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Brass tumblers?

dieselmudder

.30-06
Elite Member
"Philanthropist"
So I'm expecting to get a reloading press for Christmas. And trying to get my ducks lined out as far as what else I'll need for the process. As far as case prep, will the vibratory tumblers from harbor freight be adequate to clean my casings? I'll have to go back and find some of the recipes for cleaning media I've seen mentioned, probably just go with basic walnut shell to start.
 
I use a cheap one got from Midway and the lizard walnut bedding form the local pet store.

I would think the harbor freight ones would work, Longevity would be hit or miss.
 
The HF Rock tumblers work very well wet or dry. I switched this year to a wet process with steel pins - the results are great. Nice brass but also super clean inside and primer pockets too! Pins need tumblers. They do not work in the vibrating units.

HF sale prices are hard to beat especially when you can add a 20% off coupon to the deal. I started with 1 tumbler and it's been running for years and still on the first belt. Not long ago I picked up a second unit with 2 drums for a total of 3. It allows me to do multiple calibers if I want AND stop running the 1 unit 24/7!!

Pins are at good prices on eBay and last forever.
 
I went ahead and ordered a 5pound vibrating tumbler from harbor freight. Just caught the tail end of the 20%sale. So the savings there cancelled out the shipping! I'll pick up some media at wal mart or the pet store.
 
I have 3 vibrating tumblers from Harbor Freight, 1 small and 2 large. They work very well and I have had no problems with them. If you get them on sale and then print a 25% of one time purchase coupon, they are really cheap. I also use their fine grit walnut shell.

One thing I did do was add a shim (piece of pipe and a washer) to the shaft before I put the lid on and tighten it. It lets you tighten the lid and not bend the center of the plastic lid down.
 
Dieselmudder,

Ask Santa if he can bring you a Dillon 650. Tell him you have been a really good boy all year!
 
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Well my tumbler arrived today while I was out shopping. Knew it would probably show up today, so while at rural king I was looking in the pet section for walnut or corncob media. There was none. On the way home I stopped at my favorite gun shop. Wanted to inventory what they had as far as reloading supplies, (no pistol powder). But I couldn't resist and went ahead and bought the fancy tumbling media.

I also narrowly avoided my first rookie mistake. Several days ago I had separated out some once fired .45 auto and .38 special. In my excitement after putting the media in the tumbler I just dumped the casings on top, was reaching down to turn on the power switch. And the lightbulb came on. A quick check showed that the casings fit within each other with just enough room to let media in between. So I spent a couple extra minutes picking the .38 back out. Possible disaster averted.
 
I use the green Lyman treated corn cob media. It works quite well, and lasts a lot longer than you would think!

I pour a half-capful of Nu-Finish car polish (in the orange plastic bottle) and let the corncob media roll without any brass about 20-minutes which breaks up the clumps. And I keep the media clean of a lot of the carbon and primer residue (that really fine black grit) with cut up used drier sheets. Their mesh grabs and holds the black residue and your media stays good a LOT longer.
 
thanks Nite, the green Lyman is actually what i got. wasn't sure if it was okay to add anything to it or not. and i remember reading the drier sheet tip in another post. so i did that with my second round, was really surprised how quick they turned black. i actually did a couple loads of laundry today just to have some used drier sheets.

do the drier sheets remove the Nu-Finish from the media with time? or does the original half capful last the lifetime of the media?
 
I add a half capfull every time I fire up the tumbler.

Yep, those cut up drier sheets sure do turn black, but we want them to in order to pull out all that schmutz from the corncob.
 
Oh, and dieselmudder....

I think you have a bit too much corncob in your tumbler.
 
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