Vibrating vs Rotary case tumblers

[EastHumboldt]

Which style works better and why? Looking at the Frankford Arsenal Quik N Easy model.... anybody have experience with this lil dude?

 

[gbflyer]

I’ve got a vibe with lizard bedding media but the word is that a tumbler with the stainless pins is the cats meow.

 

[wind gypsy]

Rotary with SS will get your brass much cleaner but it seems to be consensus that it can impact your seating pressure/neck tension and leaving a little more carbon in the necks may result in more consistent velocities.

I did nothing but SS wet tumble for my first 3 or 4 years and loaded good ammo. I do like avoiding the whole drying period that accompanies wet tumbling.

Frankford arsenal makes good, economical versions of either, I have both styles from them.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Carbon residue in necks can act as a lubricant but may also increase variation in seating force.
For example, in a study of carbon built up inside the necks, the average tensile force progressively decreased in uncleaned cases from 103 lbf for once shot cases down to 74 lbf for three times shot down to 43.5 lbf for ten times shot cases.

The variation in seating force may be substantial. For example cases that were not cleaned (fired 1X, annealed, bushing die) had a standard deviation of seating force of 19.0, while cases that were fired 2X, annealed, cleaned and dry lubed had a standard deviation of 1.4.

source: https://www.ampannealing.com/articles/42/annealing-under-the-microscope/

 

[EastHumboldt]

It was cheap and available so I ordered the FA quik n EZ. I’ll get some lizard bedding. Do I clean after sizing and before priming?

 

[MThuntr]

Make sure you shake the dust out of that stuff first not necessary just something worth doing if you have OCD...also possibly a polish if you like cases shiny.

Yes tumble after sizing...again if you have OCD or want clean brass going into your sizing dies you tumble first then size then tumble again. Completely unnecessary but reloading brings out some strange rituals.

My preference will always be stainless steel wet tumbling. The amount of carbon that comes out of cases is amazing and they look nearly brand new when you're done. Again an OCD thing

 

[peterk123]

I use a vibrating one with walnut as the aggregate. I throw in some cut up dryer sheets and a cap full of liquid car wax. Comes out shiny enough for me.

 

[wind gypsy]

Carbon residue in necks can act as a lubricant but may also increase variation in seating force.
For example, in a study of carbon built up inside the necks, the average tensile force progressively decreased in uncleaned cases from 103 lbf for once shot cases down to 74 lbf for three times shot down to 43.5 lbf for ten times shot cases.

The variation in seating force may be substantial. For example cases that were not cleaned (fired 1X, annealed, bushing die) had a standard deviation of seating force of 19.0, while cases that were fired 2X, annealed, cleaned and dry lubed had a standard deviation of 1.4.

source: https://www.ampannealing.com/articles/42/annealing-under-the-microscope/

Be curious to see what the variance in seating pressure would be firing to firing in cases that were cleaned in standard corn/walnut media vs uncleaned.

I can see the variance firing to firing, but also worth noting is any variance round to round on the same firing. Would be interesting to see this done on a single box of consistent brass, say lapua 6br. 50 pieces vibratory cleaned and 50 wet tumbled, over multiple firings.

 

[StopMakingSense]

I grabbed the Rebel 17 along with the media separator. Cases are beautiful every time with primer pockets shiny. I've only had 1 piece of SS Media in a case when using the separator. The setup saves so much time and is just hassle-free. If you happen to leave it in overnight just run it for 30minutes prior to taking it out or the cases almost look yellow after drying. The Lemi Shine starts to adhere just a bit much.

1 gallon of hot water, 1/4 teaspoon of Lemi Shine, 2 tbsp of dish detergent, let it ride for 4 hours then dry. I've done over 300 cycles now at this point and it hasn't skipped a beat. I've also barely lost any media, not sure when I'll ever need to buy more. Clean up is also a breeze as I just put the media away wet every time and close up the tumbler.

Stainless Steel Deluxe Reloading Kit

Deluxe Kit Includes: -5lbs Stainless Steel Media (size is .047"x.255") -ALL NEW!! Extreme Tumblers Rebel 17 (click here for details) -STM Rotary Media Separator -LemiShine Detergent Note: The 230v is for International use and comes with a UK style plug. You will need to supply the motor with...

stainlesstumblingmedia.com

I picked this up so it would self stop after 4 hours - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MVDTEXS

I wanted quicker dry times (I was air drying) so I grabbed this too, works awesome - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weston-4-Tray-White-Food-Dehydrator-75-0601-W/311940707

Unknown Munitions also uses the Rebel 17 ... a good tutorial on their Instagram stories.

 

[snuzzo29]

It was cheap and available so I ordered the FA quik n EZ. I’ll get some lizard bedding. Do I clean after sizing and before priming?

I tumble in walnut before sizing to clean the cases and then tumble in corn after sizing to remove case lube. I have found walnut cleans the cases the best and corn does a better job at polishing.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I tumble in walnut before sizing to clean the cases and then tumble in corn after sizing to remove case lube. I have found walnut cleans the cases the best and corn does a better job at polishing.

How many cases do you get from say 2 lbs of cleaning media?And do you just use straight media or other ingredients?

 

[snuzzo29]

How many cases do you get from say 2 lbs of cleaning media?And do you just use straight media or other ingredients?

I reuse the media until it stops doing a good job cleaning the cases. This can be 10+ uses. I found adding a dryer sheet while tumbling will help keep the dust down and seems to help the media last longer. I do add some brass polish, I am using Berry's, to the media. Not necessary but helps polish the cases.

 

[Deplorable77]

I get over 20k cases cleaned before the walnut starts looking dirty, but that is nowhere near the end of its useful life. Adding cut up dryer sheets to every load is critical for keeping the media clean. I add NuFinish car wax every load, it makes a noticeable difference imo. The walnut in this pic is around 12k cleaned. Before and after