Im just getting started in handloading.I dont know all that much about it.I want to buy a tumbler.Can anybody help me choose a decent one?

The Frankford Arsenal tumblers sold by Midway are decent and relatively inexpensive. They had a sale not too long ago and the tumblers were $35. I picked up an extra for myself 'cause it was too good to pass up and I'd been needing another one.

If you're referring to the vibro bowls sold by Midway, Hornady, Lyman, RCBS, Dillon, and a dozen others, they're all made by the same company and sold thru these folks as distributors. They all use the same fasco motors and have the same "off balance" weighted arbor.

They all work well and do a fine job. Get the size you want and the price that's best for you.

Welcome to the forums Mike!! I'm on the other end of the county on the carrol/howard co line. I have a lyman 1200,,it does ok. If you use treated walnut media,,you'll want to tumble again in corncob to get all of the rouge off of the cases.To separate brass from media,,I use a collander and a 5 gal. pail,,set collander on top of pail,dump in brass and media,,and shake/swirl it,,Works rather well,,Clay

I have the Tumblers Tumbler Have it since 1978 still works fine ,replaced rubber belt only once Cabera's have them Not Cheap but worth the money .

Lyman 1200 Auto-Flo

Ric,,mine's the turbo,,not the auto-flo,,Clay

I have had TWO different ones from Midway which are the Frankford Arsenal ones...

Both had the bowls develop small cracks and were leaking media... very dusty around the tumbler....

I then tried one from Cabelas, with their name on it, for about the same price... under $50.00.. got mine on sale....

NO comparison with the Midway, Frankford one....
The motor on those are very very noisy, compared to the Cabelas which is very very quiet compared to the Midway... It has a larger opening, and a clear top as opposed to a colored plastic one...

I'd rate the Cabelas one worth Twice as much as the Midway one easily, yet it is the same cost....

Midway of course backed up their tumbler... as I am sure Cabelas would do also.. as they have done other products I have had with their name on it...

I bought the Cabelas to have as a back up... and never fixed the Midway after that... it is now the backup one, in case I have to send the Cabelas in for repair....

IN two years I fried one motor on the Midway.. minus the dust on it... the Cabelas operates as good as the day I got it, 3 yrs later!

cheers
seafire

I have the frankfort arsenal tumbler, It works great for the hobbist relaoder. I dont mass produce any ammo so it does a fine job for me. I use walnut media.

I am with ricciardelli on the Lyman Auto Flo. Mine is the 2500 size and the auto flo system saves me from making a big mess like I did when I dumped the older model. I could always get the media all over the room, now I just take out the stopper and it flows out leaving the brass behind. Good shooting.

One small detail that may save you some grief. I tried some ground corncob media from a major supplier. It cleans
the cases fine but when I try to get it out of cases with small necks like .223 Remington it can be a pain
because the granuals are small enough to go into the neck, but bunch up and are hard to remove just by shaking them. I had to resort to a small pick device to get them to come out. I'm going back to walnut media.

quote:

Originally posted by claybuster:
Ric,,mine's the turbo,,not the auto-flo,,Clay

That auto flo is a godsend!

I have two of the 2200 Auto-Flo tumblers, and ti sure makes it a lot easier to seperate the brass from the media. Just pull the plug (after you are certain the catch pan is under the spout) and let 'er run an additional couple of minutes.

The Cabelas one works pretty decent, even after being submerged form the storm surge of a Hurricane! it is a bit noisier now, but like a Timex, takes a lickin and keeps on tickin - 3 years after being submerged!

But, when I do replace it, I will get one of these.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=105&pricetype=

If you do a search and type in "tumblers", more will come up, like a smaller drum tumbler, and a vibrator type.

If you want to tumble like 1000 cases at once, then check out this thread.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../435109644#435109644

quote:

Originally posted by claybuster:
Welcome to the forums Mike!! I'm on the other end of the county on the carrol/howard co line. I have a lyman 1200,,it does ok. If you use treated walnut media,,you'll want to tumble again in corncob to get all of the rouge off of the cases.To separate brass from media,,I use a collander and a 5 gal. pail,,set collander on top of pail,dump in brass and media,,and shake/swirl it,,Works rather well,,Clay

I have an Uncle that lives on Hoods Mill Rd.You close?Ijust saw a kit on Cabelas.Tumbler,medium and sifter.Was thinking of buying it.I need everything anyway.With a name like Claybuster I guess you shoot a lot of claybirds huh?

OOPS.......I meant this as a pm to claybuster

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gixxer:
But, when I do replace it, I will get one of these.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=105&pricetype=

Thanks for the heads up. I went out and bought two of the single units rather than the one double unit. The local store honored the sales price and I avoided the $9.00 shipping in lew of the $3.16 sales tax. Can't have too many you know.

Separating after tumbling may not be as bad as trimming to length but it comes close. Thanks again for sharing. roger