Modoc Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Good Evening All, Currently, I am running a Dillon CV-500 and a Frankfort Arsenal smaller vibratory polisher for doing my brass cleaning. My 10 year old RCBS Media Separator is starting to really die at all of the joints. What are peoples preferences and experience with the different media separators? I do have the old Midway gold pan unit as a fall back, but will probably be getting another rotary separator in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHI Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) Dillon. Expensive but worth it. Edited December 20, 2021 by AHI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oteroman Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Dillon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick303 Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Find one for a good price and go for it. From prior research I have not seen anything that would make me buy one over the other, other than price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustygun Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I guess I am cheap. I struggle with spending over $100 just to shake the tumbling media out of cases. I use a fine mesh wire basket that my wife used to have in the kitchen to display bananas and oranges.. Set it in a plastic tub dump in the media from the tumbler and lift the basket and shake it for 30-40 seconds. Results in 300-400 clean pieces of brass with all the walnut media in the plastic tub ready to dump back into the tumbler. No mess, quick, easy and cheap. maybe the term frugal sounds better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 58 minutes ago, Rustygun said: I guess I am cheap. I struggle with spending over $100 just to shake the tumbling media out of cases. I use a fine mesh wire basket that my wife used to have in the kitchen to display bananas and oranges.. Set it in a plastic tub dump in the media from the tumbler and lift the basket and shake it for 30-40 seconds. Results in 300-400 clean pieces of brass with all the walnut media in the plastic tub ready to dump back into the tumbler. No mess, quick, easy and cheap. maybe the term frugal sounds better. Lol. I use a colander that fits onto a 5 gallon bucket perfectly. Set the colander on the bucket, shake vigorously, media falls through. I've thought about hooking up a drill motor and a slightly bent shaft to do the agitation, but it only takes a minute or two to shake by hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I'm using a Cabelas separator, and have had it for 16 years. I drilled 1" holes in the bottom and use a 5 gal pail to catch the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuz Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I use the Dillon large size media separator. Bought it over 10 years ago and just like other high quality products, I long ago forgot what it cost me, but it’s been fantastic ever since I got it. No regrets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baragasam Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I tumble certain brass with SS and use gold sifting pans to separate. Similar to the mesh basket idea mentioned above. I too find it hard to justify that much media to separate brass when I only tumble small quantities with media and I don't use media to tumble larger quantities. I use a cement mixer for larger volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan67 Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Another vote for the large Dillon. May be expensive but it works and is big enough for large batches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 On 12/20/2021 at 2:41 AM, Rustygun said: I guess I am cheap. I struggle with spending over $100 just to shake the tumbling media out of cases. I use a fine mesh wire basket that my wife used to have in the kitchen to display bananas and oranges.. Set it in a plastic tub dump in the media from the tumbler and lift the basket and shake it for 30-40 seconds. Results in 300-400 clean pieces of brass with all the walnut media in the plastic tub ready to dump back into the tumbler. No mess, quick, easy and cheap. maybe the term frugal sounds better. Deep fat fryer basket for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted December 22, 2021 Author Share Posted December 22, 2021 I want to thank everyone for their input. @Steve RA, that is the separator that is reaching the end of its service life. My dad has said that I can use/have his Dillon CM-500 unit since he is not processing that much brass any more. Maybe I’ll abscond with his CV-500 too (trade for the Frankfort Arsenal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJC082581 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 FA separator works well but the Dillon is much better due to its larger size. The Dillon is also a more solid design Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 I started out with the small Dillon cleaner and media separator, but upgraded to the larger ones after I got my 1050/bullet feeder. If you are loading high volume, it's definitely worth it...to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedwagon Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Bought it at a Doller Store. Scoop the casings out of my Franklin vibratory tumble, give a few shakes and good to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
427Cobra Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I use a Cabelas separator, I cut the bottom off so the media goes right back into the bucket, if it breaks I will replace it with another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssudenga Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) I use a Frankfort arsenal media separator, and while it does a fine job, I do wish it was larger and would have sprung for something larger if I had done better research. Edited January 19, 2022 by ssudenga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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