Which tumbler? Dillon CV 2001 or Lyman 2500 Magnum

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After doing a search here on "tumbler" and reading through 42 pages, I've narrowed my search for a new tumbler down to the Dillon 2001 and the Lyman 2500 Magnum.

The Dillon holds more cases than the Lyman (1300 vs. 1000) but the price difference is $165 vs. $75. I'm leaning towards the Lyman. It seems to be a better value than the Dillon. Would this be a wise choice or is there a significant difference in quality, performance, warranty?

I spoke to a Dillon rep on the phone a few days ago and he tells me most cleaning jobs with the 2001 run about two hours. Warranty on the motor is one year and the cost of a new motor after the warranty is $94.

I've read up on the Lyman and they seem to make good stuff but no one who owns a 2500 Magnum replied. I did get one "expert" reply from some guy who tells me when it comes to vibratory cleaners, it's all the same (?)

My only first hand experience with tumblers is the old Midway 1292 tumbler. It still runs great but I'd like to keep it as a back up and to do some light polishing.

If it were up to you, which one would you buy? One person told me "buy the Dillon and be done with it." Is the Dillon that much better?
 
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I agree with the guy who said all vibratory cleaners are the same. Cases come out of my Franklin clean and shiny. I mean, seriously, think about the operation. How much different could the outcome be, in terms of quantifiable performance. Maybe if you were reloading for benchrest on the national level. I think you're getting into a "paralysis by analysis" area. A lot of people think Dillon is the only reloading company in the world. They'd buy Dillon gas for their cars if they could find it in addition to the blue kool-aid.
 
My Lyman is over 20 years old and still working fine. It was used when I bought it.

Berry's makes a good one to consider.
 
Here is another to add to the mix.

<-- Model A-R12 No. 130

Deluxe, large 12 lb. capacity hexagon rubber barrel. Quiet, efficient operation. Well-suited for the serious rock hobbyist or for the sportsman as a case polisher for handloaded ammunition. Overload protection, continuous duty, fan-cooled motor.

http://www.thumlerstumbler.com/rotary.html
 
Here is the answer to your question...
I have 2 Dillon CV2001's and they have been back to dillon for new motors BOTH of them!(And they are going back again this week) One ran 3 days before a shaving of metal left in the motor housing and rubbing against the shaft, Cut 2/3 through the shaft and it snapped of with a loud report! The other didn't make it 2 months before it started to make terrible noise and spew black powder from the bottom of the motor. Upon its return after motor was replaced, It ran about 100 hrs before it did the same thing and this time the motor seized. I have been paying to ship these monsters back to AZ regularly and the cost is mounting for sure. I have a Lyman turbo Magnum that is going back to lyman for a motor as soon as I get it boxed up and it ran 1 YR of what some would consider almost commercial use before it died! Now the Dillon is quiet (when new) and the capacity is sweet. Your runtime really depends on how bright you want your cases, what media/polish you use, and how dirty your media is! The cost difference in the two is obviously double! While one goes back for a new motor, my other has to run almost non-stop to keep my brass polished so that is not good on it either. I would certainly say at this point that Lyman is the better value! If you don't overload it, it runs quietly and should serve you for yrs! I have thought a bout trying an FA at the disposable price but I am thinking a week at best before it goes in the trash! I am a Big Dillon fan and run their presses exclusively now but don't get sucked in by "Blue is better" in this case.
The Thumlers tumbler looks like it would be a sturdy product but I have been told by owners that they don't hold their breath while waiting for brass to polish! I go through more polished brass in a week than most will load or tumble in a lifetime so time is of the essence!
 
Imagine the motor replacement cost of that behemoth! :eek: It weighs as much as my truck. But I could polish the hell out of brass with it huh? I could run it twice a week and be done for the week! The ammo remanufacturers use a plastic barrel Cement mixer to polish but I am on economy of space right now.
 
Hey Silent Army, how much is the Lyman motor going to run you? $94 a pop for the Dillon is alot.
 
mc223, do you have a rotary jobber?

I have half a mind to get one of those, for rock tumbling, and brass polishing.....used to tumble rocks when i was a kid, and i kinda enjoyed it.
 
