Case Tumblers
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Probably not 100% necessary, but very nice to have. I have been using one I bought off of Midway for 15 years.
I think I'm in the minority here concerning tumblers. I reloaded for years without a tumbler, considering them a luxury rather than a necessity, just wiping the cases off with an old towel. Finally like gunman I bought one from Midway and used it at times and then my son gave me an almost new one from Hornaday. To be honest I only use them occasionally now, still wiping the cases off with that towel most of the time. Not as shiny or pretty as many like but they shoot just fine. When I do tumble cases I only run them about an hour. If they're not ready by then they gets loaded anyway.
Baker
Baker
I personally like nice, shiny cases when loading. I use Dillon's case cleaner in corn cob media. With that it only takes my Lyman about three hours to shine the brass up nice. I have read that a piece of hard grit or sand can scratch a carbide die, though it has never happened to me. But my Lyman is now 23 years old and one heck of a bargain.
Lee says it is not necessary to tumble your brass. However, I hate tarnished or discolored brass so I use a Frankford vibrator and presto-chango, shiney brass!
If I have to use case lube I put em back in the media and give em another hour or so after they are loaded.
If I have to use case lube I put em back in the media and give em another hour or so after they are loaded.
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It's a personal preference thing. Makes it easier to lube cases, prettier when shooting at the range, and it's easy to just throw them in the media when you come back from the range and take them out later. I use a timer on mine. No it's not necessary. It does help in keeping the brass from getting scratched up as easily with grit that may be left on the case when running through the sizing die. I still lay a handful at a time out on a towel after removing from the tumbler and rub vigorously to remove any dust ot dirt.
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Nice thing about the media tumblers, if you use the Barnes TSX's, the tumblers are great to Moly the bullets, or you can moly any bullets with the tumbler, gets a very even coat when tumbled. Les
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That's why they have lids. Besides, how much lead dust can there be on a fired case? Seems I'd get more from handling the lead bullets.
When I put a polishing agent in with the media, it also helps knock the dust down. I've been using a tumbler for twenty + years, don't have lead poisoning yet. Like anything else, it takes a little common sense.
I'd say much ado about nuthing----
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21,868 Posts
It just seems so much easier to throw the cases in a tumbler and do something else. I use walnut shell and and add a small amount of a liquid polish. I think the lead content is small and not an issue. I had my blood lead tested in my last physical and there wasn't any detected. I felt good about that as I reload lead in 38 Spl, 357 Mag, 45 ACP and shotshell.
I have one of the cheap Frankford Arsenal ones from Midway too. I plug it in out on the deck and let it run for a few hours with some corncob media and some Iosso brass polish. It keeps the gunk off my dies. Sometime I don't bother and just wipe the cases but I prefer to have them tumbled clean.
Don't buy the corncob media they sell for tumblers. The sell the same stuff as pet bedding at the pet store for a fraction of the price.
Don't buy the corncob media they sell for tumblers. The sell the same stuff as pet bedding at the pet store for a fraction of the price.
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