Rotary Tumbler

[454bore]

Has anyone used a Rebel 17 Rotary Tumbler, or something similar to clean brass using dry media such as corn cob or walnut? How effective is it compared to a vibratory tumbler with the same media? Considering going with wet tumbling but before I invest in a Rebel 17 want to make sure that I could use it for dry media effectively.

Thanks

 

[searcher]

I think it is safe to say that all of the rotary tumblers clean much more aggressively and faster than a vibratory tumbler. And yes- you can use dry media. If I have really dirty brass or tarnished badly, I use the rotary tumbler. I use a Thumblers Tumbler (?) and an RCBS Sidewinder - but they all work pretty much the same, though look at the capacity to see if it holds all you want it to. I'm not familiar with the Rebel - but I can't see why it would be any different. I don't use my tumblers for wet tumbling - only for dry tumble with walnut media and when applying Moly or HBN to bullets with ball bearings.

 

[454bore]

I think it is safe to say that all of the rotary tumblers clean much more aggressively and faster than a vibratory tumbler. And yes- you can use dry media. If I have really dirty brass or tarnished badly, I use the rotary tumbler. I use a Thumblers Tumbler (?) and an RCBS Sidewinder - but they all work pretty much the same, though look at the capacity to see if it holds all you want it to. I'm not familiar with the Rebel - but I can't see why it would be any different. I don't use my tumblers for wet tumbling - only for dry tumble with walnut media and when applying Moly or HBN to bullets with ball bearings.

I am concerned about the capacity of the Rebel 17. The other rotary tumbler I was looking at was the BST-40 by Big Shot Tumbler - this one I thought might be too big. The Rebel 17 has a 17 lb capacity and the BST-40 has 40 lbs of capacity (5.25 gallons) - which seems like it could be to big. But I would rather have it to big then to small. It seems like the BST-40 would do better with dry media based on the larger size???

 

[JimSC]

I have used dry media in my Frankfort Armory rotary, but now I use hot water and a dishwashing tab with no media at all.The brass loads and shoots just the same and I have no media to separate. The older I get the more I appreciate simplicity

 

[searcher]

I am concerned about the capacity of the Rebel 17. The other rotary tumbler I was looking at was the BST-40 by Big Shot Tumbler - this one I thought might be too big. The Rebel 17 has a 17 lb capacity and the BST-40 has 40 lbs of capacity (5.25 gallons) - which seems like it could be to big. But I would rather have it to big then to small. It seems like the BST-40 would do better with dry media based on the larger size???

My Sidewinder says to load approx. 100-150 30-06 sized cases. That can't weigh more than 2 to 3 pounds (?) pounds and the amount of media can't weigh more than a few pounds - so I'd ballpark it by saying that Rebel 17 is considerably larger. larger will give you a more aggressive cleaning action - but with dry media - there is no concern of being too aggressive. With wet - maybe(?). I occasionally tumble wet - but usually only to get lube out of necks after I size necks up or down. I hate having to dry the cases afterwards. I more often use sonic cleaner for the wet stuff anymore.

 

[10XSHOOTER]

I use a plastic barreled cement mixer. dump a 50 # bag of walnut shells in it and can tumble over 1500 .308's

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

I use rice in my rebel 17, works great

 

[NorCalMikie]

Tumler Tumbler with the liner will do wet or dry. Don't know it for a fact but I've heard that the vibrator style will let the stuff settle out of the mix to the bottom?
The tumbler doesn't!

 

[searcher]

I use a plastic barreled cement mixer. dump a 50 # bag of walnut shells in it and can tumble over 1500 .308's

I like that! No room left in my workshop for it......

 

[Charlie-NY]

I use rice in my rebel 17, works great

I've been thinking about this. How much rice do you use?

 

[454bore]

I use rice in my rebel 17, works great

When you use rice in your Rebel 17, how many cases are you able to get in it with the rice?

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

I've been thinking about this. How much rice do you use?

i kinda just fill the barrel halfway with it. i didn’t get a chance to do alot of experimenting but it seems to work well !

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

When you use rice in your Rebel 17, how many cases are you able to get in it with the rice?

i’d say you could easily do 100 338 lapua cases with ease or 200-300 223 cases

 

[Charlie-NY]

i kinda just fill the barrel halfway with it. i didn’t get a chance to do alot of experimenting but it seems to work well !

Interesting - that's much more rice than I was thinking about.

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

Interesting - that's much more rice than I was thinking about.

i didn’t want cases banging on each other the whole time, i could be doing it wrong but it seems to work well enough for my purposes

 

[Charlie-NY]

i didn’t want cases banging on each other the whole time, i could be doing it wrong but it seems to work well enough for my purposes

I'm still running SS pins but I don't tumble for more than 1/2 hr. I normally run the chamfer tool in lightly afterwards just for the heck of it. Rice has been recommended a few times and I'm going to try it at some point.

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

I'm still running SS pins but I don't tumble for more than 1/2 hr. I normally run the chamfer tool in lightly afterwards just for the heck of it. Rice has been recommended a few times and I'm going to try it at some point.

only thing i dont like about the rice is that it doesn’t get the primer pockets very well.

the main reason i use it is to remove the lube after resizing and the heavy carbon. for the primer pockets i just hit them quick with a scraper tool before tumbling

 

[ToddKS]

A rotary tumbler can be run with dry media, but it is going to be less effective than a vibratory tumbler with the same media. The cases will also likely experience more impact on the case mouth.