Frankfort Wet Media Case Tumbler???

[SidecarFlip]

Anyone try it yet? less expensive that the STM/Thumler unit and it appears (in the ad for it) to have more capacity (1000 223 cases) versus 500 for the STM/Thumler unit.

Cabelas had it on sale so I have one on order (had enough points...lol) $169.00 with 5 pounds of pins...

Comments?

 

[MadMarty911]

There was a thread on Canadian GunNutz about these -general concensus is overwhelmingly positive. One thing I took from it irregardless of brand - tumble with pins the first time ONLY! This way you work any burrs etc off your pins so they dont mar your brass.

I actually just purchased a FA kit and am awaiting it in the mail!

 

[SidecarFlip]

Got a notification from the store it was in (I live about 3 miles from a Cabelas emporium of overpriced goods) Saturday evening so I picked it up yesterday, unpacked it immediately used it on 200 308 cases (no run in to remove burrs, in retrospect, probably should have...)

It comes with a packet of their cleaner which I didn't use. I used Ajax liquid dish soap (I'm allergic to Dawn dish soap) and a small amount of Lemishine liquid. Ran for 2 hours, they were pretty dirty, They came out nice, especally the primer pockets and the flash holes...perfect and I eliminated that step on cleaning....

I ram mine on tap water unheated, cold water.

I also got the retrieval magnet with the tumbler (recommended) as the pins want to migrate around a bit....

One thing I noticed was the pins like to get wedged crossways in the case mouths on a 308 round. No biggie but an inconvience.

Not that quiet when it runs (sounds like a washing machine).

Works fine and for the price ($169.00 complete on sale at Cabelas), it's pretty hard to beat compared to the STM / Thumler unit at $219.00 plus shipping.

Put them on a cookie sheet and popped them in the oven at 170 degrees (electric oven) for about 15 minutes. Came out like new.

Finally, the 200 (308) cases sisn't even make a dent in the drum capacity. I bet I can load close to 500 (308) cases in the drum with no issue....

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Tumbling cases seems to be more about cosmetics than for any other reason that I can tell. I rarely clean my cases by any method.
However, I caved in and bought the STM system and have got to admit that it works as good as they say, if not better. On the rare occasion that I bother to tumble my cases they come out looking better than new, much better. And cases that have been shot many times cause the water to turn dark grey-black, indicating that there may have been more residue built up in the cases than you would believe.

If you don't mind the cost of the system or the inconvenience of running it you will be very impressed with the results.

 

[SidecarFlip]

The water was decidedly black. The pins are a pita. When wet they stick to everything and I had a couple lodge sideways in some case necks that I had to remove. No biggie.

The Frankfort retrieval magnet is a winner. pick the pins up, get them over the barrel and pull to release.

The Frankfort tumbler is substantially less expensive than the STM / Thumler offering and it's direct drive, no belts. The barrel sits atop the power unit on 4 flanged wheels, 2 drive and two freewheel.

I still have my old cob tumbler for small jobs.

I'm pretty anal about case prep anyway and I like my brass to look good. The big thing I like is the clean pockets and flash holes. That alone makes iot worthwhile and saves ma gobs of time (from manually cleaning them).

 

[Bullydog]

Had one for a year now. I don't use the pins that came with.
I am using someone else's pins which are much smaller.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Had one for a year now. I don't use the pins that came with.
I am using someone else's pins which are much smaller.

Good grief, Even smaller pins would be even harder to corral. Those little buggers are bad enough to deal with. I take it you mean shorter length? Not smaller in diameter?

 

[Carpe Beerem]

I have been using one for about 6 months and think it is great. Cases are very clean with no more need to clean out the primer pockets. I just pick the case out of the barrel after draining and throw them in clean water as a final rinse. I pat them dry, getting the water from inside and throw them in a cheapo food dehydrator to dry. Been working great! I would like to try some shorter pins to see if they keep from sticking in the case. Not a big problem, a few shakes and they fall out but would be faster if they fell when up-tuned all the time.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I see you can buy the pins on flea-bay. I'll have to check out some shorter ones as well.

Nice to know yours is running fine. Don't appear to be much to go wrong anyway.

My wife has a dehydrator but she won't let me 'borrow' it...lol

 

[Carpe Beerem]

Harbor Freight has cheap ones, think about 20 bucks is what I paid.

 

[Bullydog]

Good grief, Even smaller pins would be even harder to corral. Those little buggers are bad enough to deal with. I take it you mean shorter length? Not smaller in diameter?

Yes, shorter is what I meant

 

[Mateo]

I heard the 6.5mm cases tend to get the pins clumped together and wedged in the neck. Anyone also have this? These are with the branded STM pins apparently. Are other pins a different diameter?

 

[g0rd0]

5 lbs of 17 cal bbs from walmart

 

[SidecarFlip]

Well, I looked on Flea-Bay and online and it appears all the pins (I could find) are the same length. I suspect it's only an issue with 30 caliber and not that big of an issue. I got maybe 4 cases where the pin (not pins) but one pin got lodged in the neck sideways and it came right out with some help from a small screwdriver.

I can deal with that considering the time I used to spend cleaning primer pockets and flash holes (that I don't have to fiddle with anymore.)

I did see that youi can buy 304 stainless (what the pins are) in other shapes besides pins. It comes in tiny balls and rectangles too.

I realize that neither the balls or rectangles will go through the flash holes but I wonder if adding some balls or rectangles will enhance the process??