Which is better deal on tumbler

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egd

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My local bass pro has a sale on a Lyman 1200 pro tumbler for $59.97 (reg 74.99) and a Hornady M-2 for $79.99 (reg 99.99).
I'd like to get the Lyman because it's cheaper, but if it's worth it to get the Hornady for better life, etc. then I would. I'm not a huge volume shooter, at least not yet-maybe someday. I might tumble around 5-600 a month at best.
What's your opinion on the best buy for me?
 
By the cheaper one as they are all made in China anyway. The Lyman 1200 has been around for a long time and is fine. That is a good price for Bass Pro. I doubt there is any difference between the Hornady and Lymans. Heck you can get a a tumbler at Harbor Freight or a Frankfort
d Arsenal.

All of them only give a 1 year warranty anyway

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/58...ez-case-tumbler-110-volt?cm_vc=ProductFinding

The best tumblers made in the USA are Thumlers but they are also more expensive

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/31...be-case-tumbler-110-volt?cm_vc=ProductFinding
 
Thanks, I had a Harbor freight one. It didn't last but 4 months. Just after the return date. But they did give me store credit though.
 
I have the Lyman 1200 Turbo and the Thumbler The Lyman is bigger and has worked fine. I prefer the Thumbler as it is very quite and I do not need to clean large amounts of brass, I have filled the Lyman up in the past,

Whatever you get, do not overload it and change your media when it gets dirty. It is very cheap and no sense using old media full of toxic chemicals. It will also clean faster. I run mine for 2 hours tops.
 
Thanks Fred, but I think I'll just buy probably the Lyman.

Rule3, How do you tell when the media is dirty? I use the lizard bedding stuff I got at Petsmart. Does it change color or something or does it get full of stuff? I can't tell any difference in mine from when I put it in there.
 
Depends on how much you use it and how dirty the brass is to begin with. Yes it will turn darker in color also the time required to clean will slowly increase. You just have to keep an eye on it and wing it.

Do you use Nu Finish or some other case polish in the media?

Lizard bedding is walnut which cleans well but corn adds more shine. It all is a matter of how OCD you are about brass. I only need clean, it doe not have to be blinding!:D

Also do you have a separator to sift out the brass and media?

If the Lyman you are looking at has the slotted top and no solid top, do not buy it!! Mine came like that and I had to buy a solid top, The slotted top lets dust escape and get all over the place which is not good. That is where the lead accumulates!

The Berrys that Fred mentioned is excellent unit.

Just my person preference but I do not buy much of anything at Bass Pro (other than fishing gear) great stores but their gun related stuff is to expensive.

Find a tumbler with a solid top.
 
I have had a Lyman 1200 and still have a Berrys. They are both good tumblers. The 1200 died after many years of service, and I got it used.
 
I agree about Bass Pro's prices usually.
Thanks for the tip about the solid top. I never would have thought there was a slotted top, but I'll be sure to check.
I'll get the Lyman if it's a solid top.
Thanks everyone.
 
Well I can only comment on the Lyman Turbo Pro 1200.
I've had it for about 6 years (roughly 50,000+ rounds).

The only problem I've had is when I dropped it.
And of course it had to land upside down, so it broke the cover & bent the threaded rod.
A quick call to Lyman, $11 and a week later I was back up & running.

So far, so good.
 
I've owned a couple tumblers, including an RCBS and a HF one, but the last one I bought which was at least 15 years ago, was an Thumbler Tumbler, Ultra Vibe 10. I have run that thing hard and many times for days on end. They are simply the best in terms of longevity and workmanship.

They are a ball bearing motor, insulated and sealed, and fan cooled, very difficult to wear one out. I'll be honest, they aren't inexpensive, they cost almost $200 for the UV10 model and go up in price from there depending on the type and size. But anything out there in the same price range simply isn't the same high quality. And should anything need replacing, parts are easily located. Thus far, mine has never needed any maintenance, and I over load it and have accidentally left it running for as long as a week straight, on more than one occasion. An easy mistake to make considering they are also very quiet.

