Wet tumbling on a budget

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GGC96

GGC96

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,

I’m new to the world of reloading. Looking at how I’m going to clean my brass I’ve decided I want to go with wet tumbling. However, being on a budget I can’t justify the £220 on a FA wet tumbler. I’ve seen these made for jewellery for £45 - has anyone ever tried one?

IMG_7047.webp
 
Have a couple of friends using them and they seem to work fine. Considering one myself. Where have you seen it at £45?

Regards

Mark
 
Don’t know how long they will last but it does the job.

It’s not just the tumbler price but also the stainless media. Don’t waste your time with non-stainless media and certainly not anything abrasive. You need a fine media which drops through the primer hole.

Some people say round balls ( stainless shot ) work well but it does not work for me, instead the little pins sold with reloading tumblers work very well indeed.

You don’t need a wet tumbler however; one of the vibratory tumblers like Lyman works very well, especially is you use a little (1/2 teaspoon) citric acid powder and a squirt of washing up liquid prior to clean deposits (shake it in a tub), dry and then polish with the tumbler.

I love the wet tumblers but not enough to use it exclusively and get rid of the vibratory tumbler. Both has their place.

ps. That price is usually for the drum only. Once you’ve added decent media you”re close to the price of a reloading tumbler which includes media
 
I bought one of these off ebay years ago...........simple clockwork timer, and it's still working fine although the timer knob has fallen off.
Make sure you get the 5kg version, though.
The 3kg version is OK if you're into coating your bullets with HBN, but a bit too small for batch tumbling 308 cases.

D.
 
chriswjx said:
Looks like the image he's put if off of eBay
Click to expand...
I thought that, but a rudimentary search earlier couldn't fine one at the price mentioned. They are £69 on Amazon too. Have asked one of the guys who has one to post his opinion/experience.

Regards

Mark
 
Last edited:
Some crude science for those of you thinking of getting one. 3kg of volume = 3L

I filled a large bowl up with 3L water, marked it with a line, then added 100 30-06 cases, and filled back up to the line.

IMG_7048.webp

The remaining water from the 3L should be equal to the space that the brass takes up - approx 100ml

IMG_7049.webp

Then add a bit more for the SSpins there’s still plenty of space (Water volume) left in there for them to tumble.

That’s my rough estimation - I will get one ordered and leave an initial review as well as one a few months later to see how it’s held up
 
Hey all,

So I have exactly that rock tumbler for my brass cleaning. Got it off Amazon about July 2024. For what it is, it works really well. I think I spent maybe £60ish when I bought it and also bought some steel pins as well, althought I think I got too small/narrow pins which were a pain in the backside. BUT, they do a great job.

It's pretty simply to use. Has a couple speed settings and a timer option, or, you turn the dial in a certain position and it will just keep going until you turn it off. By that I mean it spins in one director for 20-30 seconds, stops, and spins in the opposite direction and will keep doing that until you turn it off.

I use warm water, some citric acid, some dishwashing soap or detergent and let it go for... maybe 2 hours, depending on what I'm doing. Everything comes out clean and shiny. If i don't use the steel pins then the primer pockets aren't as clean, so I'll need to use a tool to given them a clean out if needed.

Everything feels very durable and robust - the main unit is heavy and feels like proper metal construction. My only issue was the fastening lever device on the acrylic drum. When closed, it wasn't as tight as I wanted and felt the water could come out. So I used a bit of kitchen roll and put it under the lever so it was tighter when closed and it's perfect.

I suppose for some people here who do a lot of brass cleaning in a batch, the size and volume of the drum might be an issue as it isn't the biggest. But for me, I don't do huge amounts of brass cleaning in one sitting - I'll usually get stuff prepped over a week or two and then tumble it in batches. I just leave it in the garage to turn, undisturbed. I do have it plugged into a spare wifi power adapater so I can set a timer if I'm going out and don't want it to spin all day/night. Of course I could use the dial on the unit to do that... but why not make it more complicated for myself, right? ;)

Anyhow - I like it. For what it is, what I use it for, and the cost, it works great. And if it breaks, it's only £50-60ish out my pocket, not £250+ for a big expensive brand name.

Any questions, feel free to ask.
 
Forgot to mention, I do have the Frankford Arsenal wet/dry media separator, which is really great and rinsing it all out and especially good and getting steel pins out of everything.

Oddly, the missus asked why I had a cat litter box when she saw me using it. It made me wonder what sort of cat litter box she'd used previously that had a hand cranking device to spin and separate... glad I didn't know her back then.. :-|
 
isawch said:
Hey all,

So I have exactly that rock tumbler for my brass cleaning. Got it off Amazon about July 2024. For what it is, it works really well. I think I spent maybe £60ish when I bought it and also bought some steel pins as well, althought I think I got too small/narrow pins which were a pain in the backside. BUT, they do a great job.

It's pretty simply to use. Has a couple speed settings and a timer option, or, you turn the dial in a certain position and it will just keep going until you turn it off. By that I mean it spins in one director for 20-30 seconds, stops, and spins in the opposite direction and will keep doing that until you turn it off.

I use warm water, some citric acid, some dishwashing soap or detergent and let it go for... maybe 2 hours, depending on what I'm doing. Everything comes out clean and shiny. If i don't use the steel pins then the primer pockets aren't as clean, so I'll need to use a tool to given them a clean out if needed.

Everything feels very durable and robust - the main unit is heavy and feels like proper metal construction. My only issue was the fastening lever device on the acrylic drum. When closed, it wasn't as tight as I wanted and felt the water could come out. So I used a bit of kitchen roll and put it under the lever so it was tighter when closed and it's perfect.

I suppose for some people here who do a lot of brass cleaning in a batch, the size and volume of the drum might be an issue as it isn't the biggest. But for me, I don't do huge amounts of brass cleaning in one sitting - I'll usually get stuff prepped over a week or two and then tumble it in batches. I just leave it in the garage to turn, undisturbed. I do have it plugged into a spare wifi power adapater so I can set a timer if I'm going out and don't want it to spin all day/night. Of course I could use the dial on the unit to do that... but why not make it more complicated for myself, right? ;)

Anyhow - I like it. For what it is, what I use it for, and the cost, it works great. And if it breaks, it's only £50-60ish out my pocket, not £250+ for a big expensive brand name.

Any questions, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...
This is what I do too
 
As for numbers, I just resized a bunch of .308 cases and can only manage about 85 at once in that little tumbler. Any more and there isn't a lot of room for things to move about. So if you have hundreds to do at once... you're going to be there for a while.
 
isawch said:
As for numbers, I just resized a bunch of .308 cases and can only manage about 85 at once in that little tumbler. Any more and there isn't a lot of room for things to move about. So if you have hundreds to do at once... you're going to be there for a while.
Click to expand...
Would you recommend the 5L one? As you can see above I did some crude science in the hope that the 3kg it says it is is actually 3kg
 
I've got a 3kg one I bought in 2018 - just checked emails and it was £52. I had to replace the drive band last week as the original failed (it came with a second one) otherwise it's been fine.

Capacity - you can get 50x 308 in there but it's too tight. Works better with 25 to 30. So get the 5kg one or do them in batches.
 
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