I have pretty much settled on vibratory tumblers with walnut media. I get the media at Harbor Freight, probably the only thing they sell that is made in America. All of the vibratory tumblers are essentially the same. They use a c-frame motor with an off center weight on the shaft to give it the vibration. While it produces the desired effect, this is rough on the motor bearings. Imagine the crankshaft on your car without any counterweights. Not going to last long. I liked the old Hornady M-1 tumbler. You could pull the motors and oil the bearings when they got a little noisy + they had good air flow to the motors. The new M-2 tumblers are junk. I currently use a big RCBS tumbler and a Lyman 1200. The RCBS was replaced under warranty when the motor died after 18 months. Thankfully they have a two year warranty and RCBS has great customer service. While the Lyman does not clean as well as the big green one, I have had no issues with it. Another thing that kills these tumblers is that people overload them. If you want nicely polished brass, put a little Dico red jewelers rouge in with your media...........that's all I gotta say about brass tumblers.........tdan
