After 19 Years of Service...

[K22]

Last night my Lyman tumbler finally died after 19 years of heavy faith service. RIP

I needed to load some 223 Rem's for range shooting to take advantage of this extraordinary weather we are having here in eastern PA, 50's in February - are you kidding me! Time to sharpen up for the upcoming 2023 groundhog campaign.

Anyway, I cleaned the necks with a few twists of 0000 steel wool then sprayed the cases with a light coat of mineral spirits then towel wiped them. Both of these procedures I do anyway, the first before placing the cases in the tumbler the latter afterwards to remove the media residue that accumulates on the cases from tumbling that tends to gum up my sizing die if I don't remove it.

The cases looked good so this morning I loaded up about 40, heading to the range today and tomorrow.

Before leaving I was about to place an order for a new tumbler, but I said to self, why? I knew why, because I've tumbled cases forever but did I really need to? I'm always looking for ways to simplify and streamline the reloading process without compromising performance. The answer I came up with regarding acquiring a new tumbler was - I think not.

Instead, I order a box of 250 Nosler BTs from Blue Collar Reloading. I'm happy -

 

[dantiff2]

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[3Ackleys]

Early 1985 I bought an RCBS vibratory. After about 3 months it stopped working. RCBS sent me a new one, April 1985- it's still working today.

 

[jpx2rk]

Sorry for you loss. It was 71* today in E TN. And windy at 15 mph+

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I found a Hornady 1.2L sonic cleaner on clearance to 67.99. Thought it would work faster, especially for small batches than my FA tumbler. And it does 2 480 sec cycles in distilled water,shake of lemon shine and one drop of dawn. Primer pockets clean as was the rest of the case, rinse in hot water and dry.

 

[K22]

Frankford Arsenal Rotary Case Tumbler Lite

The Frankford Arsenal Rotary Case Tumbler Lite has many of the great features introduced on the Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler, but in a smaller, more...

www.midwayusa.com

ZILLA Ground English Walnut Shell Reptile Bedding, 5-qt bag - Chewy.com

Buy Zilla Ground English Walnut Shell Reptile Bedding, 5-qt bag at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

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Thanks for the referral but I'm going "cold turkey", no more tumbling.

 

[K22]

I found a Hornady 1.2L sonic cleaner on clearance to 67.99. Thought it would work faster, especially for small batches than my FA tumbler. And it does 2 480 sec cycles in distilled water,shake of lemon shine and one drop of dawn. Primer pockets clean as was the rest of the case, rinse in hot water and dry.

Thanks for the advice, but as I posted early, I'm moving away from tumbling, at least that's my thoughts for now as I attempt to downsize and simplify things. Having to clean up the media which I always seem to drop some all over my work bench is a chore I'm happy to eliminate.

The batch of 40 I did a couple of days ago, just cleaning the necks and wiping off after a light spray of mineral spirits worked fine. The cases are clean albeit not shiny. Incidentally, at the range yesterday, they shot the same as the tumbled case.

 

[Jim D]

I switched to an inexpensive ( Ebay ) Ultrasonic cleaner, A little dawn and vinegar mixed with hot water. 15min. and I have clean, inside and out brass. I then wash again with hot water and a dab of baking soda. a third bath in plain hot water.
I retired my tumblers years ago. I won't be going back.

Jim

 

[dantiff2]

Thanks for the referral but I'm going "cold turkey", no more tumbling.

Good luck! See the DR and get a patch! I tried to quit tumbling several years back (when my Lyman 1200 burnt up on me after years of service). That got me to tinkering with rotary tumbling with SS pins and I was astonished at the results but it was too labor some for me for the amount that I load and shoot so I resorted back to dry method but very happy with the rotary action. Much quieter and geared to last a long time as it's not a motor vibrating because of an imbalance ; )
Dan

 

[K22]

Good luck! See the DR and get a patch! I tried to quit tumbling several years back (when my Lyman 1200 burnt up on me after years of service). That got me to tinkering with rotary tumbling with SS pins and I was astonished at the results but it was too labor some for me for the amount that I load and shoot so I resorted back to dry method but very happy with the rotary action. Much quieter and geared to last a long time as it's not a motor vibrating because of an imbalance ; )
Dan

Thanks - that makes sense - if I weaken and resort back to tumbling, I will definitely consider a rotary design. Being a little anal, , having nice bright shing cases feels good. Maybe the rotary design will be easier to unload and not get media all over the place which is a big pain in the ass. Any thoughts on that aspect.

If I can stay the course of focusing only on performance, I probably won't go back to tumbling, however.

 

[drop_point]

I like cases to be clean for inspection and for annealing. You know this is going to be hard to give up! When my Frankford Arsenal died (nine years old), I went rotary.

 

[dantiff2]

Thanks - that makes sense - if I weaken and resort back to tumbling, I will definitely consider a rotary design. Being a little anal, , having nice bright shing cases feels good. Maybe the rotary design will be easier to unload and not get media all over the place which is a big pain in the ass. Any thoughts on that aspect.

If I can stay the course of focusing only on performance, I probably won't go back to tumbling, however.

The ground up lizard shell flows like water. I throw a splash of NuFinish (orange bottle) car polish in the media with each cycle and there is little to no dust. One hour run times are fine for me. I dump out through a trappers dirt sifting tray, over a small bucket and repeat the cycle.

Metal Sifter Pan

The Metal Sifter is excellent for land trappers in making land sets. This sifter is 8" x 10"

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[Forum Boss]

While my fired 6BR cases are still warm, I put some spray Ballistol on a patch and then wipe the carbon off the necks (and any fouling on the case bodies).

I haven't had to tumble that brass. YMMV. If a round falls on the ground, yes it gets tumbled.

 

[K22]

I like cases to be clean for inspection and for annealing. You know this is going to be hard to give up! When my Frankford Arsenal died (nine years old), I went rotary.

Yea, I know - I like shiny cases but I'm going to try and resist the urge to add another piece of equipment.

 

[K22]

While my fired 6BR cases are still warm, I put some spray Ballistol on a patch and then wipe the carbon off the necks (and any fouling on the case bodies).

I haven't had to tumble that brass. YMMV. If a round falls on the ground, yes it gets tumbled.

Thanks for the advice - will give it a try. Never tried Ballistol, just mineral spirits and it seems to do a fair job and evaporates rather quickly.

I really don't want to buy another piece of equipment since I'm trying to downsize for a move eventually to smaller quarters.

 

[PhilC]

Last night my Lyman tumbler finally died after 19 years of heavy faith service. RIP

My 1200, purchased in '87, is still going although it did go through a long period of non-use. Added a second a couple years ago so I dont have to change from cleaning to polishing media. The newer one is actually quieter than the original, both get the job done just fine.