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Looking to get a new tumbler

Golddiggie

Golddiggie

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Saw this one on MidwayUSA.
www.midwayusa.com

National Metallic Quiet XL Vibratory Case Tumbler

The National Metallic Quiet XL Case Tumbler was designed with the serious reloader in mind! National Metallic wanted to provide reloaders the ability to...
www.midwayusa.com www.midwayusa.com
Anyone have one? Good? Bad? Ugly?
I like the idea of the reduced noise level due to the rubber lining. Just want to be sure it's not going to fail quickly. At ~$100 it's not that much (to me at least) money. I might keep my old one (about 25[ish] years old now) as 'backup' at least for a while.
 
vibratory case cleaners all do the same thing so you need a gimmick to separate one from the rest. this one says it's quiet. the quietest tumblers on the market are rock tumblers. the ones that run on a belt spinning the drum. they are so quiet you can hear the brass clanking inside sometimes. i just use to run mine while i was at work, so 8 plus hours to get a good clean. that was my first one, a "thumblers tumbler". then i bought the gigantic dillon tumbler when it came out 40 years ago. way too big, quiet probably because of it's huge bowl size but my brass got lost in it if i was doing small lots (300 pcs or less). i traded that for a little lyman. has 2 bowls, fairly small and smallish medium. i've run that for 30 years, still going strong and shows no sign of slowing. if i keep the media cleanish and fresh...fantastic polish. i tumble on the dining room table. yep, live alone...and to combat the noise i set a folded bathroom towel under it. just buy the one that catches your eye, this case this national metalic one, and be done with it. tumblers are maybe the least of your worries in your reloading kit.
 
@EddieZoom I've been thinking about going wet, for tumbling... Just liked the idea of going with the vibrational mode since I'm familiar with it, plus I just got a large amount of new media. Probably enough to last me several years. Hell, might never need to buy any more.

Supposes I could go with both options. See which I like more, or use the most, and adjust. I'm not enthused about having another step after the brass is run through it, to get them dry. I've seen the drying units out there, which adds to the cost of the process. Then everyone seems to have their own special sauce to add to the water to do the cleaning. Dry/vibratory tumblers are a lot easier in that aspect. Not to mention the last set of brass I ran through the tumbler I have came out really clean. Well, except for the handful that had either dirt packed into them, or the primer hole blocked (still had a primer in it, so unable to remove the primer after.

BTW, I've run the current one overnight without any issue at all. One of the things making me want to get a new one is capacity. The current can't do much for 223/5.56 cases at a time. I'd like to be able to process more at one shot.
 
I picked up a used cement mixer at a yard sale a few years back for a couple home projects, but it was also very good at tumbling buckets of brass.
 
I have two old Berry's tumblers that work so well I sold off the Dillon large one. I never really had enough brass to do in the big one anyway...
Wet tumbling in the winter is a PITA for me. Would be easier if I had a basement sink. Just use it occasionally in the summer.
 
Anyone got one of these wet tumblers??

I'm thinking of getting the vibratory from Midway, but then the one from Amazon for going wet on the cases as needed. From what I've seen posted, you don't need to do the wet tumble every time. So every so often I'd run the cases through the wet tumble. Otherwise just use the vibrational unit. Not sure what I'll do with the old shaker when the new one arrives. Maybe keep it as a backup (at least for a while) and then decide.
 
Golddiggie said:
Anyone got one of these wet tumblers??

I'm thinking of getting the vibratory from Midway, but then the one from Amazon for going wet on the cases as needed. From what I've seen posted, you don't need to do the wet tumble every time. So every so often I'd run the cases through the wet tumble. Otherwise just use the vibrational unit. Not sure what I'll do with the old shaker when the new one arrives. Maybe keep it as a backup (at least for a while) and then decide.
Click to expand...
Golddiggie said:
@EddieZoom I've been thinking about going wet, for tumbling... Just liked the idea of going with the vibrational mode since I'm familiar with it, plus I just got a large amount of new media. Probably enough to last me several years. Hell, might never need to buy any more.

Supposes I could go with both options. See which I like more, or use the most, and adjust. I'm not enthused about having another step after the brass is run through it, to get them dry. I've seen the drying units out there, which adds to the cost of the process. Then everyone seems to have their own special sauce to add to the water to do the cleaning. Dry/vibratory tumblers are a lot easier in that aspect. Not to mention the last set of brass I ran through the tumbler I have came out really clean. Well, except for the handful that had either dirt packed into them, or the primer hole blocked (still had a primer in it, so unable to remove the primer after.

BTW, I've run the current one overnight without any issue at all. One of the things making me want to get a new one is capacity. The current can't do much for 223/5.56 cases at a time. I'd like to be able to process more at one shot.
Click to expand...
Drying doesn’t have to be another step. Dump them on a towel, toss em a bit and leave them to dry. Get FA’s pods for the cleaning solution. You’ll clean twice as much in less than half the time.



Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler with 7-Liter Capacity, Clear Viewing Lids, and Auto Shut-Off for Reloading, Cleaning and Wet Tumbling Brass Cases Amazon product ASIN B00HTN4R6OView: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HTN4R6O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_TQP7EY7J8H0WH21MZJ9X
 
I have the F.A.R.T. No complaints about the cleaning. If you buy, wash the pins by themselves first before doing any brass. If you use LemiShine, use only a 9mm case full. And using some Armorall soap/wax on the rubber gaskets as well as in with the brass will keep the lids from leaking. Before I coated the gaskets, the lids would leak for the first half-hour...
 
LemiShine is just citric acid and fragrance... I HAVE [pounds of] citric acid (powder form) on hand. I'll see if I can find out what the mixture level of it is. Or maybe get someone to post up the PH of the solution (from the bottle) and I'll figure out how much powder it takes to add the same amount to the water in the FART...
 
Just ordered the FART... Will decide on the other vibrating tumbler later. Not sure when 'later' will be. Knowing me that will either be later today, or sometime this week. [rofl2]
 
The FA magnet with the release handle works well...mine is in a plastic bag when I use it, or it rusts. Also using the submerged RCBS all plastic media separator gets ALL the pins to fall out of the cases. YMMV, but it seems to be 100% with .223, .308, .30/06....
 
I decided to pass on the magnet for now. 304 stainless (annealed) is NOT magnetic. Or takes a seriously strong magnet to have even a faint pull on it. I have a couple of separators that I can use to do the job. IF I find a need for the magnet, I'll get one. Otherwise, one less thing to store/track. ;)
 
Sample of the first batch to come out of the FART (no pins, just Brass Juice).
PXL_20220205_023029105.jpg

I used my hand deprimer to get them ready. Ran the FART for two hours for this run. Might try one hour for the next set. Put through the oven (180F) for one hour and they came out dry and no spots, even though I used hot tap water (well water is a bit on the hard side).
 

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