9x45 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Russell92, I recently bought that same tumbler to replace an 18 year old one that wore out the bowel. If you run it with the lid off, it is much quieter. Also put one of those cheap foam ice chests over it during the run. You can run it indoors, the amount of lead coming off is tied up in the media and is only the residual from the lead styphenate in the primer. You will breathe in far more lead during shooting. Also if you load the corn media with NuFinish or walnut with mineral oil, there is no dust and the media lasts for a long time. There are other recipes also to reduce dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Thanks for the tips. Are some brands of tumblers quieter than others? When I was at Dillon a few weeks ago I asked about how loud the tumbler is, they turned it on and it was really quite. But I think that might have been just because there wasn't that much brass in it? So I was surprised how loud some of the videos on youtube were of that other tumbler. Could I also try wrapping the whole tumbler in an old blanket to muffle the noise? And I know nothing about ultrasonic cleaning, should I look into this instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 corn and nu-finish on the left, walnut and mineral oil on the right, running open, no dust. about 600 cases in each tumbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Thanks!! Hmmm, seems pretty loud, might annoy the neighbors...don't want anyone asking questions what the noise is... Just did a bit of reading on tumbling. I'm sure this is pretty basic, but I didn't realize you should have the brass in there for 3+ hours. That's a long time to be making that racket in an apartment. Anyone else live in an apartment and have any tips or ideas on quieting down the tumbler or cleaning brass another way that's quieter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alecmc Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Find a friend with a garage , clean in large batches. You really don't want the tumbler indoors, especially in a living area. they are dirty, dusty, loud, and float lead particles into the air Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 If the tumbling media is loaded with car polish or mineral oil, there is no dust, zero. The microscopic amount of oxidized residual Lead styphnate is bound up in the loaded media. Most of what is left in a fired case is carbon. You are breathing in far more lead while shooting because that is point of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtp Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 if i had to use a 550, i would just quit the sport. 500 rounds will take a long time on 550. I say this one all the time when people are telling me they want to get a single stage....to load 9mm or other bulk pistol ammo...you just couldn't pay me to do it. Having said that, I think the 550 is a reasonable option (if not as good as the LnL AP for the $) if someone is on a budget... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtp Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 You don't need a reloading manual, all the manufacturers data is online. Disagree strongly - you don't need the load data necessarily, but the front half of most manuals, and the full text of ABCs of Reloading, is all about how, what, and why - nothing to do with load data. Someone really needs to have a clue what/why/how to do each step before they load their first round, ideally. ABCs is inexpensive - $20 or so? Why would you not learn what you're doing/trying to do with something like reloading? Even with a mentor, I'd appreciate someone I was mentoring taking the time to bring themselves up to speed via at least one solid reloading book. Its been my experience that newbies get seriously more confused after reading manuals. Even though the manuals will explain things, newbies don't really understand to start with, then they over think everything, google up internet lore, and worry even more and ask endless questions. ... That's why I say it's best to have an experienced re-loader setup the press for you, and once setup, don't monkey with it! Reloading is still just a means to an end. The object is to make consistent loads that are reliable. Don't over think the whole reloading process, once your press is cranking then get out there and grip it and rip it. Depends on the person, I suppose - I've seen the flip side where someone seems to believe they know everything, followed by loading for a 308 or other rifle caliber and jumping into 'random Internet loads' vs working up, and ideally IMO starting to learn how to reload on pistol rounds. I agree there are some interesting questions that can come out of a newbie reading a reloading book, but I'd prefer to see them ask and get answers vs having someone set up a press for them and they never really know how to check/adjust/the whys and hows. In your other post, you claimed the 'fast' loaders shouldn't load up thousands of rounds - if you have someone set up a press for someone, then never touch it, how would someone know how to prevent such issues in the first place? Perhaps 'those guys' didn't read a reloading book or do sanity checks throughout the loading operation? Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I agree hands-on with an experienced reloader walking through the book material and press operation is 'best,' but people can't always get it, or to the depth they 'should.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) In your other post, you claimed the 'fast' loaders shouldn't load up thousands of rounds, yes in my observations from the weekly USPSA matches. Poor guy had to go pull 1,200 rounds, and that was just one example. The newbies would know from the experienced set up guy not to load well ahead of time. If they have questions, they call their set up shooting buddy. And what I said was once it is set up, don't mess with it. After you pull the handle 10,000 times and you get 10,000 good caps, then you are on your own. I never said anyone should start on rifle reloading. I never said you didn't or shouldn't get a manual, I said it wasn't necessary if you have a set up buddy. I don't know, maybe you don't shoot as often as I do and just really like reloading. I hate it, only the shooting part means anything. Edited June 25, 2015 by 9x45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 So what's the deal with an ultrasonic cleaner for brass? Was just looking at some videos on youtube and it looks really quiet and easy to do. What am I missing, seems like no one cleans brass this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 So what's the deal with an ultrasonic cleaner for brass? Was just looking at some videos on youtube and it looks really quiet and easy to do. What am I missing, seems like no one cleans brass this way. The only advantage to ultrasonic is it is quieter. Vibratory dry tumbling and wet tumbling both do a better job for me while doing a lot more cases at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Yeah I saw that you can't clean as much brass at once in the ultrasonic cleaner, but it also takes a lot less time per batch, only 10-15 minutes, right? It seems in my case the little extra work using an ultrasonic is worth it to avoid the noise. Any other downsides to the ultrasonic? Are the cheaper ones from Harbor Freight good enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 No one has experience cleaning brass with an ultrasonic cleaner? I was at Harbor Freight today so picked one up. I've got 90 days to return it so let me know if I just made a mistake And