Frankfort Arsenal Rotary Tumbler

[NCMedic]

I'm slowly gathering my reloading supplies as I go and the next step is to process all the brass I've hoarded over the years (30 gal garbage can about 1/2 full....)
Ive decided to go the route of SS wet tumbling to start, since I'll be reloading in the house, trying to keep this as clean as possible.
Plan to deprime, already got a Harvey Deprimer Tool and have been depriming while watching TV and sorting brass, and then wet tumble.
Anyone using the FA Rotary Tumbler, seems to get good reviews, and is on sale on Amazon currently for $150 with 5lbs of pins.

 

[BigWaylon]

Only used mine once so far, but worked well. $150/shipped with pins isn't a bad deal.

 

[GymB]

I have FARTed a lot over the past year. I also deprive first, but I don't do it in the house.

 

[Mikail]

I'm slowly gathering my reloading supplies as I go and the next step is to process all the brass I've hoarded over the years (30 gal garbage can about 1/2 full....)
Ive decided to go the route of SS wet tumbling to start, since I'll be reloading in the house, trying to keep this as clean as possible.
Plan to deprime, already got a Harvey Deprimer Tool and have been depriming while watching TV and sorting brass, and then wet tumble.
Anyone using the FA Rotary Tumbler, seems to get good reviews, and is on sale on Amazon currently for $150 with 5lbs of pins.

Tempting, but going to try building a homemade model in a week or two. Have digested lots of vids and versions of brass/rock tumblers and have some plans rolling around in my noodle.

 

[Charlie R]

IMHO, for pistol, wet tumbling is the way to go. I can load 2 to 3 hundred rounds in it, turn it on; let it run; and in two hours I have beautiful brass. Even the primer pockets are nice and clean. It's not necessary, but I like nice shiny brass. There are two things to look out for however.

The Lemishine can cause discoloration of the brass relatively quickly if you do not rinse it well after tumbling. Don't use too much either, a 9mm case full is enough. I typically fill and drain the container a minimum of four times.

You will also definitely need a media separator as the pins can get stuck in the flash hole and play havoc with your decapping pins and primer seating. When I noticed this, I started running the dry brass through the media separator before loading it. I have not seen any pins in the spent primer tray since adding this step.

There are those who will point out that all of this is not necessary and a waste of time, but for me reloading the ammo is as much a hobby as burning it, but I don't have to wait for daylight or go to the range to enjoy it.

 

[dave33]

Jet.com has been selling them for around $125 shipped in the past, you might want to check them out. I caught a good sale at cabelas on mine.

I don't decap or use the pins that came with it and my brass looks like new on the outside. Don't really care about the inside and primer pockets, and I can clean brass super fast that way.

 

[Toprudder]

Love my FART. I have used it a LOT. I use just a touch of Lemishine, and about an ounce of Armorall Wash-n-Wax. I use hot water for washing, and cold water for rinsing. The Wash-n-Wax leaves a very thin film of wax that keeps the brass from tarnishing later.

 

[Sasquatch]

I love mine too- I actually use it too much. Rifle gets cleaned with pins after I deprime (frankford hand deprimer). Then I size, trim, and throw it in the FART again (no pins) to get rid of the brass shavings. 9mm gets cleaned once without pins.

 

[NoNameHaveI]

What is everyone using to separate the brass and pins from the water? Been looking for a good sized fine strainer that the pins won't fall through.

 

[BigWaylon]

What is everyone using to separate the brass and pins from the water? Been looking for a good sized fine strainer that the pins won't fall through.

I've installed one strainer cap and tried to pour off the water. Then install the other and rinse a little into a 5gal bucket. Pour that water out (slowly) and the pins stay in the bottom. Brass and some pins stay in the tumbler through those steps.

I shake most of the water out, again into the bucket to catch the pins. Then I dump the brass and remaining pins out on a towel and use the FA magnet.



You can also use the magnet to get the pins out of the 5gal bucket once the water is poured off.

 

[chiefjason]

What is everyone using to separate the brass and pins from the water? Been looking for a good sized fine strainer that the pins won't fall through.

I tried fine mesh or colanders. Not much success. What I use for know is a piece of cloth, feels kind of like a pillow case. Drape it over a colander then pour the brass and pins in. Bunch it up to squeeze extra water out. Then you can lay the fabric flat to pick out the brass. Pretty low tech but effective. I do all this outside so I don't care about making a mess. I keep a magnet around to grab any stray pins. I'll probably change this eventually, but it works for now.

 

[trcubed]

I dump brass, pins, water into a separator and spin it a few times. The brass stays in the separator, water and pins in the bucket. Decant the water, then pour the pins back into the tumbler cylinder. FA has a separator with a lid that would work much better.

 

[Toprudder]

I use the RCBS media separator. I fill the bottom with water, set the basket in and rotate it for a minute or so. Having the basket in the water helps the pins to release (they don't stick to the brass).

Since the RCBS has a bottom and a top cover, I just leave them separated, one with water, and one without. When I am done spinning the basket in the one with water, I move it to the other one and spin it to remove as much water as I can.