What Is Your Favorite Brass Tunbler And Why?

[Tolly]

I was just curious as to what everyone's favorite brass tumbler was and why it is your favorite. Also what is your favorite media and do you add anything to your media such as Flitz or any of the specialty cleaners.

[Chris Keen]

Lyman tumbler - cheap & reliable

I use treated corn cob from Lyman.

Flitz is good stuff, but not nesecary.

[big_kahuna]

Have experience with three tumblers so far... #1 was a Lyman, ran reliably for over 20 years then motor started acting like a Shinto monk (sits motionless and hums in monotone). Replaced it with Tumbler #2, a cheapie from Midway that lasted about 2 years then died. Currently using RCBS tumbler, seems to work great for the 9 months I've owned it.

Lyman: two thumbs up.

Midway/Frankford: buyer beware.

RCBS: looks good so far but too soon to render full endorsement.

ETA:

Media - Years ago I used corn cob media for that "highly polished" look, but switched to crushed walnut because I believe it is better at getting really tough gunk off the cases. I've bought both the "tumbling media" version from reloading supply houses, and "reptile bedding" version from pet stores. Both work the same, the pet store version is cheaper. Use IOSSO polish nowadays, but used to use Mother's Aluminum Wheel Polish... both work great. Recently started adding a little Anti-Freeze to the media to defend against fingerprints and corrosion on the brass.

Edited November 4, 2006 by big_kahuna

[Sheldon]

I have tried the Ultra Vibe, Lyman, Midway/Frankford, and Dillons. The Dillons are by far the strongest of the ones I have tried. You can't overload them from what I have seen. The large Dillon really saves me time as I save up the brass till I can fill it up and do clean them up at one time. It actually will overfill the large sifter. I like to use walnut for the most part with either the Dillon, Brasso, or a car polish (whatever is on hand).

[George]

I had two for over twenty years that were not the Dillon. I always thought there was no big difference and the Dillon was just bigger. Now I have the big Dillon and the other two are out in back with the beer cans. Dillon, there is no substitute. It IS a real case tumbler and it agitates the brass like nothing I have used before, all the rest are just cheap vibrators in comparison to how the brass dances in this baby ;-)

[sargenv]

I have a smaller tumbler (old Orange Midway tumbler) that is still chugging away after probably 18 years. I recently picked up a Dillon large tumbler (2001?) and use that for most of my brass. I still use the smaller Midway one for cleaning up lubed ammo or for small batches of brass that would be lost in the dillon.

I use ground corn con and always have. i tried walnut shells, but didn't care for they way they looked.

Vince

[Joe D]

I have tried several, but really like the Hornady M3. It holds at least 1,400 rounds of 9mm. I can easily get over 1,000 rounds of .40 in it. My next tumbler will be one of the small plastic tub mortar mixers. Should be able to get 6,000-10,000 rounds in one of those. Waiting for them to go on sale.

Edited November 4, 2006 by Joe D

[kevin c]

I've only had the one small Dillon, now for 10+ years. Still going strong w/ all the original parts.

Walnut to get them clean. Midway polish if I want it to gleam. Lately I've been using a quick run through straight walnut for really grubby brass, then a mix of corncob and walnut with just a bit of polish and a spritz of isopropy alcohol as an all around cleaner/polisher.

[unclez]

I've never used anything but the Dillon so I can't compare it to another but I have no complaints with it. Works great.

[Flatland Shooter]

Bought my UltraVibe in 1984. Still going strong.

[Jim Norman]

Any comments on Thumler's Tumbler Ultra Vibe 18 Tumbler? They make 3 units that i am aware of, 10, 18 and 45 lb capacity. The 45 is the one that is carried by McMaster Carr I believe. I have three Dillons, 2 500's and on2 2000. THey leak too much dust out. The curved bowl design appears like it would solve this.

Jim

[L9X25]

I have one large Dillon and one small Dillon. They are 10 & 15 years old and have never given me a single problem. I did break the switch on the small one (stepped on it) but that was my fault and it was easily fixed with a quick trip to the hardware store.

[Jim Norman]

To clarify.

I have a large Dillon, 2 small dillons and two separators. The problem is they all leak. THe shape of the bowl with the straight sides doesn't turn the media over onto itself. The design requires that the lid be on very tight. The curved top bowls can actually be run open. What I am looking for is information regarding the longevity of the other brands. Al my dillons run well, have for years and were all well used when I got them.

[EricW]

Rotary mixers are bad juju for pistol brass. Extended tumbling peens the case mouths over and that causes the case to strip lead or jacket material as the bullet is seated. The only fix is to either chamfer the case mouths or throw out the brass and start over. (Been there, done it. The plastic drum won't help. It's the cases beating on each other that causes the problem.)

The big Dillon tumbler is the only tumbler to buy for IPSC.

