I recently was able to fund my personal start up system for reloading (just .357 and .222). I have things ordered and much of it has shipped. I was originally going to cheap out and clean all the brass by hand, as I needed it. However, it looks like I can now afford to add a tumbler to the mix, so to speak.

Having surfed Midway for all the popular tumblers and having read nearly all reviews (at least several from each model), it seems that ALL of them have their detractors/weaknesses.

That said... What would be the best model of tumbler of the current "new" crop/selection?
FWIW,I expect to be a rather light user/shooter (<200rounds/month for now). Obviously that could change if/when I get deeper into the reloading addiction...

My lyman must be 30 years old by now.I do go for a few years at a time without using it,but I can't complain.

My friends and I have gone through several of the Midway Frankfort Arsenal tumblers. They work well, but you only get about two years of regular to heavy use out of them before some catastropic failure. Down here in Mexico, getting parts is difficult and we wanted something we could really rely on.

We got the big Dillon tumbler a year ago, and a good friend has had the smaller Dillon tumber for about 5 years now. I have to say they are really built to take it and seem to survive well with Mexico's variable electricity and the heavy use we give them.

The Dillon will cost you more. But it's worth it in my opinion.

For the money you can not go wrong with a Lyman 1200 hundreds and hundreds of pounds of brass through mine and still going.

Buy whatever one fits your budget . Most of them are made in China.

With the exception of Thumblers which is a quality machine, and actually made here.

Yes it is twice as much but it is so quiet and well made it's worth it. I got a deal on mine from someone who got out of loading. I didn't thing there was much difference in tumblers before this.

Thumler's Tumbler Ultra-Vibe 10 Case Tumbler 110 Volt

You can get a cheapo at any local Harbor Freight China store


I have and still use a Lymans.

Midway has their FA for $39.00. But cheap is cheap.

Do not get any with a slotted top. It spreads dust (lead and contaminates) all around the room.

I had to buy a new solid top for the Lyman 1200.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I think that thumblers tumblers are very good. I Bought a large Lortone tumbler nearly 25 years ago and it's still going strong. It is similar to a Thumbler but larger and more heavy duty. It has to have done well over 500,000 rounds or more over the years. It has outlasted many of my friends whirling and vibrator types many times over. Not only are they very noisy but they don't last. I can load my Lortone and let it run all day and all night with no notice. The Lortones may seem expensive but you will only buy it once.

My vote and experience too.

My Lyman has run for hundreds of hours over the years on my porch in all temperature conditions. Would buy another today if needed.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

I actually have that Thumbler's opened in another browser tab and was thinking that that would strike a middle ground between the cheap and the Cadillac versions. It comes with a load of corncobs, but do I need anything else to go with this?

Got at least one back-ordered item that is also ready to ship, so bundling shipping helps also...

I used a Lyman Turbo 1200 for years. Gave it to my brother and bought a Midway. It's been running for... years. No problems. For general run of the mill cleaning of the quantities of brass I typically process, these worked very well. The Thumblers Tumbler is also very good... just more bother to use for general cleaning.

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I've used a Thumbler's Tumbler with treated walnut shells since 1977.

I bought my first tumbler in 1986. An RCBS. I was shooting 2 matches a month and used the hell out of it.

In 1991 the motor went. RCBS replaced the whole tumbler. No Charge.

Meanwhile, both of my boys began reloading and the tumbler's usage increased even more.

In 2013 the lid cracked. The sent me a new replacement bowl, cover and seperator. No charge.

I think I can safely reccomend RCBS...

Thumlers with ss pins with soap and water works very well. If you use a decapper only before tumbling, the primer pockets will be clean, and you will size clean brass.

No. If it is untreated media then just add a few caps of Nu Finish car polish or similar. The Model I linked is a smaller size and very quiet. This is not one of their fancy, water, chemical (acid) and stainless steel pins method of cleaning. It is just walnut or corn, Some folks like the water and chemical treatment but seems like more work and PITA to me.

As I mentioned they are all about the same. RCBS, Lyman whatever but think the Thumler is a notch better. JMO

You probably need one of these. A cheap plastic colander from W Mart will sort of work but this and 5 gal bucket works much better.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/731...edia-separator

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Still Running Against the Wind

Yeah, I have plenty of colanders for final separation. I did pull the trigger on the Thumbler tumbler, as it sounds like a fair middle ground. So many folks are so territorial on their particular brand of tumbler, I do not want to start a civil war if you you know what I mean...

Made it through a thread without "BUY a Dillon"

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Still Running Against the Wind

Thumblers Tumbler with stainless steel pins is without a doubt the best way to go.

