NEW Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler!

[Mdphotographer]

my review on the FA rotary tumbler hope you find it informative

Here is the link to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbE4cJ0qy9c

 

[Mdphotographer]

If you dont have the time to watch the video let me sum up my first impressions experiences with this product.

The price was very good I paid 189.99 which included 5lbs of SS media from Graf & Sons and shipping was free so I got it $30 cheaper then I could of from Midway and almost $100 cheaper then STM's Rebel 17!

While it is a plastic product it isn't cheap plastic.The barrel is a good commercial grade plastic and has a heavy rubber lining.Gaskets for the barrel mouths are thick rubber and sealed very well. You do want to make sure no water is on the threads before screwing caps on as this water will leak out until gone but after that no water leakage at all.Compared to the openings for the Thumblers/STM Rebel17 the FA tumbler is so easy to open and close the other tumblers have 8 thumb screws to tighten down.

The motor in the base uses gears to rotate the tumbler and from the sound of them they are metal gears which hopefully will last a good long time,the other tumblers use a belt from the motor and they tend to break.

Emptying the water from the barrel was supper easy I put a screen over the shifter insert to try to keep as much of the SS media in the barrel as possible and this worked fairly well a few of the small bars got through the screening but not many.

After separating the water I used my RCBS media separator to separate the media from the brass which worked well. ALWAYS keep in mind that the little SS bars will get EVERYWHERE if you let it so don't go banging the sides of the barrel to get it out as when it does come out it will probably go where you dont want it too.

As I said the barrel uses a heavy commercial plastic for its construction.If you drop it on a concrete floor empty you probably won't hurt it.However if you drop it when it has water SS and brass in it you are very likely to damage the barrel I would not move the barrel off my bench.Drain it into a bucket fill it with a pitcher this way you are handling it when full as little as possible and gives you a better chance to shift out the SS bars as you dispose of the water.

Get a large magnet to round up stray SS bars. FA sells one that isnt available yet in great numbers it would appear this is my next purchase as it will greatly ease clean up and keep you from losing media. Also NEVER drain this water into a sink with a garbage disposal because just a bar or two of the SS media will jam up your disposal.

I will post some pics soon

 

[jstemple]

Just got mine on Thurs. and am quite pleased with it . I run about a hundred and fifty 243's in it for two hours and it's the cleanest brass I've ever had. Think I'm going to order a magnet off of e-bay they're like 7-11 bucks with free shipping depending on what size you get sure will make the media easier to deal with.

 

[lx1x]

very nice.. thanks for sharing!

 

[Mdphotographer]

If you didn't see the video I ran about 750 .40 S&W through the tumbler for 3 hours and the brass looks brand new inside and out I just ran 36 7mm STW,80 or so 6mm SPC and 100 .22-250 cases through it even tho they didnt really NEED cleaning and they look beautiful I looked on the STM website and they are selling a food dehydrator for drying the brass think I will go to walmart and get one next time I have to clean some brass


Anyone new to reloading who wants to clean their brass and maybe reload some on my equipment let me know would be happy to help you learn the ins and outs of reloading

 

[jstemple]

Did you use the brass cleaner that came with the tumbler or something else? I used lemi-shine and dawn ,might have used a little to much dawn as the water was pretty sudsy I guess you would say.

 

[Mdphotographer]

I used the sample they sent I need to get some lemi-shine next time I am in Walmart

 

[HarCo2ANewb]

Lowe's has it, I think Wegmans does as well.

 

[Flipz]

Lowe's has it, I think Wegmans does as well.

Yep, Lowes has it. That's where I get mine.

 

[BenL]

Aren't you worried about water in the cases? How long does it take to completely dry?

ETA: I watched the video. It's really impressive how clean it gets the brass.

 

[Mdphotographer]

Not right now I am not because I am in no rush to reload the brass I have clean I plan on getting a food dehydrator to dry the cases in the future or you can always slide them in the oven on a cookie sheet at 100 degrees and that will dry them out

 

[HarCo2ANewb]

Aren't you worried about water in the cases? How long does it take to completely dry?

I use the Frank. Arse. rotating media separator to get the pins out and to spin dry the cases, run them in a towel like a bowling ball (think Jesus in The Big Lebowski) and then leave em out in the sun to dry completely.

 

[Praeger]

Where you using anything besides the Lemi-shine, such as dishwasher detergent?

 

[Traveler]

I use a little Dawn dish liquid, and either lemishine, or finish brand rinse agent.

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/tips/