Which TUMBLER and why

[darrenmd]

I am looking at tumblers for reloading. There seems to be a large difference in price.... I don't see myself reloading more than a few hundred rounds at a time.... which inexpensive tumbler is the best?

 

[TBurnham]

I really believe this is ONE place in reloading you can get by with the cheaper stuff. I have two and neither of them are the high dollar ones. They clean the brass just as good as the high dollar ones I am sure. Save money here and use it on something else.

 

[Shovelhead]

Midway USA - actually a vibrator... I think it's "Frankford"??? Pecan hulls, corn cob , Petsmart pet litter (Guinea Pig) with a few drops
of car polish... Cleans brass real nice... Get media that is larger the the primer holes. It's PIA to pick corn cob bits
out of your primer pockets.... OBTW mine is about 10 years old so the price was a lot cheaper then they are today....

 

[darrenmd]

What about the Franklin Quick n EZ kit?

 

[fuelman1]

What about the Franklin Quick n EZ kit?

I don't have the kit but I have the tumbler. The first one I had died after 2 months. Sent it back to Midway and have not had a lick of problems out of the replacment. I use Lyman treated corn cob media with a cap full of flitz polish. Most times I load it up before I go to sleep and let it run over night. It does a great job. I also recommend the RCBS media seperator. Dump the entire contents of the tumbler in to the basket. Close the outer container and spin back and forth a few times. It works very well and gets all of the media out of the brass ( rifle cases were kind of a pain before I started using the seperator).

 

[Khewitt]

i have two lyman tumblers that i got when i bought out some reloading setups. they work great. a cheap tumbler does the same as an expensive one

 

[Chuckdog]

I had a couple RCBS Vibratory case cleaners, one of which lasted a long time. The second one didn't do near as well. I replaced the last one with an inexpensive Frankford Arsenal about 5 years ago. It still going strong. I agree with TBurnham about wasting money on the expensive ones. I'd buy another Frankford or one of the lower priced Lymans before I spend a pile on another big name one. I use corn cob media with a dose of Midway case polish, works great.I've been thinking of adding a second one just for cleaning sizing lube off clean bottlneck cases.

 

[TBurnham]

I use the media that you can buy in the 20gal drum from Ga Arms......it works great, with or without the polish!!

 

[BHJ]

I've got a frankford arsenal but have found the dust and small particles from the media to be a PITA. It's much easier and cheaper to just have a piece of steel wool handy when I'm trimming brass. I use the lee case length gauge and cutter chucked up in my makita drill. while the case is still spinning from being cut and chamfered I grab it with the steel wool and after a couple of revolutions it cleans up like new.
In my opinion you don't really need a tumbler. Its just an extra toy.
There's more than one way to skin a cat and some are easier than others. (and make less mess)

 

[samurai]

I use a Lyman- I use paper towel squares (1 sheet cut into 2" squares) to keep down the dust and male the media last longer.