Tumbler recommendations

[Brad]

My old Midway tumbler is starting to give up the ghost. I have had it well over 25 years. It has sure cleaned a bunch of brass for me.

Anyone have a suggestion for a new dry media tumbler? I have a wet media tumbler and use it some but there are just times where I want to dry tumble my brass.

 

[bns454]

I have 2 lymans,1 midway,1 frankford aresenal,all over 15 years old.The one I dislike most is the large Lyman,its noisy.They all work equally well even overloaded sometimes.

 

[358156 hp]

I have two Lymans, but they're both old, and the very oldest one is on the disabled list. It simply doesn't turn fast enough to get brass clean any longer. I tried to repurpose it to powdercoating bullets, but it's too weak for that too. I'm not hearing great things about the current Lyman tumblers, and the Hornady tumblers seem to have issues with cracking bowls, at least from people I've asked this same question too. I'll probably end up with a Dillon tumbler if I'm not able to find a replacement motor for the Lyman. I suppose I really should get busy on that, both tumblers are over 30 years old.

 

[Rick]

Gotta agree with bns454 on the Lyman, had their large one years ago and just gave it away and apologized to the guy I gave it to. People a block up the street complained about the noise. Got the Dillon and never looked back. Ball bearing motor, nearly whisper quiet. I have two of them now. No idea how long they last but if I ever find out I'll let ya know.

 

[462]

Very recently, I replaced a 20+ year old Midway with their new Frankford Arsenal model. It is magnitudes quieter than the old model ever was, the bowl is much bigger, and the brass moves more efficiently.

Lower priced at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Ar...&qid=1527393402&sr=8-5&keywords=brass+tumbler

I gave the old away, too. The guy was so happy he didn't care that hearing protection was need when it was running.

 

[fiver]

I got one from the Harbor freight and have used it for years.
when the Motor on my old big bowl Hornady [M-3 airc] started acting up, I switched the bowls around.
that big bowl rolls brass around like a champ now.
the design of the H/F bowl is great for impact coating buckshot with Graphite since it tends to spin the media around more than roll it over.
I like the fact the H/F base it's has it's own on/off switch too.
I did go through it when I got it and double checked all the screws were tight.

 

[Winelover]

Thumbler's Tumbler Model "B" can be used wet or dry. My primary brass cleaner for over 40 years. Only an occasional 0-ring belt replacement.

 

[JWFilips]

I have used my Frankfort Arsenel tumbler for years never a complaint
The only modification I made to it was to drop a brass sleeve over the center bolt.
Those exposed steel threads bothered me .
Wanted my brass to only rub lizard sand , plastic and brass!

 

[Winelover]

I also have the noisy large Lyman Turbo. Run it only when I have small batches of brass to clean. Placing it on a rubber door mat, really helps cut the noise pollution.

 

[358156 hp]

I just priced the Thumlers vibratory tumblers. They are seriously heavy duty! They are also seriously expensive! I also have a Thumlers Model B, but I often run a batch or two of dry, while also running the wet tumbler. A new high-speed Model B is less expensive than a lot of the higher-end vibratory tumblers. I hadn't considered that option until now.

 

[fiver]

the wet tumblers will run with dry media just fine.
I use mine for both, and even the little 1960's sears model rock tumbler see's a lot of dry media use.
having the wet system and the dry system makes things go pretty smooth and easy to have nice clean brass.
1-1/2 hours in the wet then straight into the dry media to put the wax on the cases and dry them out for another 1.5-2 hrs.
if you just want them clean-nuff then the dry media for 2 hrs is good-nuff.
but if you have a 5 gallon bucket of range brass you need to look/work over, running them all through the wet-dry system and sorting through them is the way to go.

 

[Ian]

... there are just times where I want to dry tumble my brass.

You're weird.


Either use your wet one like Fiver suggested or get another FA unit from Midway, I hear good things about them.

 

[Brad]

I prefer peculiar.

 

[358156 hp]

I prefer peculiar.

I use the word distinctive myself.

 

[Brad]

My mother had a grandfather who preferred singular.

 

[fiver]

 

[Brad]

 

[Pistolero]

My Lyman orange 1200 is at least 30 years old, runs great.

Bill

 

[358156 hp]

My 1200 is about the same vintage. It still runs okay, it's just low on power. The brass just isn't getting clean enough. My other tumbler is a 600, with the later lightweight 1200 bowl on it. That one really boils the brass! I tried using the lightweight bowl on the 1200, but it didn't improve anything. Shep is just getting old...

 

[Wasalmonslayer]

I have a Lyman 1200 which is around 20yrs old and an RCBS which is around 10 yrs old.
The Lyman tumbles the brass harder but in equal length runs the brass is clean from both.

The wet tumbling sucked me in and now my two dry media machines collect dust.
That brass being so clean and shiny is tough to not love!!