Cash, I have 2 of the Thumlers Tumblers. They are made to run for weeks and weeks at a time. I wouldn't even want to try to guess how many hours are on my Thumlers. The big one as in the above and a model "T", that I use for moly coating. I purchased the model "T" in 1975 and have replaced the belt once. It has polished a bunch of rocks and coated a bunch of bullets.
The model R-12 is 15 years old and has polished a huge big bunch of brass. I usually run a 1000 38 super cases for 4 hours. Probly plenty good at 2 hours, but I can always find something else to do.
I also have a Dillon CV-500 that I use as a pre cleaner of really dirty brass, with Walnut media. The motor got a bit slow after 10 years of regular use. I took the motor apart and went to O'Reilly Auto parts. Bought 2 new bearings and put it back together. Been running fine since.
 
The shop I bought the lyman from told me to send it in and Lyman will replace it on warranty. I guess we will see. $94 for the dillon motor is a bunch of crap! If the warranty does not start over, each time they replace the motor, I may just send em in and have them keep em and refund my purchase! I know its only a matter of time since they are about to get motor #3 counting the new one, till they squawk about it. But No BS is Just that! So far they have been really good about repairing them and quick on the turnaround as I cannot be without them very long or I end up backlogged on orders and that sucks!
It seems to be the bearings that are going out on these motors so I wonder If I could replace them as the previous poster suggested on the CV500. That would be much easier and faster! I asked Dillon to just send me the freaking motor and I would install it but they wouldn't. Shipping those beasts around is not cheap.
 
Thanks Silent Army and everyone else. I think I'm gonna buy the Lyman and use the difference to buy some bullets, etc.
 
I started with a Lyman Turbo 1200, about 22 years ago and still running strong, and this year I got a Lyman Pro Magnum 2500 to suppliment the 1200.

With new media it takes about 2hrs, but when it gets to 4hrs, I change the media. I'm using a 50/50 mix of corn blast and Lyman treated corncob.
 
Hutson-Hymax

I wish I could borrow that Hutson-Hymax next April 1st so I could have it delivered to my house when my wife is home.

"Honey, I promise this is the last piece of re-loading equipment I'll be putting in our basement."

Only problem is that I'd be dead for sure after that. But I'd get a good laugh on my way out.

Oh, yes. I recommend the Lyman. I have two of them and sometimes leave them running all night in the basement to get a high polish on my brass. They are quiet enough that my wife has not complained. That counts for a lot.
 
My FA and Lyman 2500 both take about an hour to clean the cases. I just got the Lyman for $61 about 2 weeks ago at Natchezss.com. They should still be on sale.
 
Thanks SDefender! I went to their web site and placed an order for the Lyman. The price with shipping was better than Midway. :)
 
If the Dillon lasts almost 3 times as long, then its worth almost three times as much. But that doesn't seem to be the experience of a cross section of users of both. I have or had owned a 600, 1200, and currently use a 2500. Its been almost 20 years I've been using Lyman tumblers, and none of them have failed me. They were all upgrade replacements. Even if the 2500 motor goes out after warranty, it will probably still cost about the same as just the shipping to ship back the entire Dillon unit, not to mention the $94 for the motor itself.
 
My own tumblers see 4-6 hours per week. Vacations, multiply that by a fair amount. I do load them up.

The sub-$100 bowl type tumblers I have purchased in the past have lasted maybe a year, year and a half.

A rock tumbling tumbler that rotates on rollers lasted me considerably longer, but it was too slow, so I sold that one.

The last FA bowl type I had lasted right around a year.

The Lyman's I picked up after that has been running for about a year now, but I am noticing the beginnings of a death rattle from it.

What seems to happen is that the sound they make sort of rises and falls, and after that they fail to start. They just hum. Give them a tap on the floor, or spin the fan by hand, and they will run. Until the next time.

I give it two more months, give or take.

Both were considerably less than $100, on sale.

Soon now, though, I will need to begin the age old discussion as to whether or not I want to spend the bucks on industrial rated tumbler.
 
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