Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler
Clean all your brass at once! (Or most of it...)
One of the things I love about American Handgunner and GUNS Magazine is the ability to have a conversation both with readers and other writers. You’ve all seen Brent and Tom squabble during Gun Cranks episodes and they also hide jabs within their own written work.
This time I’m continuing the conversation Dave Workman started a little while ago on wet tumbling. I agree with Tom McHale, wet tumbling is the way to go. Since getting into reloading myself, I’ve always wet-tumbled my brass. It produces the prettiest brass you’ve ever seen, so much so it almost seems new. (Yes, Brent, my OCD self also likes to see the dirt and grime drain off.)
My dad uses the Thumler’s Tumbler my sister and I originally had for tumbling rocks. I use a Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series 7L Rotary Tumbler. You know it’s a good product when my dad asks to borrow it. This unit holds an impressive amount of brass, capable of cleaning up to 1,000 pieces of .223 brass at one time and a similar, if not greater number of 9mm casings. The drum features screw caps on each side with optional sifting caps to separate pins or to rinse cleaned brass. The drum is made of a polymer material with a rubber lining for noise reduction. I especially appreciate the lack of metal and thereby, absence of rust.
A maintenance-free drive train eliminates the need for belt replacements and an easy to use timer built into the base can run for up to three hours with an automatic shutoff. Though it comes with sample brass cleaning solution, a little bit of dish soap, Lemi-Shine and the included stainless-steel pins do the job just as well. The sifting caps work best with a 5-gallon bucket, I prefer to use separate pans in a smaller sink area. I heartily recommend the Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler for anyone doing large batches of brass or who wants to get it all done at once.
