Litlratt Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 The large Dillon has handled anything and everything that I've throw into it for I don't know how many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N2O5O Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 I use one I bought at harbor freight, 29 bucks and has been running great for years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brnhp35 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 you must have got that harbour freight one on sale ....i am using one from there as well and since made for cleaning metal parts seems tougher that the other 2 i wore out previously ...i went through 3 in a short time ....one lasted 3-4 years light use 2 didnt last a year between them ...think they were fa...the range i go to uses the large dillon and for that much brass at once i dont think there is a another option as good..but for those of us normal humans the harbour freight model is great and seems to hold up to ocasional abuse as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Frankford Aresnal I over load let it run for days and it just keeps going. 2 years of abuse and it just keeps going. I run about 20,000 cases a year. Two more bargains are the Frankford Aresnal electronic scale Midway on sale for $25, it works great but when it gets below 40 degrees it gets squirrely so I have the $21 lee safety scale as a backup it works well. The RCBS media seperator the best reloading money I ever spent! Try it out on .223s it really shines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezco Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 +1 for the large Dillon! Their customer service should you ever need it is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMartens Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I have a small Dillon and one from Cabela's. Quite frankly, the cheap one from Cabela's cleans and shines a little better. Blue is good, just expensive. Cabela's had a kit similar to Franklin's for less than $75. Not bad to get started. They also carry the green seperator, same one RCBS has, for about $20-$25 and I use this cheap one hands down over the Dillon. I've had wires vibrate off the motor on both machines, just reconnect and keep going. If I had to replace anything today, I'd go to Cabela's without looking back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMartens Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 BTW - I was cleaning some brass this weekend and did a little un-scientific research. I clipped a couple pieces of fabric sheet and dropped one in each tumbler. Ran them side by side and counted the turns of the fabric sheets, did I mention un-scientific. The cheaper Cabela's unit turned over 5 times to the Dillon's one turn with the same basic amount of brass and media onboard. I suppose that is why the Cabela's unit cleans and polishes a little better when they run the same amount of time, which for me is usually 2 hours. Based on the above, the Dillon would take 8-10 hours to produce as much activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufDog Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I have a large Frankford and am happy with it, but rumor has it the big Dillon is pretty good (not sure where I heard that though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkieSawbones Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I just had my Dillon CV-2001 die on me after less than two years of use. I had an old Lyman that ran for 20 years. Maybe Dillon sells replacement motors. Their warranty is only good for one year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohuskers Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Cabelas case tumbler kit works for me. good tumbler, reasonably priced. as said before you may want to get a media separator. cabelas has them for $29.95 as well - worth every penny. lastly, look into a cheap, indoor plug-in timer that you can set for an hour and a half and will turn off the machine. like many of the other posters i'm guilty of leaving my tumbler on for hours at a time, having forgotten about it while running errands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 I run a Cabela's on a 90 minute timer. I set mine to run while i'm at work, so it never runs for an extended period. Not very loud, but i never have to listen to it buzz either. Held up well so far, fits 1k of 9mm cases I'd guess, and was cheaper with the rotary media separator than even a Lyman. I'd buy it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbxdm9 Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 I have used an entry level Lyman for about 6 months now - works great, fairly quiet, ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joecichlid Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 I had a Lyman *got it used* for about 10 years and it finally died. This time I am starting with a brand new Lyman to see how many years it will take me to kill it. It should be noted that the first tumbler cleaned well over 100000 rounds of .45 ACP and who knows how much .38 Super and assorted other rounds. The thing just kept going and going. It will be missed. Joe W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARKAVELI Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 I use the Cabela's tumbler kit, 65 bucks and came with corn cobb media, sifter and polish its not too loud, and works great the thing I'm not crazy about is the sifter is not as fast as a squirrel cage or as clean ut it is a starter .. I also don't over load with brass then again imma newb at this so what do I know? What I do know thoe is if your a newb too you can save the extra money that you would have spent on a high price tumbler and buy your components like bullets, primers and powders. I'm not saying not to get a good name brand like Dillon, cause I still got my eyes on the little tumbler. Also I don't tumble my brass over 3hr's not saying I never let it run over night on accident! oops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffsoward Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 I use a thumler's model B rotary tumbler and I LOVE IT! It's more pricey to start out, but no more media to buy (after the initial 2lbs of brass media) and my brass is nice and shiny and clean throughout after an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walsh Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 With all this talk of which tumbler, assuming walnut media, and not just letting my Hornady run in the garage for 5-7 hours because I can, how long should it run to look brand spankin' new? AND, is it different for .45 vs .308/5.56/30-06 when it comes to that time? I'm wondering if for a $10 timer we all, without the industrial variety, might be beating them to death. Remember, they too could have a 500% excise tax on them with the stroke of a pen....and I hope that none here think I'm kidding! Thanks in advance, Walsh P.S. I know there is a politics area, but since I mentioned unlawful acts one would do well to listen to Constitutional Scholar Mark Levin's first hour of his podcast(no commercials and free to download via iTunes) each evening. You can also go to www.marklevinshow.com ...Wednesday's (7/7/10) and stream or download. The first 15-20 minutes were a barn burner and he referenced the NRA making deals and the tyranny that is building. He was apoplectic over what is happening and you won't need that tumbler except for polishing pet rocks in a few years. (moderator...if completely inappropriate please delete the P.S. part...don't want to discuss it here...just giving a source as we must stand shoulder-to-shoulder right now, as per Levin, for every right in the Bill of Rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabellum Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 My Frankford arsenal came with a transparent top, media and a media separator. It runs more than not. I can't imagine life without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vluc Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 (edited) I've had both the small Midway and the FA tumbler for years. Both work fine, have been rewired numerous times, but are showing their age. They don't vibrate as well, takes longer on the timer to clean, and need media replaced quite often. When a friend dropped of 5K pieces of brass and I needed to clean it, I had a WTF moment and realized my two tumblers could not handle that much - and I really did not want to spend that much time to clean that brass. Bought the small Dillon from Brian, and it took, maybe four loads for it to clean it all. I think I spent more time sorting it than I did cleaning it. Previously, with small amounts of brass, my old tumblers were fine. With this influx, the Dillon worked out better. Edited July 9, 2010 by vluc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joecichlid Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 My Frankford arsenal came with a transparent top, media and a media separator. It runs more than not. I can't imagine life without it. Sounds a lot like my Lyman, it has been running almost non-stop for the last three weeks. I have only unplugged it long enough to change brass. I really need to get a few more tumblers just to keep up with my shooting. lol Joe W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasfisherman Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Have had a Thumlers for about 30 years I bought used. It worked super well but a little inconvenient to load and unload. I let it sit for a long time and the barrel no longer is pliable enough to open the door. It is a total loss 'cause a replacement barrel is way more than I am willing to spend since I can get a vibrating cleaner much cheaper. Probably go with the FA E-Z kit. Looks to be a good one and a great price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now