GS
 
Well I went there and didn't get either one. I ended up buying their brand, a Range Maxx for $60. They bought out Frankford arsenal and it basically the same thing.
The Lyman had a slotted top which I didn't like and the Hornady just didn't look like it would be much better. I know the important stuff is where you can't see, but I opted to save $20.
Time will tell if I made the right decision.
 
I bought my Lyman 1200 for 25$ on sale a cabelas at the beginning of the year(45$ plus had a 20$ off coupon). It's been a good tumbler for me so far.
 
I have a Lyman 2500 and a Berry's. Both work great. The Lyman gets the big loads....the Berry's I bought to delube with. Hard to beat the Berry's value. Good tool. I don't know what the Lyman 2500's go for these days, but I paid about $75.

Update: I went to MidwayUSA and found that my Lyman 2500 is on sale........amazing....still about the same price, $75.99! Lot more cases get cleaned in that one per load. I bought mine 6 years ago.....no sign of wear.

Note the non-skid shelf liner I bought at Walmart. With that the Vibrator doesn't move at all.....without it it's a real mover.:) Has a good strong action IMO.

IMG_0904.gif
 
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Frankly ... I was less then impressed with the less then vigorous action of my Lyman 1200.... so much so that I retro-fitted the old Midway bowl onto it.

Now it actually moves the brass around with the Midway bowl installed... instead of just kind of being sluggish with the OEM Lyman bowl.

I had tried all sorts of levels of brass, and media to no avail....

My old Midway one lasted 2 decades.
 
How did this thread go so long with a plug for a Dillon??:D

GW you bought something not RCBS??:eek:
 
Ha, you mean the (cough) Dillon brass polish? What can I say, the local watering hole had some when I needed polish.....yes, it works extremely well. That IS an old picture, but it does show my Forster case trimmer, too. It doesn't show my Lee dies or Hornady Bullet collator/feeder.....the latter came a few months later.:) ...or the Summit press & Berrys Vibrator a year later. I like the Hornady linkage on one of the Uniflows too. Notice I didn't buy the RCBS vibrator. Too pricy too small for my needs at the time. I did buy the green media separator and have noticed since then...that Berry's made it for them.....as well as for Dillon, and others....just by changing the dye.

BTW, the Berrys 400 vibrator changes color too........Grafs, Cabelas, Midsouth, and others....find the best price.;)
 
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I wish I'd seen the Berry's link about a week ago! The Lyman 1200 that I bought in 1983 FINALLY croaked after roughly a bazillion hours of use. No kidding - a LOT of use. It just died quietly in the night.

I replaced it with a one-click order from Amazon, with a Lyman 2200 that has their funky new ability to drain/separate the media out of the base, while running. Not worth it. Buy a basic tumbler with no gimmicks. One tip - get one that's bigger than you think you need. You'll eventually use it.
 
Also do you have a separator to sift out the brass and media?

It's called a colander from dollar tree and an old powder dish soap bucket

My Thumler Tumbler UV-10 has been with me for almost 30 years and works as great as it did on day one. At that time, at least, it was made in the US.
 
Agree with Raindodger: If you buy the big Lyman 2500 don't fall for the built-in drain version. A media separator works much faster and better.
The blue Berrys version:
sorter_tn.jpg
The Midsouth version along with the red version of the 400 vibrator too: 038-502024.jpg
 
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I have the Lyman 1200 pro tumbler it works good my brother in law and I have ran thousands of rounds with out any problems.
 
It's called a colander from dollar tree and an old powder dish soap bucket

My Thumler Tumbler UV-10 has been with me for almost 30 years and works as great as it did on day one. At that time, at least, it was made in the US.

The FA separator works 100% better than a cheap dollar store colander. It is
heavier and deeper. Fits a 5 gal bucket also

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/731116/frankford-arsenal-standard-media-separator

The rotary ones are even better. Berry's makes the one that Cabelas sells.
 
I don't need to empty a 5-gallon bucket's worth, just the amount in my tumbler which half fills my old dishsoap bucket - takes a few seconds, the colander and bucket nest and take up less space for a LOT less cost.
 
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