Which tumbler and why?

[tdv8]

Afternoon all.

I'm in the process off deciding which tumbler would be worth getting.

So if you have any recommendations that's would be.

Thanks

 

[wytonpjs]

Frankford Arsenal Lite

 

[Qwertyzmate]

Wet or Dry?

 

[tdv8]

Wet or Dry?

Open to people's views.

Only just dry so far

 

[Qwertyzmate]

I use one of these (wet) with a bag of stainless pins from Amazon or 'the Bay' (can't remember which). the supplied beads are shite but there are cheap SS pins readily available elsewhere.

Do remember that when I saw my mates 'dry tumbler' and the noise, and dust, plus the fact his primer pockets were never really that clean, and he paid £100's for the set up...

I'm allergic to spending money so my set up cost £50-60 all in, works perfectly and I don't need to replace the media (or my lungs). I fit 200x .357 cases in it; or 100x .223.

Warm water, a little squirt of Fairy and off you go... if they are filthy, 2 hrs, most are fine enough in one.

I also bought the cheapest food hydrator on amazon to dry them in too but its not necessary, it was £18 at the time...

Clearly I'm biased but cheap and wet is the way I roll

More money for bang sticks and bullets

 

[tdv8]

I use one of these (wet) with a bag of stainless pins from Amazon or 'the Bay' (can't remember which). the supplied beads are shite but there are cheap SS pins readily available elsewhere.

Do remember that when I saw my mates 'dry tumbler' and the noise, and dust, plus the fact his primer pockets were never really that clean, and he paid £100's for the set up...

I'm allergic to spending money so my set up cost £50-60 all in, works perfectly and I don't need to replace the media (or my lungs). I fit 200x .357 cases in it; or 100x .223.

Warm water, a little squirt of Fairy and off you go... if they are filthy, 2 hrs, most are fine enough in one.

I also bought the cheapest food hydrator on amazon to dry them in too but its not necessary, it was £18 at the time...

Clearly I'm biased but cheap and wet is the way I roll

More money for bang sticks and bullets


View attachment 331318

If it works that's all that matters.

Thanks for your input

 

[Lever357]

I feel like I wasted 7 years dry tumbling. I now wet tumble with steel pins and dry in a food dehumidifier and the results are so much better.

Torsion Tumbler. Reloading Tumbler. Mechanic. Engineer. Rock Tumbler. | eBay

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I bought one of these as the moving parts are easily replaced if need be and the guy has been really helpful when I had an issue.

 

[JockStalk]

I use the same Chinese made and sold via Germany eBay special wet tumblers.
Cheap as chips.
Fast and easy to use,
Super shiny brass/ pockets.
What’s not to like?

Would def go for the larger (5kg?) model - I bought that and it’s ideal for a couple hundred cases.

Rinsed. Shaken out in an old towel. Stacked on a radiator to dry. Simple.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Lemon juice too to get the like new shine.

 

[Sampo]

As long as it cleans your brass to an acceptable level, anything goes. Its going to get dirty in less than a second anyway, so no point polishing it. The aim is to see if there are any faults with the brass as part of reloading, such as pressure signs, necks cracked etc. Just got for whatever you can find wet or dry at a reasonable rate.

 

[enfieldspares]

I have have only dry tumbling experience of the big pumpkin shaped Lyman 3200 and the much smaller pumpkin shaped RCBS tumbler. Whatever you do decide get a sieve also and a plastic bucket that you can sift the sieve over. In terms of noise both are quiet enough. For small batches the RCBS is adequate but, say, no more than one hundred .30/06 size cases at most. The Lyman 3200 would do somewhat over two hundred plus .303 cases. Both performed better with fewer cases that if full up. I don't have much favourable to say about the rotary tumblers that are pretty much rock polishing devices sold as case tumblers but I am told that they are very good for wet tumbling which makes sense considering that original use.

 

[sauer]

where you buying the "cheaper" wet tumblers ?

 

[tdv8]

I'm currently looking at my options and what's available. So not made any a choice yet.

 

[Swedish]

where you buying the "cheaper" wet tumblers ?

I'm guessing here:

150W 5Kg Rotary Rock Tumbler Polisher Jewelry Polishing Finishing Machine 220V | eBay

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www.ebay.co.uk

 

[JockStalk]

I'm guessing here:

150W 5Kg Rotary Rock Tumbler Polisher Jewelry Polishing Finishing Machine 220V | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 150W 5Kg Rotary Rock Tumbler Polisher Jewelry Polishing Finishing Machine 220V at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

That’s the one - about £60 delivered? Needed a pound of pins rather than the ballbearings the thing comes with, otherwise perfect and easy to use/ reliable. Half a dishwasher tab and a bit of citric acid and away you go.
Decant off the dirty water, handfuls of the cartridges transferred to a bucket of clean water to rinse.
Check case necks for any stuck pins and then shake dry and stack somewhere warm - radiator top or quick blast in a warm oven.
Used ultrasonic previously but find this is less faff and gets them shinier. Which is clearly important to accuracy

 

[JockStalk]

where you buying the "cheaper" wet tumblers ?

Yes Paul - see the link above to the eBay site. Plenty offered from different source, but all much of a muchness. Go 5kg though.

 

[Lancaster]

I have the 3kg version of the Chinese tumbler, does the job for me.

 

[nowler]

I’ll go out on a limb here and say there’s really no need to clean cases. I sold my tumblers and ultrasonic baths 15 years ago and have never looked back.