I am in the market for a new case tumbler. The Lyman 600 I have seems to have burned out. I was not all that impressed with it's service life. Come to think of it, the three Lyman items I DO have are all defective in some way- dies/ case trimmer/ tumbler.

At any rate, does anyone have a SOLID recommendation? I like to do anywhere from 50- 150 rifle cases, or 200 pistol cases at a time. Would prefer to keep the cost under $100.

I had to repair the switch and wiring 5 times on the Lyman, so I am not real impressed.

Thanks!

3584ELK, I have a Thumler's Tumbler model B That I have been using for 20+ years and have had no trouble with it except for the occasional belt. You will not buy one for under $100.00 but then again you will never buy another.
Tru-Square Metal Products, Inc.
P.O. Box 585 640 First St. S.W.
Auburn, WA 98071 (253) 833-2310
1-800-225-1017
A Model B is $181.63 Jim

I think vibratory cleaners work better than tumblers, in my experience. And they are mostly the same. I have the Frankford Arsenal and I'm quite happy with it.

Good luck,
Kory

thumler makes a vibratory model also, I would guess its a step above most others, I have a rotary drum model and have been using it for about 20 years also, works good to polish rocks too. They make one that will rotate 2 drums at once which could be pretty handy.

Got one of those two drum/can models. It also is over 20 yrs old. Still going strong. The two cans help when I'm only doing 40-50 cases of one cartridge and the same of another. No sorting afterwards.

I have two of the Lyman Turbo-Flo 2200 machines, and have had them since they were first placed on the market. I have not had any problems with either. (And I intentionally left one running 24/7 for over two weeks.)

Dillon Precision, has some very good case cleaning equipment and some very good prices .......Try here: http://dillonprecision.com/default.cfm?

I am pleased with my vibratory tumbler purchased from Cabela's. It's sold under their brand name but I am not sure who actually makes it. Will tumble 175 ~ 30-06 cases. I've noticed Lyman has "auto-flow" type vibratory tumblers which have an exit port to drain the media, leaving only the brass inside the tumbler. Additionally, if buying a tumbler without an exit port, I suggest buying a rotary media seperator. Again, I purchased mine at Cabela's and it works great. The design mirrors the RCBS and cost less.

I've been using the Midway Frankford arsenal vibratory tumbler for awhile now, works great, I've done 500-600 9mm cases at a time, and the most I've ever tried for rifle has been about 100 308, though it can most likely do more. I believe I got it on sale for about $40, with a separator... not a bad deal.

I have a Dillon cv 2001....have not used it yet but it was recomended to me.

Many years ago, I bought an RCBS Sidewinder. I've never felt the need for any other.

The vibrating bowls from dillon, RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Midway, Cabela's, and who knows who else are all made by the same company...they all use a very fine Fasco motor (and also very cheap) with a piece of metal attached to the motor to cause it to vibrate as it runs.

Mine has served me well and is about ten years old now.

Buy the least cost one....they're all the same.

I sort of figured that would be the case. I could possibly search for another motor, replace the dead one, and go on. I suppose I better get online and get one coming.

Thanks for the input!

I was not familar with the Thumblers Tummler and saw one at a garage sale for $3. Kick myself in the butt---didnt buy it. I later found another also for $3 and bought it. They were both rock tumbler models and I didnt even think of cases when I saw the first one. I think you can buy their cheaper model for around $100. That was about 20 years ago. It did not come with an on/off switch so I bought a toggle switch and installed it---the factory should have done the same. You can't tell by looking that it was not a factory job--there were already holes available,think I had to enlarge one to insert the switch. The belt gave problem and I tried a couple of rubber sewing machine belts,they were ok for awhile. Then I made a leather belt for it.(Most commercial sewing machines use big leather belts.) Cut a strip off a piece of thick leather so as to have a square strip. Then used an edging tool to cut off the edges and it was close to being round. Rolled it back and forth on a hard flat surface and cut to length and used a clip where the ends butt together. That was several years ago and I think I had to trim it once to get rid of stretch,re clip and keep truckin. I have ran it 24x7 numerous times,the current draw is next to nothing. I have heard numerous reports about the Thumlers Tumbler,but never a bad report. I like the walnut media much better than the corncobb. The corncobb will ALWAYS stick in the primer pocket. The walnut runs out like sand. Buy the walnut at a pet store--they use it for litter in bird cages or some such and it's much cheaper there than buying as media for cases.

If you want to get into a little more serious (read:last you the rest of your life) tumbler the Raytech line (lyman's industrial division) is pretty darn had to beat, but they are expensive about $230 for the M-500. I have a Model 500, and it's not very big (about 30-40 rifle cases is it, but thats all I need) but it is very quiet and very,very stoutly built, I'm sure their larger madels are just more of the same.

Here's what I did once:

I bought two large plastic bowls from Wal-Mart for like $.92 each.

I had a 12v motor and fan laying around from an old car, and I cut the blades off, leaving the central part of the aluminum blades intact. I then cut a slot into this radiating out from the center by drilling three holes close together, then cutting between them with a rat file. Into this slot I put a 1/4" bolt, nut & washer. This made the motor turn out of balance, and was adjustable by moving said bolt in and out.

I went to Home Depot and got 4 springs that were about 1.5 inches long (around $.75 each, I think). These were mounted to the bottom of bowl #1 by putting 4 screws thru the bottom of the bowl (from the inside to the outside), and affixing the springs with RTV silicone. The same procedure was later done to bowl #2, and they sat with #1 facing down, #2 facing up (holding the media).

I then cut the bottom out of bowl #1, just slightly larger than the fan motor. Then I bolted the backside (away from fan blade side) to the bottom of bowl #2. Now mount bowl #2 facing up, with the motor sticking down and thru bowl #1, to the 4 screws/springs assembly, and let it dry. I turned the whole assembly upside down, and applied several dabs of RTV to the rim of the bottom of bowl #1, to keep it from sliding around while running.

After it had set for a day to let the RTV cure, I turned it over, put some walnut hulls in it, and threw in a hundred rounds with a few drops of Brasso. Then I connected it to my battery charger (2 amp/10 amp settings available), and 20 minutes later, I had some of the shiniest brass I had ever seen!

So I had a variable speed (2/10 amps), variable vibrations (adjustable with the bolt) for well under $10. The same thing could be had using an old box fan motor (heck, a NEW fan only costs $10-15), and is usually 3-speeds. I used it for a couple of years of and on, until a move caused it to be broken, and since I had no more time to reload, I threw the motor away.

It warn't purty, but it worked great, and left many $$$ for other needs, like powder & beer (not to be used simultaneously, of course!).

F6

Try Berry's MFG it comes with tumbler corn cob medea 5gal bucket and strainer for good price.

Hawk, that kinda reminds me of what I done a long time ago before I had money to spend on such conviences as a tumbler except my idea wasn't as successful. I strapped a square tupperware bowl to the bottom of a vibrating palm sander and clamped it in a vise. I filled it up with sand and turned it on. In a split second, I had produced a cloud of sand in my shop, eyes, ears, and everywhere else you could think of. I didn't try that again. I eventually scraped up enough money to buy one from Midway and I haven't looked back. Have a good day, Rojelio

Hey F6Hawk,

Could 'ja draw a picture of that? I got lost somewhere between the rattail file and battery charger.

Casey

Hawk,

That is probably the most ingenious thing I have heard described. Of course, it surely resembed closely the commercial tumblers without the pretty paint and corporate logo.

I am always amazed at the what someone can do with a little imagination.