which tumbler?

[harytaint]

I currently have the cabelas 400 vibratory tumbler and it works fine when I can find a good media/poilsh combo. I was wondering if any of the other brands out there for tumblers are at all better. I love dillon products and notice their superiorty in many products and was thinking that maybe their tumblers might be better. I dont want to spend the money to find out what I have works just as good so I need some feedback from those who have tried some different brands. If anyone can recommend a better brand in their opinion let me hear it, thanx guys.

[agrotom]

I have a Lyman Turbo and it works great!!! :)

[Gammon]

I, too, used a Lyman Turbo 1200 for several years (until the bowl wore out) and found it more than satisfactory. I then bought the small Dillon machine and found it to be more robust in every way. There is simply no comparison between the two. This is a purchase I have never regretted, except for the fact that, while the small Dillon machine is adequate for my needs, I wish I had sprung for the big one. You can't beat that unlimited lifetime warantee.

[harytaint]

yes I love dillon but its only a 1 year warranty on the motor. How big is the bowl in the smaller one? I am thinking of buying a dillon but cant come to spending the money since hte one I have works still. I think I will wait till this one breaks or wears out then go for the dillon.

[Gammon]

I thought all Dillon products had the lifetime warrantee; I will have to look into this. The small Dillon tumbler is 11.5 inches in diameter by 4 inches deep. I do a lot of shooting and have found the small machine adequate, but wish I had bought the big one. A friend has the larger machine and warned me that you need a lot of room (a big bench) for the big Dillon.

[ForrestB]

I have the Lyman 3200 and it is a very good tumbler. The right size and very dependable. ;)

[sevenL4]

You guys aren't shooting enough. Use a cement mixer, it's a dual purpose machine.

[harytaint]

well i do use the cement mixer for my brand new bear coated les baer super tac. It gives it a nice pitted dirty gray color that looks so nice and rugged. It gets some snad in the action and rails to ensure a really clean surface. Sometimes I even take some sand paper to it to remove that powder residue. Works like a charm, you have any other good ideas? :rolleyes:

[Bud White]

I use a midway one think there frankford arsnel now works pretty well want to add a second one as one is too slow now that im shooting a ton again

[19elevin]

Hairytaint is correct on the Dillon case cleaner. All electrical components in any of their products have a one year warranty. I have the smaller Dillon cleaner for about 12 years, still cleaning as good as the day I bought it.

[Mannlicher]

I am still using my old Lyman vibrating tumbler. This old thing as been sitting in the garage for probably 15 years. Darn good machine.

[gunguy]

I use a Frankford Arsenal that was around $40.00 at Sportsmans Warehouse.
I works great for me using Lyman tuff-nut and corn cob media. I think Midway owns Franford Arsenal as they are both in Columbia, Mo. I don't know.

[Range(O)Time]

I have the dillon big tumbler. I have had several tumblers. And currently have two. The dillon is by far the best in quality.The big tumbler really vibrates the brass. It also makes a bit more noise.

[Hunter]

I have been using the Hornady large tumbler for 7-8 years without any trouble. It holds approx 1000 .38 special casings(I usually tumble 300-400 .45 at a time and it works well.) and it is quiet.I use the corn cob media sometimes adding a small amount of case polish. I heard a handfull of cat litter(I am assuming unused) will polish brass that is bad off. I am not sure that is accurate but anythings possible. I like all of Hornady handloading tools.

[Gammon]

That's strange, because Dillon replaced the motor in the case feeder for my 1050, free of charge, several years after I bought the machine.

[bangbang]

If youre going to do any reloading in quantity, or you reload for saveral different calibersi would get as big a tumbler as you can. i had a Lyman 1200 and killed it after 2 years of use. It may have been unlucky, but i moved up to the largest dillion and its still going strong and i can still use a larger one.

[Chip]

I just bought a Frankford Arsenal tumbler as Sportsman's Wearhouse also. It's tumbling the second load right next to me now. Last night I let it run with Lyman green cob media while I watched a movie. It did a fine job. I bought it because it was cheap, and had several great reviews. I'm sure later down the road I'll get a larger tumbler, but for now this one looks like it will do fine. As someone mentioned in another post, I put some small paper towel squares in to extend the media life. They came out soaked black. I put about 450 .45 cases in it. I'm sure it would do a few more.

[RayP.]

sevenL4, I had a friend who used to have a reloading supply business,he used a concrete mixing drum run by elec. motor to clean cases,I watched the kid who worked for him put 4 one gallon jugs of 45 ACP brass in it one night,runs it at night so he wouldn't have to listen to the noise,set timer for 2 or 3 hrs. depending on cases and then went home,cleaned great.

RayP.

[primersinmyshoe]

Here's my brass cleaning station:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/primersinmyshoe/DSCN1874Small.jpg

[RayP.]

I have a big tumbler(Midway) that was a present from a company I used to work for,works great for big loads of cases,but if I want to do a small batch for any reason,I have to use a big bunch of old berdan primed rifle cases as filler material so there is always cases rubbing against cases(I crimped mouths of the filler cases closed so cases don't stick together. I also use the Dillon case/media separator,works great.

RayP.

[Gammon]

In my experience, this is not necessary; small batches clean just as well as large ones. The quality of the media seems to be the most important factor.

[curryjc]

I use a Lyman Turbo 1200 Auto Flow and have been very pleased. I think the key though is the medium that you use and how old of a cartridge you have.