any tips on ultrasonic brass cleaning would be greatly appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 (edited) No one has experience cleaning brass with an ultrasonic cleaner? I was at Harbor Freight today so picked one up. I've got 90 days to return it so let me know if I just made a mistake And any tips on ultrasonic brass cleaning would be greatly appreciated I don't AFAIK, the downsides to ultrasonic are very small batches, and you'll have to dry the brass (shouldn't be a problem in AZ...just give it a few hours/days on the balcony). I don't think I've ever counted, but I'm pretty sure my Lyman 2500 can do >1000 9mm at a time. Also, I doubt the ultrasonic cleaner is going to be quiet. Maybe not as loud as a vibratory tumbler...but it's got to make some noise. Edited June 27, 2015 by njl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 They look pretty quiet from the videos on youtube. It's not like I live in a library and can't make any noise in my apartment but I think running a tumbler for 3-5 hours at a time might attract some unwanted attention and questions from neighbors that I'd rather not get into with them... It looks like I could fit at least 200 pieces of 9mm or .40 brass in the ultrasonic cleaner at a time. I'm sure it'll be a bit more of a pain than just using a tumbler, but unless there's some other downsides I don't know about I think I'll give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzapp Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 What I do to quiet a vib tumbler is, I put a couple bags of corn cob media on each side of the base close up against it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 The little Lyman 1200 is the tumbler I'd reccomend. It comes with a slotted lid and comes with their fantastic green corn cob media (will last a year or approx 10,000 rounds cleaned). It's quiet and produces no dust. Get a regular bucket. It fits tightly to the top. When finished fit bucket to the top. Invert. Shake for 30 seconds. Now media is in bucket. Brass in tumbler. No dust during the process as its sealed in. Get a cheap timer and set the tumbler to run during a week day when less people are home. Also when new the Lyman green media is so effective you only need 40min or so for super clean brass. As the media gets dirty that time goes up. Near the end of its life you'll hit 2hrs or more. But not for a long while. Ultrasonic is a pain. Fewer cases. Drying brass. Brass gets water spots. Gets harder to work with. Don't bother with plain media and car polish etc. the Lyman stuff is seriously good. The tumbler and a years worth of media is only like $60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Thanks. Just watched some videos of it on youtube. At least from the random videos I saw that one does look a bit quieter than some of the others, but still not sure if it would annoy the neighbors running it for over an hour at a time. I think I'll try the ultrasonic for now and see how it goes. If it becomes too much of a pain then I'll order a tumbler. Drying brass doesn't seem like much of a problem, just leave it outside for a day. Do the water spots actually cause a problem or just a preference for shiny brass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunotFranco Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I know I am late to the party here and have read most of the posts. If you are going to start on reloading, start on a single stage press (I will get flak for this). It is important to understand every step involved and learn from your mistakes. Buy the ABC's of reloading and read it but know that you won't gain experience from reading it just a lot of knowledge. The single stage press can then be used for rifle if you shoot any. I know it sucks to load 500 rounds single stage but believe me you will learn to be vigilant of what you are doing and learn from your mistakes... note that I have said learn from your mistakes more than once, you will make them. If you are going ultrasonic with the cleaning make sure you use distilled water for rinsing, you can find it for like $0.70 a gallon but you will not have undesired waters pots. Get a descent scale and buy a chrono, good quality like a http://www.competitionelectronics.com/product/prochrono-digital/that is my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) So I bought this powder scale: http://www.amazon.com/Frankford-205205-Arsenal-Reloading-Scale/dp/B002BDOHNA/. Was just testing it tonight weighing some bullets and it would give different weights if I put the same bullet on multiple times varying up to 0.3 grains. Has anyone else had similar problems with this scale? Amazon's sending me another one so we'll see if that one's any better. If not, what're some other good scales I should look at? Was hoping not to spend $100+ on a scale if there are cheaper ones that also work... Edited July 2, 2015 by Russell92 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 That's a very cheap digital. I wouldn't expect much of it. I spent several times that on my first scale (Lyman 1000 XP), and I jokingly call it my "digital estimator". I found it to be inaccurate at the low end (like trying to weigh a single pistol powder charge) and to drift over reasonably short periods of time. I use it to see if I'm in the ball park, and then move to the Dillon beam scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDA Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I have one of those little scales and it works OK if your surroundings are good. You need to be in an area that is dead calm. No ceiling fan, AC vent, or breeze of any kind. Any little air movement affects the reading, which is most likely true for any digital scale that reads .1g. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDA Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Another thing I did was to weigh the dish that came with it in a closed up dead calm room. I then marked the weigh on the bottom of the dish using a Sharpie. Every time I use the scale I let it zero and then place the dish on it and make sure it weighs as marked. Usually, if it does not, it's because there is some air movement present, as I can close everything up and check it again and it will read correctly. It's a very inexpensive scale, but I can usually get decent results with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Thanks for the replies. Yeah I know it's pretty cheap, but had heard it worked fairly well. So do most of you use a beam scale then instead of digital? How's the RCBS beam scale? I see it's $40 vs. $70 for the Dillon and looks like pretty much the same thing. Does it make sense to have both and use the digital to get close and then verify exact weight with the beam? Seems like a pain only using a beam scale. I'm pretty sure I didn't have the ceiling fan on at the time, but a good tip to keep in mind in the future! It came with a 50g zeroing weight and strangely that read much more consistently than the bullets did, maybe it's not as good with lighter weights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) Digital scales are fine for pistol. They have to be covered to be stable. I have using the Gemini 20 for some time now. I make my own check weights (4 grains) at work using the lab vacuum digital, which reads to .00001 grams (costs $15K) http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-GEMINI-20-Portable-MilliGram/dp/B0012TDNAM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435868330&sr=8-1&keywords=gemini+20+scale Edited July 2, 2015 by 9x45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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