It's out in the shop right now but for the $14, they seem to be well made. Rugged enough. Not sure of the plastic type - but sturdy and fit perfect to the first ring on the sieve into a 5 gallon bucket. The screen is captured - you can see it here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/360482926395

I tell you though, I am not really liking the Southern Shine cut media. ROYAL PITA compared to pins and it does not seem to be as magnetic. Perhaps better SS alloy...........hmm...messy!

Here are a few photos of the screen







Screen strength was one of my big concerns, but it's pretty tough. Once I pour the contents of the tumbler (five pounds of media plus brass) into it and rinse it out, I pick up the screen by the edges and I don't worry about the bottom falling out. I do put a support hand under the center of it when I carry the whole mess out to the garage, but I don't think I really need to.

Hello. Plus as noted the SS is not the same alloy or has not been worked as much as the pins. It is attracted to a magnet, but not not strongly so. I will reserve it for some nasty old brass, but everyday usage will be the pins.

Yeah, I still have my brand-new Southern Shine media in the package . . . based on what I've heard from others, I haven't had the heart to stop using the pins to give it a try.

Maybe I'll use it if I find a caliber that's "just right" and causes the pins to stick in the cases. Otherwise, I'll probably just stick with pins.

Thank you Pablo and MadPick.

It -seems- like it would have to be tough if it is being used by prospectors and assayers, but some products don't live up to real world work so had to ask.

What is your total weight? I hesitate to say how many pounds my full tumbler weighs.
Just checked... From the manual "Total weight of the drum should not exceed 30 pounds."
I've hit that number a few times.
The batch I did last night tared at 17.5 pounds of brass.

As for the contents of the tumbler, I don't know . . . but I suspect it's lighter than yours.

Probably a practice that will make it last a lot longer.

It may carry the weight right now, but given time, it will tend to crack and break where those 'supports' across the bottom, meet the sides. And where they meet each other in the middle.

And the jury has returned a verdict....

I tumbled a couple hundred rounds of 6.5 Jap . . . and one had a pin stuck in it.

Then I did a couple hundred rounds of 6.5 Carcano:





I have a set of bigger pins; maybe I'll use those for my next batch of 6.5 Whatever.

I think that looks real nice. Has a nice symmetry. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, man. I appreciate the experienced reloading advice!

No problem man, I don't mind helping a newbie.

Another freebie: to get that little bit more velocity that many folks aim for, wrap your bullet in gaffer's tape and run a swab of lard down the barrel. The gaffer's tape increases your pressure with no need for more of that expensive powder and the lard makes it easier for that bullet to squirt out like a watermelon seed at a picnic.
Also as the lard burns behind the bullet it acts like a jet afterburner.


No charge for you bud.

Once case where the chip media would have been better

Yeah. Well, at least it wouldn't have stuck.

By the way, my check for stuck pins was deliberately done AFTER the brass came out of the media separator, so obviously all that rockin' and rollin' wasn't enough to dislodge the pins.

Do you count your turns on the media separator?
My method was - a Rite-in-the-rain notepad and waterproof pen at hand, count the turns in sets of 15 revolutions. After each batch of 15 turns I remove all the pins on the bottom of the separator and make a mark on the waterproof pad... Narrow it down to 5 revolutions per set near the end in later batches.
Each caliber has its own row.
The bottle neck cases require quite a bit higher turns than the straight wall. No surprise.
The easiest lesson to learn was to NEVER mix cases. The mixed batches took sometimes 5x as many revolutions as the single caliber batches.

I used to . . . now I just wing it. It's easier with stainless steel media than corncob, since you can really hear and feel the difference as the media falls away.



Yeah, that's a given. Doesn't matter if you're doing dry or wet tumbling, always sort first....