A company called “Thumler” used to make a very good tumbler that used a rubber drum that was rotated by an electric motor much like the ones rock hounds used to polish rocks. The early vibratory cleaners didn’t last long but after they worked out the longevity issues Thumler’s machines lost favor because the vibratory cleaners were much faster and were more fun to watch at gun shows. Lyman and Dillon make quality machines, not sure about the Midway machines but I think they’re good these days. I like Dillon’s media separator but the Lyman separator takes up less room and uses one of those buckets we all have lying around. I like my Dillon cleaner and separator but would give the Lyman system a hard look if I ever wear it out or break it.

Mike

oldcrankyyankee said
Well I finally made it back here to review this post and I would like to thank everyone for all the input. I am going to try the simple things first, going to give the walnut shells a whirls first. I do see a dividing line thats about 50/50 as to depriming first or after. guess we will try both and see the out come. good conversation.

  

What method you choose (e.g. how many different ways and times you clean your brass) might be correlated to how much time you have on your hands.  I’m still working full-time and that has a bearing for me.  Once I retire, if I find myself faced with waves of boredom, I’ll be adding some more steps to cleaning my brass.

I generally load 50 to 100 rounds at a time every week. I use 3 single stage presses.  I overdo most steps because I have been trying to load and shoot like my mentor. 

So if every step is as perfect as I can make it and there is a problem it is most likely me. I either messed up the load or didn’t get behind the gun and keep it steady.  This is really hard to do with my older collectable guns.  We are at a great disadvantage when it comes to almost anything we need to load these.