Michael,

Take a real close look at all those tumblers. Other than labels and colors they are for the most part the same.

My guess, and a guess it is, is that they are all made to order by Thumlers.  Thumlers made those tumblers for rock tumbling long before they were used for case tumbling.  

I bought mine at a yard sale as a rock tumbler and a rock has never been in it since I bought it.

I just saw one listed on Craigs List (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) for $40.  Said used once original cost $225.

My Thumbler Mod. B with ceramic media does an excellent job of cleaning even the dirtyest cases. I am not familiar with the RCBS but they appear to be the same. There is no way that a vibrating unit can do as good a job as a Thumbler. And its very quiet as well.

I have thought about replacing the stamped wing nuts with solid ones but why plastic.

Bill

I replaced an ancient Sear's rock tumbler that I could no longer find drive belts for with a Thumbler and went to ceramic media for cleaning cases fired with Black Powder (.357 mag, .44 mag, 40-65 Win, and 45-70 Gvt). A couple of points to consider: Ceramic medial is much heavier than corncob or crushed walnut hulls and when water is added in a volume slightly less than that of the cases and media that drum weighs a great deal, almost as much as if it were two-thirds full of concrete. You definitely need a heavy duty rig and the Thumblers is that. Can't argue that you might find a better price on a used one at a yard sale. If you're in no big rush looking for a deal makes sense. I orignially opted for the angle cut (sometimes known as 'rat-turd') ceramic. It's big selling point is that it will clean out primer pockets. Well, yeah it will. It will also jam in any case that has even a slight taper or bottle neck and in small straight-walled cases. After a year of picking jams (up to 25% of the cases in a batch) out of the 40-65's and .357's I decided to opt for the 3mm beads. I really don't need help cleaning primer pockets and the time spent clearing jams is approximately equal to cleaning all the primer pockets in a batch of cases. No interior jams with the beads. Two beads will often remain in a primer pocket but they are hardly jammed and a quick lift with a dental pick under one will clear them easily. They appear to be mainly held in place by the surface tension of the cleaning solution. Which brings up one more point. Sagebrush offers drying racks and if one of them is of the appropriate size for your cases (they need to be rimmed) it's well worth the price.

Lordy! I sure would have to walk a 'fur piece' from East Tennnessee to find sagebrush. Reckon I'll just settle for locust twigs if that's alright. There's a right smart of 'em around these parts.

Hi All

Thanks for all your comments, the decision is easy I have ordered a Thumbler B also I ordered to types of media and the drying shelf’s from Sagebrush, I am still looking for the 2mm media I think they are small enough not to jam 32-40 cases.

Michael 

The angle cut media that I bought with my Thumbler works fine with large cases (.44 mag. .45-70 etc.) but will clog .38 cases. the pellets are also exactly the diameter os a small primer pocket. Needle nose plyers are very handy here. I'm going to have to look into the 3mm beads. I don't believe I have seen them advertized. Where can they be had?

Oldbluelight. You have a PM.

Bill

My 3mm beads were obtained from Sagebrush.