Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Case Tumbler

[PARA45]

Midway USA has this case cleaner for over half off. Does anyone has the same cleaner they can tell me if it’s worth it or not? Thanks!

 

[marcosfal]

A friend of mine has 2 at the old price. That's all he will use anymore. He has had them for quite a while now and still raves on about them.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

The topic of this tumbler has come up a couple of times. Rather than starting a new thread, I figured I'd just add to this one my review. I got a good deal on this from Midway also about a month ago. Not quite half off, something like $169 at the time.

Well I finally have got motivated and found some time to get started on my brass project. I have untold amounts of brass in various calibers waiting on sizing and cleaning. I have decided during my holiday time off when not at DSC to get all of my brass ready for reloading.

So last night I sized 100 pieces of .470NE to get started. This included trimming with my also new Hornady Case Prep station, but that's another thread.

So tonite it was time to give this tumbler a go. I also bought a Lyman "Rotary Sifter Pan Set" for separating the steel pins from the brass once finished.

The tumbler is easy enough in theory to setup. There are two inserts with rubber O-rings that go in at either end of the barrel that holds the brass. Put one of these in and screw down the retaining ring. Flip over and fill the barrel with the brass, pins, water, a bit of Dawn and I also added a bit of LemiShine.

Now put in the other insert and seal with the other retaining ring and off you go. Put the barrel on the base unit and set the timer......but wait not so fast for me. I'm not sure quite what I did wrong. The water is not under any pressure and I felt like I had initially screwed down the retaining rings tight enough. But apparently not as there was some water leaking out.

And where does that water go? It ends up at least in part on the rollers of the base unit. This basically acts as oil and the friction you need between the barrel and the rollers is gone and the barrel will not rotate.

I had to retry tightening the retaining rings a couple of times to get it right, I've no idea how I screwed this very simple thing up, but I found a way. Once I got it right and it stopped leaking, I ran the brass for 2 hours.

And it came out great, the brass looks virtually new, inside and out. Hopefully it'll go a little easier next time. Oh and btw, even with the big 470's, 100 pieces fit in the barrel just fine. Maybe 1/2 full.

 

[Nevada Wapati]

They do a great job of cleaning cases. It's amazing how dirty the water is after running a batch through.

The caps are definitely difficult to tighten and loosen with just your hands. I found using a rubber strap wrench works well for this.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

They do a great job of cleaning cases. It's amazing how dirty the water is after running a batch through.

The caps are definitely difficult to tighten and loosen with just your hands. I found using a rubber strap wrench works well for this.

As a pool owner I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it the first time, but find yourself some O-ring lubricant/sealant. Amazon is likely your friend here for this or if you have any pool shops nearby that supply chlorine and such for pools they’ll have it. Every pool has a pump and an incoming filter for that pump. That filter needs cleaned out and therefore there is a lid with an O-ring that seals it when closed.

The lube/sealant I think is just a silicon grease, but it does the job well and prevents leaks under at least the pressure of a pool pump. And the best part you don’t have to risk pulling out your spleen trying to tighten the lid.

I just started another 250 some odd pieces of 375HH and a few more 470’s I’d missed on the first go around. I used the O-ring sealant and no leaks with tightening the lids by hand.