Berry 400 Tumbler

Berry’s are a relatively new name here in the UK, but they have been supplying American shooters with bullets for over 55-years, more recently adding other shooting related items to their product range including case tumbler.

The Kit on test is based around Berry’s 400 vibratory tumbler, a very heavy duty piece of kit much sturdier than other brands of tumblers and definitely built to last. You also get a pan sifter for separating the tumbler media from the cases, a bag of corn media, a bottle of brass polish and a five-gallon bucket with a lid.

Tumbling act

The tumbler is of the typical circular design with the vibrating bowl sitting on top of a base unit which houses the motor. With substantial rubber feet the unit stays still when it is running and very little vibration is transferred to the workbench. The large bowl will hold up to 200 .308 Winchester cases plus media and it has a clear lid making it possible to check the progress of the cleaning without stopping or opening the tumbler. The clear lid is useful but unfortunately it seems rather brittle and so needs treating with care. It looks like over tightening the knob that secures the lid, dropping it, or putting something on top of it when it is off the bowl would crack the plastic. The plastic is not thin, it just seems a bit brittle so be careful!

The corn media is relatively fine and cleans and polishes the brass to a really shiny finish. Adding a couple of caps full of the brass polish to the corn media adds an even finer finish to the cases which will help in the reloading process.

For particularly dirty brass Berry’s also sell a walnut media that will shift the heavier soiling but doesn’t produce such a shiny finish.

The clean

The media is placed into the bowl and, with the tumbler switched on, the brass polish is added and left to mix in. The cases are then added and the tumbler left to run for around ninety minutes. When the cases are clean you simply pour the entire contents of the bowl into the sifter, over the bucket, and give it a shake to separate the media from the cases. The tumbler works quickly, giving good results in a relatively short time.

Conclusion

The kit includes all you need to clean your cases ready for reloading and all of the components are very well engineered. This tumbler seems to really get the contents of the bowl moving and flowing which contributes to the speed and the quality of the clean. Very usefully the tumbler, spare media and polish can all be stored in the bucket for safe keeping which is a nice touch. Overall great quality and very reasonably priced.