The Midway USA Model 1292 Tumbler
A Creeker Test

Midway 1292 in blue on right

Many of us use tumblers to clean and even polish our fired brass. For years I used a rotary tumbler to clean my cases especially after resizing rifle cases to remove the case lube. I very seldom took time to polish them. This tumbler was hardly used for pistol cases since I usually shoot alone and care little about the looks of them. Well things changed and I decided to start polishing some of my cases but wanted something faster and larger in which to accomplish the task. While I was looking for larger capacity I didn't want something that would take up a lot of valuable bench space. Perhaps something just a little larger and a lot faster.

I began looking for something to meet my needs. I found several tumblers in different catalogs. While going through the Midway catalog I found a tumbler on sale I thought would do the task. The Midway USA Model 1292 Tumbler which came with a kit that included the Rotary 7 Brass Sifter was what I chose. With the tumbler I ordered 15 pounds of corn cob media and 18 pounds of walnut hull media.

As is normal with Midway my order arrived in a few days well packaged and in good condition. I opened the boxes and laid everything out for inspection. It was all there and the instructions were clear and easy to read. The first thing I noticed the power cord was "long" enough that an extension cord wouldn't be necessary for most applications. I set it on the concrete floor in by basement as per instructions and filled it two thirds full of walnut hull media. I was ready to clean my first batch of cases. This model tumbler holds 600 9mm or 350 .223 cases which isn't a lot but enough for reloaders who load a couple hundred rounds a week.

For the first test I dumped a plastic container of 44 magnum hulls into the walnut hull media. These had been black looking for several prior loadings. I installed the clear plastic lid, turned the machine on and went back to my reloading press to resume what I was doing before the UPS man showed up. About one half hour later I shut the machine down and checked the brass. The hulls were still black looking but clean. I dumped the tumbler contents into the rotary sifter and cranked the handle a few times. I'd never used a rotary sifter before this and I'm here to tell you it works great. After sifting the 44 hulls I dumped them back in the tumbler followed with corn cob media and White Lightning. White Lightning is an ammonia-free brass polish that's made to work with the corn cob media and came in the kit. And work it does. After a couple hours I could hardly believe my eyes upon dumping the mess once again into the sifter. My brass, that was almost black, looked new. Those W-W cases were shinny and new looking; even the head stamps were easily read from several feet.

I find the noise of this tumbler not to be excessive, but it was in my basement. You probably wouldn't want it in the same room while eating dinner with your wife but in the next room would be ok.

Shortly after I purchased the Midway Tumbler I decided to enter the brass business buying range brass to sort, clean, polish, and then resale. This gave me a lot of brass to be cleaned and polished. Let me say right here that this tumbler wasn't designed or intended to do what I've done with it. There have been lots of nights since March (this being Sept.) my machine has run from dusk to dawn. It's went days at a time and was only off long enough to empty and refill. How long will it last? It's hard to say. I've cleaned close to 400 pounds of handgun brass and who knows how much rifle brass with it so far and it's still going strong.

The total cost of the Model 1292 Tumbler/Rotary Sifter Ultimate Pack was $60.99. Would I recommend this tumbler to my shooting friends? Of course I would. It has worked well for me doing something it probably wasn't designed to do and hasn't missed a lick in who knows how many hours. My hat's off to Midway for this one. Check it out.

From the Hollow
LAH