I have a friend that puts his cases in a five gallon bucket fills it with water and then puts about 2 tbsp of sulfuric acid in and mixes it up. He says fifteen minutes later he has clean cases and lets them dry. He has been reloading since before WWII so I know he knows what he is talking about but my attempts have been less than successful. I either put too much sulfuric acid or let them sit too long. But as some of my cases showed it did wonders in minutes. You leave it too long and the brass is gone.

I like my lyman it has good capacity for how much I shoot which is about 150-200 rounds per outing and when I get home I just dump the cases in and let it go for about 3 hours using walnut. Then I filter the media and separate the cases. Just time at the bench.

I have some friends that either use the wood shavings for hamster cages (long explaination) or shredded newspaper and it just takes longer.

It takes me about 3 hours and 30 minutes. I usually clean the cases and leave them in the media and then when I am ready to reload(3hrs) I seperate them from the media(30min) and start loading.

[Gammon]

I used walnut for quite a while, but have settled on corn cob grit as the cheapest effective media. Andersens Grit 'O Cobb 1014 costs about $18 for a 50lb bag. I use it for about three cycles in the tumbler, then add a little Frankford Arsenal Brass Polish ($12 per quart) for the next three cycles or so. I dump the media after about eight uses to avoid the build up of lead. I know of one shooter who developed lead poisoning from breathing the dust from his tumbler.

[curryjc]

My friends that used the cedar shavings for hamster cages worked in a laboratory with animals and they could get 50 lbs of this stuff for nothing. I thought it was pretty funny. They also taught me how to shoot at paper plates as targets, cheap. I went them one better and just use a blank sheet of paper.

I had an older friend tell me it was better practice to shoot at a blank sheet of paper and hit the middle than to have something marked to aim at. He was right. It really hones you skills to shoot at a small target with no markings and as I pointed out to my friends it is 1/2 cent per page compared to 1 cent per paper plate. I joked that I had out cheeped them. The other nice thing about paper plates or sheets of paper is that you can use the sides of a backstop when all the silloute shooters have shot out the center of the backstop. Just be careful not to hit the edges or they won't have anything to attach their silloute to and you can also crack the supports for the back stop.

[Gammon]

Shooting at the center of a blank page (81/2x11?) is an old training technique for new shooters to keep them from over correcting while trying to hit a smaller target. The idea is to just hold in the center of a very large, blank target so that aiming and correction of your aim is not an issue. This allows the shooter to concentrate on grip and trigger squeeze, and usually produces smaller groups with new shooters. As the shooter's skill increases, the size of the target is reduced, and its distance from the shooter is increased. Obviously, to increase your skill, you must decrease the ease with which you can engage your target.

[mauivette]

Just got My Dillon 650 today and while I will have to wait until this weekend to set that up I did unpack my Dillon small tumbler and get that going. It holds 500 pieces of .45 brass, or so the brochure that comes with is says. I currently have 250 pieces of .40 S&W brass in there and it is like nothing. I am hardly able to see them at all.

Good Luck

[Gammon]

Congratulations! I don't own a 650 (300, 450, 550, and 1050) but a friend does and he is delighted with it. I have the "small" tumbler which has been more than adequate to feed my 600+ round per week habit. This machine is stonger and more heavily built than any other I have seen. 40 is a great caliber; you should be able to get a good supply of brass from the range at your local club. I shoot mostly 40 and haven't bought a case in almost 15 years. Two suggestions:

1. If you intend to use range brass, replace your resizing die with an undersized Lee die (about $22 from EGW). This die will resize bulged brass (a la Glock) without leaving a belt at the base of the case. I have been using this die for many years and it has saved a lot of brass that my Dillon resizer would have left with a belt.
2. Save some money on polishing media. I use Andersens' Grit O'Cobb 1014, a cheap corn cob media ($18 per 50lb bag) and add a little brass polish (Frankford Arsenal,$12 per quart) to rejuvenate it after a few runs, and dump it after about 6 to 8 runs before it can develop a dangerous lead content. Andersens has a web site that lists local dealers.

[Chip]

What is the address?

I searched for their website and could not find it. I tried www.andersens.com, but it does not appear to be the right place. All I found was a reference to the company in a PDF file and a post you made on gun-talk.

[warmrain]

Do you guys use a timer to turn the tumbler off after an hour or two. Maybe some of the tumblers have timers?

How long do you usu. tumble?

Thanks,

[45 auto]

I have an older 2000 Dillon tumbler, and a small Midway tumbler. I do have (generic brand) timers set for 1 hr., just in case I forget about it while honeydoing. Most of the time that will suffice, unless the brass is really dirty. I go with the corn cob media myself. Also use the 650 with the case feeder. Sweet, if time is limited, and you need to put out a few hundred rounds. Sounds like you are on your way. Good luck, and good safe shootin'.

[warmrain]

Thanks 45 auto,

I've just started loading. Have a used Lee Loadmaster with 5 stations (factory crimp die in #5) and case feeder. I have the bullet feeder, but not sure it's worth it. I've been meticulous in my loading habits and have loaded a few hundred 38 special now w/o incident (e.g. no squibs).

I may move onto 44 special before going to 45 ACP and 9mm. The person who sold me the press (and the dies for all 4 calibers) has a new Dillon 650 showed me the cool under/over charge alarm, cool!

Yes, on my way except for the tumbler. My range RSO/friend/neighbor has been doing it for me but I can't let that go too long.

Thanks!

[Gammon]

What is the address?

I searched for their website and could not find it. I tried www.andersens.com, but it does not appear to be the right place. All I found was a reference to the company in a PDF file and a post you made on gun-talk.
My mistake, the name is Andersons. The web site is www.andersonsinc.com but it doesn't list the corn cob products right now. A phone number is given: 419-893-5050.