I've tried the vibratiors with the walnut media and it leaves dust in the cases and doesn't do a good job with rifle cases or longer revolver cases like 38 special or 357 Magnum. In addition if you want to clean your primer pockets you'll have to make sure the flash holes are clean in every single case.

I've tried ultra sonics and they work ok if your not real picky about nicely polished cases or some leftover grunge in some of the cases. However, if you want factory new looking cases, inside and out, it's not going to happen with an ultrasonic.

Which is what led me to finally getting a Thumlers Tumbler and 5 lbs. of stainless steel pins. After 3 or 4 cleaning cycles to put a find polish on the pins 3 1/2 hours will leave you with cases that look brand spanking new. After that it's into a seperator to get the pins out of the cases, a few quick rinses in plain water to get rid of any soap residue, then 20 minutes in an oven set to warm to heat the cases up and then some cooling time on a cake rack to finish the drying process and cool the cases down. BTW, I deprime first using a universal decapping die so I get clean primer pockets with just one cleaning cycle.

The Thumlers tumber isn't cheap but if you don't waste your money on ultrasonics and vibrators like I did it's a much more affordable option.

What would be a fair price on a slightly used Thumler Tumbler with Stainless pins?

If it's the model B Midway sells the tumbler/pins as a package for about 245 dollars. IMO a price of about 175 dollars would be very fair for a lightly used model B. BTW the model B is the 6 sided 15 lbs. wet drum on a high speed base and Thumler sells a variety of tumblers including vibrating dry tumblers so many of us are familiar with.

Walking through the grocery store, I noticed some natural pet bedding, a mixture of cedar, pine, and corncobs for basically $1/lb, or $7 per 7lb bag.

Has anyone ever used anything like this in their tumbler? It is cheap and at your local store... Hmm...

Walmart has corncob media in an 8lb bag I think from a company called Kaytee for around $3 to $4. I use that in my tumbler, but not with .223 (learned from that mistake.)

Care to explain the mistake?

Probably that it clogs up the primer hole. It's no big deal, you just have to clean it out.

I've been using a little Thumblers rock tumbler for many years. It's low capacity but these days I'm a fairly low capacity reloader, so it works for me. I tumble to get clean, with crushed walnut lizard bedding, but if I want shiny brass it takes a while longer.

It means he sat and picked it out of lots of 223 cases!! Ask me how I know now I stick with media that is meant for cleaning brass.

Dont' worry about. Your tumbler comes with corn media. When you need more go to harbor freight and get walnut blasting media. Enough for a lifetime. You can get Zilla walnut lizard bedding at Petco. A lot more money but still cheap compared to specific gun stuff.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I've been using my Midway vibratory case cleaner since 1996.
If the motor goes out, I'll source a new shaded pole motor for it.
I may even have one around here that I can use.

BTW, I've read that plain, uncooked white rice works well as a case cleaning medium.

I bought a boatload of corncob media for peanuts, at a gun show, years ago.
Most of the bags are still unopened.
I also have a box of Lyman Tufnut treated walnut hull media.
I usually mix it with some walnut hull lizard bedding from the pet store.

If you get walnut media, the larger size is better than the smaller size.
The smaller size has a LOT more dust, and gets in the flash holes.

Also, save your used clothes dryer sheets.
They work very well to clean your polishing media and remove dust from it.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

S&WNUT, seems familiar with the mistake. Yes, the corncob media, while it works great on handgun and straight wall cases will works it way into small caliber necked down cases like .223, and is a real nightmare to get out. Also learned to clean my 45 brass separate from my 9mm, 38/357, as it smaller calibers have a nasty habit of getting stuck in the 45 cases with media wedged in between.

Here is a True Tumbler's Tumbler: Brass Cleaning with Stainless Media within AccurateShooter.com All the others are really vibrators.

I've used a Thumler's Tumbler (rotating drum type) for over 30 years. Only thing replaced was the belt and media of course. However, recently I moved into the 21st century and bought a Cabela's Model 400 vibratory type. It is made and warrantied by Berry's. Works great! Results that took hours or overnight can now be had in 2 hours. I like it!

I am still using my original Dillon 500 vibratory tumbler. It's got to be almost 30 years old now and still going strong. I get over 1200 .38 Special cases in there, or about 800 .45 acp. and maybe 250 45-70 or .38-55 rifle cases at a time.

PS:
I recently switched my media to the GREEN Lyman corn cob and it works wonderfully! Actually a lot better than the old walnut shells and Dillon case cleaner solution. With the Lyman I add NOTHING except 2 dryer sheets.