either spend S&H to replace it, or buy another machine is wasteful.

So, I've been internet shopping the various on-line sources, among them Midway, Grafs, Midsouth & others.

Lots of choices...Lyman, RCBS, Graf's own name (is that a re-name Franklin? looks like it) et. al.

My budget is under $60 which gives me a good selection to choose from. Any specific recommendations to narrow down my choices? I appreciate Midway's inclusion of reviews, but I've seen a few choices elsewhere that Midway didn't have.

Thanks,
Q

PS. If anyone has a nice, used one they would be willing to make a deal on, give me a PM...

 

[moojpg2]

i have a lyman, works good, cheap enough

 

[RichardInFlorida]

I've had good luck with the Frankford tumbler from Midway. I've cleaned A LOT (multiple 55 gallon drums) of range brass with it and a Lyman. No problems out of either one. I like the Lyman better, but I have no complaints about the Frankford.

 

[Halo]

Lyman Turbo 1200

 

[joneb]

I have a Hornady case tumbler, before that I had a Frankfart that lasted about a month and haft, I am happy with the Hornady, about the same size and it is quieter.

 

[tomh1426]

I got a cheap kit from Cabelas http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20853&hasJS=true Ive used it alot, it works good and is pretty big.

 

[Quoheleth]

Which Lyman? The 600 or 1200?

That Cabellas rig looks promising...

 

[RichardInFlorida]

Which Lyman? The 600 or 1200?

I've got the 2500, which is a little more than you wanted to spend, but I imagine the quality is the same in the 1200.

 

[Otto]

Midsouth has the Lyman 1200 Pro for $43.79. Unfortunately it isn't in stock right now.
But if you can wait, that's the one I'd suggest for your price range. http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000157631318

I had a Midway tumbler that lasted for years but it was recalled due to a fire hazard. The replacement they sent me (a Frankford Arsenal) lasted about two months.

 

[RugerBob]

I guess I got lucky with my Frankford tumbler ,going strong for almost 2 years now. I have only used it about 15 times with 150 cases per tumble of 45LC.

 

[Urbana John]

I've had an RCBS for years, and many thousands of rounds through it, sometimes runs 24/7 for a couple of weeks in a row. Been thinking about getting another one.

UJ

 

[ir3e971]

My Frankford Arsenal tumbler burnt out after two years of light use. I have since bought the Lyman 1200. If you go that route, I wouldn't bother with the auto flo feature, just get the base model tumbler, it works very well.

 

[no_problem]

My miday tumbler has been running for about 10 years or more now (lost count after a while but I recall buying it during the Klinton years )

 

[Floppy_D]

The Frankford Aresenal has worked very well for me. It gets run about 4 times a week, about 4 hours at a time. It's somewhere in it's second year of life.

 

[onehungwaylow]

I haven't had any issue with my Frankford Arsenal tumbler, going on a good 5 years of on and off tumbling.

 

[chbrow10]

I have the base model Lyman 1200 pro turbo. I think I paid 35-40 for it on sale. I didn't bother buying a kit or anything. Even with the holes in the lid, nothing spills out, surprisingly. I bought a $3 kitty litter shovel with slots in it and used an old tupperware container. I pour the media/cases out into the tupperware and shovel them out with the kitty litter scoop. I also use crushed corncob from the Wal Mart pet department, $5 for a large bag.

 

[rantingredneck]

I'm about a year in with my Frankford. No problems so far. Got it from a local shop for 35.00.

 

[coyotehitman]

Cabelas (made by Berry's) is the best tumbler for the money.

 

[rudyc]

I picked up a used Thumler Model "B" for $56.00 including shipping. If you are not in a big rush, a used one can be a pretty good deal.


rudyc

 

[ZeSpectre]

+1 on the Lyman 1200 pro turbo.
Mine sits on a set of wooden slats to allow more airflow up inside to the motor to keep things cool.

 

[ForneyRider]

I have a Lyman.

I may upgrade to the separate bowl.

Works great, had it for 6mos and no issues. I think it was the cheapest one at Midway when I was tooling up for the first time.

 

[DEDON45]

I use the Lyman 2500, it was about 75.00 ... a smaller unit would work fine... I've seen more Lyman tumblers in reloading rooms than any other brand. The others are fine, too, I'm sure.

 

[762 shooter]

+1 on Midway tumbler.

Mine has been in operation for about ten years.

It has run almost continuously for the last year.

It started making a sound (you know the sound) about a year ago and I put two drops of thirty weight on the thingy that turns around in the motor (armature?) and quieted right down.

last six months 10,000 of 223
2,000 of 30-06
12,000 of 45 acp
Misc others

 

[kennedy]

I like my frankfort arsenel from midway, I got the kit, that included the drum media seperator that works great. I think the trick for long life on this tumbler is to only fill 3/4 full of media, other wise I think it overheats. I could smell a hot smell when I overfilled it and have cut back the amount of media.

 

[ranger335v]

"+1 on the Lyman 1200 pro turbo. Mine sits on a set of wooden slats to allow more airflow up inside to the motor to keep things cool."

I suspect MOST of the tumbler failures is due to heat. For whatever reason, most of them have less than ideal ventalation.

My Lyman 1200's motor lasted for something like 20 years but then the oil dried. That made it stop, over heat and melt down. A trip to an electrical supply house found a simular size motor, made for bath exhaust fans, with ball bearings instead of a bronze sleeve bearing, for something like $15 and it's doing great. BUT, I also drilled a row of 1/2" holes about an inch apart around the bottom of the base before I reassembled it. Don't know if it's the new motor or the better circulation but it doesn't get warm in use anymore.

I agree that the "Auto-Flow" bowl isn't very helpful. I just empty mine into an expanded mesh office trash can sitting in a clean 5 gal platic bucket and sift the media into it. I store the tumbler empty, at least most of the time!