[flashhole]

After all the years I've been reloading I finally broke down and bought a vibrating tumbler. I picked up a Lyman model 2200 Turbo with the autoflo feature. The tumbling media arrives soon and I should put the tumbler into service this weekend.

Anyone have the model 2200? Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[tacklebury]

I have the smaller model, but I do about 200 brass at a time without issue. I mix .45-70, .45 colt and .45 acp all the time. I use "Tuffnut" walnut media from Franklin Arsenal and RCBS powder packet brass polish. I like the powder, because it's easy to add, you can add it directly while tumbling without running the tumbler for 1/2 an hour empty and it works pretty good. My wife's allergic to corn cobs, so I only use the walnut. My next set-up will be an Ultrasonic I think though. like this:

http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

 

[zb338]

I don't care that much for the walnut because it seems to leave very
light scratches on my brass. I use the green Lyman corncobb media.
It is treated with something hence the green. Works great for me and
I use the same media for years.

Zeke

 

[flashhole]

Well my walnut media arrived and I've processed my first two batches of brass. The tumbler works well and is not too noisy, I noticed I can "tune" it with the cap screw to be pretty quiet. The autoflo feature works well too, not near as messy as I thought it might be. The tumbler cleans the brass ok but they aren't very shinny. I picked up some BRASSO to help that situation but it didn't make a noticible difference.

 

[Marshal Kane]

. . . The tumbler cleans the brass ok but they aren't very shinny. I picked up some BRASSO to help that situation but it didn't make a noticible difference.

Having used it for years, can recommend both Dillon's and Flitz brass polish. Either will give you a new brass finish and does not contain ammonia which can attack brass.

BTW, you didn't mention how long you tumbled your brass. I tumble two to three hundred handgun cases at a time in corncob with brass polish for about three hours to get the shine I want. My old rotary tumbler had to run overnight to get the same results. Enjoy your new tumbler!

 

[flashhole]

I tumbled the brass for 4 hours. I may have to look into the other brass polish.

 

[scott0116]

I have never had a tumbler and have been loading for 20 years. I am getting tired of washing and drying and spilling liquid cleaners all over me and everything around me. I am about to break down and buy one of the cheaper ones to put out in my casting shed. Do tumblers require temperature control to protect the motors? My shed doesn't have heating or cooling and i live in a humid area but am not willing to have or use a tumbler indoors.

 

[recoil junky]

I've also got he smaller Lyman one and I use the Lyman green corn cob media. (got it about 5-6 years ago) Leaves the brass almost too slick to handle. Well with my clumsy fingers anyway. I still have some of the media I bought with the tumbler, but I have another jug in reserve. I've cleaned at least 15,000 rounds with it so far and to be honest? I don't know why I waited so long to get one.

RJ

 

[oloutlaw]

hey Flash...I also use tuffnut, but I bought the stuff with the jewlers rouge in it, and it does a great job. has kind of a red tint to it...... good stuff

 

[Jack]

I've used a Lyman tumbler for many years- before the Auto Flo feature existed. The Lyman has held up well for me.
Scott, my reloading area is not heated or cooled- and I live in a northern climate where it gets cold in the winter. The tumbler seems unaffected by temperature.

 

[dwbender]

Another nice option with the Lyman is that when the motor does wear out, you can contact Lyman and just order another base and not have to buy the whole assembly. You can't do this with some of the other brands from what I have been told. This will save you about half the cost of getting the whole assembly.

I do wish Lyman would put an on/off switch in the power cord. I may do this myself one of these days.

 

[flashhole]

I see that complaint about the lack of a power switch expressed frequently on internet forums. The model 2200 that I purchased has a push button on/off switch on the body of the base.

 

[unclepaddy]

Having used it for years, can recommend both Dillon's and Flitz brass polish. Either will give you a new brass finish and does not contain ammonia which can attack brass.

Roger that, and the Dillon polish will go much further, last longer, and clean quicker. I just bought my first bottle of Flitz right after I used up my first bottle of Dillon. Nothing wrong with the Flitz, but the Dillon is easily the best I've used, and I'll be going back to it when the Flitz is gone.

 

[oldreloader]

Tumbler

I've been reloading since the 1960's and just bought my first tumbler, a Lyman1200. It works great with the corn cob media and a capful of New Finish car polish. Cleans up that range brass so I can inspect it better.

 

[bigboredad]

I've been using a lyman 1200 or 24 years I've overloaded left it on foe days run it in the cold and in the heat and it keeps on going I use the cheapest media I can find and then like oldreloader use a cap full of new car finish to get the brand new shine

 

[flashhole]

I've processed about a dozen loads of brass so far. Now I think I have a good mix of media and Brasso polish. The last several loads have been much shinnier than the first few batches. I dump in about 150 - 200 rifle cases at a time and let them go for 4 -5 hours. I especially like the way it does the shoulder and neck on the bottle neck cartridges.

 

[unclenick]

Flash,

I recommend avoiding Brasso because of the ammonia. Check the Wikipedia entry on Season Cracking. Annealing mitigates it, but I don't know how many reloads you can get before the stress builds to the point that you must anneal the neck again to prevent it? I usually anneal once every third, fourth or fifth cycle, depending on the brass, but if I had ammonia exposure, I would expect it to need to be done more frequently. Ammonia and brass under stretching stress (from the seated bullet) are not a good combination, it seems.

There really is no need for ammonia cleaners. You can buy a can of white buffing compound at the auto parts store and dilute it in mineral spirits or denatured alcohol to distribute it in the corncob.

The fastest commercial stuff intended for the purpose is the Lyman green polish. More than twice as fast as red rouge when new. The other brands I've found to be inbetween somewhere.

Like an earlier poster, I've have the smaller 1200 since before the fancy separator bowls, but upgraded the bowls later. I removed the grill on the bottom to improve air flow and often set it on top of an upside down piece of medium pile carpet scrap. The bottom of the scrap is firm enough not to block air flow, while the pile dampens sound transmission to the floor. It works a little more slowly in this configuration, but doesn't irritate the spouse.

On/off switch? I got one of those 12 hour fan timer switches from Lowe's and put it in a box and use it to tell the tumbler when to stop. 2 hours for new media, 4 hours for old.