JohnnyB

So I just purchased a cheapo tumbler from Harbor Freight for $50.00 as someone suggested... but I saved the receipt and haven't opened the box because another friend said just buy a Dillon.

I've been told that many tumblers will just die on you and you just have to hope you get one that lasts...should I save the $$ and try this one, or spend 3 times as much and get the Dillon?

roland

you get what you pay for sometimes. i hate buying cheap and having to repurchase because of that fact.

Metonymy

Waiting for Mic to chime in... he just went through this debate...

KillermondoDude

keep the cheap tumbler
If it fries get another motor from Graingers and walla your GTG

Coug91

Hornady or Dillon.

Mic

And I will chime in.

Again, I don't know shit, but this is what I've gathered from reading online...

The Harbor Freight one is shit. I've read post after post after review after review from all kinds of gun forums, and gem polishing forums that the tumbler is absolute junk. In most cases, a lot of people replaced within a week or 2.

Now on to what I did come across.

I came across a lot of really good reviews on this kit from Cabelas
Cabela's Case Tumbler Kit

It is cheap, durable, and comes with Cabelas Replacement For Life guarantee. I've decided I am going to go with this kit. I don't plan on doing multi mass's of cases at once, so it seems like it will fit the bill.

Other things I came across also in my search for case cleaning, and whatnot, was that Walnut shell is better than Corn Cob. And walnut shell can be purchased at Petsmart for 10-15 bucks for a 25 lb bag, as it is used as a bedding for bird cages apparently.

The other thing I saw popping up all over the place, was for your polish, to use NuFinish, the Car Polish. A cap full of it, in the Walnut, with a dryer sheet cut up into 12 or so pieces, run it for a few minutes, to let it mix up, then add the cases.

doing all this research has been fun. Been enjoying reading peoples reviews on things, and whatnot. It also helps yah with just trying to find out what really is needed, what is not, what is good, what is not, yade yade.

Coug91

Can't comment on the HF tumbler, but agree that if you buy cheap stuff it either won't work or will fail when you need it.

Walnut shells The coarse stuff is good for cleaning before you knock the primers out and if your using a progressive press with pistol brass and carbide dies. if you load rifle and tumble after resizing/depriming, the big walnut shell pieces will get stuck in the flash hole. getthe smallest sized shell pieces you can find.

Polish - I use the Midway stuff. Usually pick it up at gunshows. NuFinish sounds interesting and I bet the dryer sheets pickup the crud that comes off the brass. I will have to try that.

Mic

Yah the reason for the used dryer sheets was to help catch all of the crap to keep the media clean.

JohnnyB

Sounds good...thanks for the info.
I was told by 2 seperate sorces that corn cob vs. walnut is: Corn polishes better...walnut cleans better. The guys I spoke with put some of the cleaning liquid (small amt) in with the corn cob and it does great. Although they both said it's so cheap to try them both and decide for myself. I'll probably go with Walnut anyway cause I'd rather have clean than bling.

FLIPEXED

bought the Frankford Arsenal kit at Sportsman's for $60... came with corn cob media, polish, separator+bucket. works awesome.

FLIPEXED

I also use little bits of used dryer sheet while tumbling to "clean" the media... it works great. Also don't tumble 9mm and 45 together. I tried that to save time and ended up devoting 2 hours to separate that shit :)

migxdm

I use a lyman turbo 2400 i believe. it comes with a big container and a small container, just did a 5 gallon bucket from home depot of .45 brass last weekend.