The problem with the newer tumbler motors is that they're manufactured in Mexico now and there have been shortcuts taken with the rubber isolators that the bearings/bushings ride in. The rubber breaks down, allowing the rotor to contact the stator, after which the motor is toast. There's no fix or solution I know of aside from avoiding tumblers using C-Frame motors.

The motor in the big Dillon is not a C-frame motor and is the only thing worth screwing with IMO.

Edited June 16, 2007 by EricW

[BrianH]

A Midway (I think Lyman made them) I bought 18 years ago and not a single problem.

[n2ipsc]

Any comments on Thumler's Tumbler Ultra Vibe 18 Tumbler?

I have an U-V 18 that has served nobly and well for over 18 years... Not having had experience with others recommended preceding, I can say it does a great job of containing dust...

[RePete]

I started with a Lyman Turbo 1200 23 yrs ago, and it's still running strong, this year I added a Lyman Turbo 2500 to help with the work.

[XD Niner]

I had an RCBS that I killed the motor on three different times. Finally, the entire plastic mounting area gave way. It is an absolute piece of junk IMHO.

I now have a $30 Midway that does almost as good a job as the RCBS but costs about half as much and seems to take a licking and keep on ticking. If this one does die, I'll bite the bullet and get the big Dillon. Their products and customer service are simply the best in the industry.

[DMS42]

I started out with a Thumbler's Tumbler in the mid 1960s. I still have it and use it on occasion, but it was replaced with an Ulta-Vibe 18 in the early 80s. Also have a small Midway that I use for Moly coating bullets. I tried corn cob, but it doesn't clean fast enough so mostly use walnut shells. I buy the media at gun shows. For polishing media I use Dillon or Frankford.

The Ulta-Vibe holds a 3 lb. coffee can of brass and that's usually the amount that gets tumbled since I use coffee cans to hold brass that needs to be tumbled.

I use two different media. One for cleaning all pistol brass and rifle brass prior to resizing and one for cleaning the rifle brass after resizing.

[buddy_fuentes]

I have used the small Dillon for many years and it has served me well. I also have a small orange tumbler (name unknown) for small jobs.

I use a mixture of corn cob and walnut media from a pet store. I use Iosso's case polish and my cases look new. I use the media until it is completely black. The Iosso cuts my tumbling time in half or less and it even shines the inside of my brass.

Buddy

[The Law]

I've got the BIG Dillon tumbler. It handles large jobs and is surprisingly quiet. The big media separator is great too.

[wlktheduk]

I've been using the Dillon CV-500 tumbler for at least 10 years, with complete satisfaction. Along with it, I also use the Dillon CM-500 media separator.

Midway has been my source for corn cob media, and brass polish.

Dump brass in, add some polish, tumble for 2 hours or so. Dump out tumbler contents into separator, crank handle until corn cob media stops falling out of the cage, and I have clean brass.

The CV-500 bowl does collect dirt and residue, so I clean it out after each use, with a paper towel and household cleaner. (Formula 409/Fantastik/Lysol or whatever is in the cleaning cabinet...but NO AMMONIA based glass cleaners)

Mostly, the tumbler is used for pistol brass.

I don't reload rifle cartridges in very large amounts, so the smaller size of the Dillon works for me.

[JFD]

It took me 27 years to wear out my first Lyman.

Now I'm using a $75 Lyman Turbo 2500 for the last 2 years that works great.

I prefer walnut, but honestly my brass looks good regardless of what I use since I normally tumble it for several hours or overnight.

I've used every polish out there and tend to think any liquid car wax is just as good for a fraction of the cost.

I use alcohol to clean case lube off my brass and it does a good job. I've also recently found that alcohol may be just as good or better than polish for brass just back from the range. I haven't tried it with new media, but it's doing a really great job with both heavily used walnut and corn cob (been used to polish brass and remove lube). I'll dump 3/4 of the media in first and get it damp with alcohol. Let it mix for a minute and dump in the brass. Couple of minutes later I'll dump the last 1/4 of dry media. I'd swear the tumbler agitates the brass twice as good as with regular treated media. 2 hours or so of tumbling looks as good as 24 hours of tumbling with any other method I've tried.

I like my old Lyman sifter to separate brass/media just so I can hear, and actually find split brass.

Anybody know the capacity difference between the Turbo 2500 and the big Dillon? If it had twice the capacity I'd spend $165 on it just for prepping new "once-fired" purchases. I dump my brass from practice straight to the tumbler, and the T2500 easily handles the 600 - 700 from that. The last time I bought brass my Lyman ran non-stop except for "reloading" for over a week.

[Bronson7]

I've had excellent service with the Frankford Arsenal tumbler. I've ha it for over five years now with no problems. Granted, it's a bit small but I just tumble more often. I've found that a 50/50 mix of cob/shell works great. I'm using NuFinish car wax. I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

Bronson7

[lucas]

The Dillion CV-2001 according to Dillon is 1,300 38/357 i thought the turbo is 900 38/357.