Lee casting furnace

[ACORN]

Since we've moved I've been considering getting back into casting bullets. Unfortunately I gave my buddy my Lyman furnace, a lubricator/sizer, and miscellaneous other stuff, and sold my Saeco furnace. Now I'm pretty much starting over again. I need to replace it all. I was taught by a buddy to use a ladle. Tried a bottom pour but never got good results. Not to mention dribbling. Lee and Lyman both have pots for dipping but Lee's is a 20lb. cap. Which I'd prefer. Any hands on experience?
Next comes a luber/sizer.

 

[Green Frog]

The main complaint I hear about the Lee is the dripping of the bottom pour pots... if you are going to go with a dipper in a solid bottom pot, I would think you would do fine with that. I own two of the Lee bottom pour pots and have to putz with them often as they turn into "drip-o-matics" as the valve gets contaminated. Fortunately for you, this common problem would not be a problem with the type of pot you suggest.

Froggie

 

[lrrifleman]

I have a Lee bottom pour pot, but I don't remember the capacity. I purchased it about 20 years ago. It is serving me well.

 

[Dashriprock]

When I started casting a few years back, I inherited all my Dad's stuff that he hadn't used since the '70s. The kit included a 10-lb Lee bottom pour. I quickly learned to dislike it intensely.

Bought the Lee 20-lb and have been happily ladling Lyman 429421s that my Model 29 adores, among many others.

 

[loc n load]

The Lee will serve you well, I have four pots, two Lee ( 10 & 20 ) two Lyman. Occasionally I wil get a drippy spout from one or the other. If I jiggle the pour handle I can normally get the rod to seal off the orifice. I have used these for decades, and both brands have melted a lot of lead ingots over the years. I Seldom use a dipper ( have one ), normally work with gang moulds and fill them from the pour spout.

 

[gwpercle]

I wish I had gotten the Lee Magnum Melter 20 lb. pot decades ago .
The bottom pour pots suck rocks . A new Lyman ladle with the little side spout and pressure casting gives me a lot more good bullets ...the bottom pour pots gives a lot of imperfect ones but I want perfect !
The 20 lb. capacity is a big help .
Fill the pot up , set it on 8.0 and within 20 minutes the lead is melted .
After casting and getting the mould hot , I dial it back to 7.5 , I like to cast them just at the frosty range for best fill out , usually ending with the dial at 7.25 .
The 20 lb. capacity lets you cast a lot of bullets instead of running out of metal , adding ingots and waiting around for everything to get back up to temperature.
A $60.00 Magnum Melter , Lyman Dipper and pressure casting is the way to cast good, completely filled out bullets .
Took me a while to learn that. The bottom pour Lee was given away and I was glad to see it go !
Gary

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I bought a Lyman 10 pound ladle pot about 15 years ago (The several pour through pots are a sorry excuse for bullet making!) You really need a thermometer to keep you lead at a constant temp for consistency though.

I cast 300+ bullets in a .375 330 RN 2 cavity mould. Only ONE was not in the 1 grain window (+/- .5gr.) or another way to put that is all but one bullet were within 0.066%. This pour of bullets is 40 to 1 lead to tin alloy, and as cast diameter was .3770 to .3775

Ivan

 

[Geno44]

My 10 pound Lee pots have a slot in the top of the rod. I insert a screwdriver in the slot and twist it back and forth while pushing on it a little. This stops the drip most of the time. If it doesn't, drain the pot down and let it cool then remove the rod and wire brush the tip.

 

[diyj98]

When I was casting bullets, I used a Lee Production Pot. We used it for probably 20 or more years and never had any issues with it.

 

[mtgianni]

The Lee ladle pot is a decent pot. They have no thermometer reading but are heat by number. It tends to drift if the lead levels drop. I believe it holds closer to 18 lbs than 20. If you can live with the small distractions it is a good value for the price.

 

[Arub01]

Using the Lee bottom pour furnace. Have the same experience as Geno44 except have not yet had to drain the pot to clear the spigot. Works well and a lot less trouble, for me, than having to ladle the lead.

 

[Joed49]

I started with a Lee, think it was 4 - 20 or something similar. The biggest problem I had with it was the thermostat, it couldn't hold temp and was all over the place.

Not a big fan of Lee and sold it, bought a Magma that one was probably the best I[ve seen. I actually started a casting business with the Magma.

 

[mikld]

Bottom pour vs. ladle pouring has been a "controversy" since I started looking in at reloading/casting forums in 2007, and probably many years before that. Since the only thing a "dipping" pot does is melt your alloy, I would think the only requirements would be speed of melting and temperature control. If uou are used to and like ladle casting it would be a toss up as for which pot would be best for you.

I have had a Lee Pro 4 bottom pour pot for over 30 years and have been casting for every gun I own, except rimfires. One major factor when using a bottom pour pot is only using clean alloy,never "smelting"/cleaning lead in the pot. It only takes a minute speck of dirt/grit to cause a drip. I smelt in another pot and flux enough to make sure the alloy is clean. I empty my Lee pot occasionally, wire brush the ID, remove the valve stem and clean as needed. I sometimes reseat the valve stem/seat with some light lapping compound and reassemble. I do not have a "drip-o-matic" because I take care of my equipment...

 

[dave1918a2]

I gave My Lee and Lyman pots away at the gun club and bought a RCBS bottom pour. This was 25 years ago.

 

[Nightowl]

I had a Lyman bottom pour about 30 years ago that would not get hot enough to make good bullets, so sent it back to Lyman. They "fixed it" and I never used it until a couple of years ago. It still did not melt the lead to a hot enough temp to make good bullets. Lots of lines!!

The old Lyman I had was hot enough to make good bullets until I wore it out.

I hope they have resolved the issue.

 

[fredj338]

For the money, hard to beat the Lee bottom pour. It is not insulated though, so the new rcbs or lyman would be my choice today.
Btw, the reason most pots leak is people empty them or use them to melt scrap. My lee 20 has never dripped, but then I have never emptied it or melt scrap in it.

 

[ACORN]

OK, I ordered a Lee.
Being it's been almost 30 years since I've casted anything and I only used 2 cavity molds is there any reason I can't use a ladle with a 6 cavity mold? Other than the possibility of needing to dip more than once per pour?
I never paid attention to the ladles capacity.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Lee pots are cumbersome and slow. So are most other lead pots on the melt and remelt. They can't hold a candle to a pot on a burner and a good ladle. Many years ago I gave my pot away....Too Slow! I cast with 4 molds in rotation. Dumping into a segmented box.

 

[OKFC05]

OK, I ordered a Lee.
Being it's been almost 30 years since I've casted anything and I only used 2 cavity molds is there any reason I can't use a ladle with a 6 cavity mold? Other than the possibility of needing to dip more than once per pour?
I never paid attention to the ladles capacity.

I really dislike 6 cavity molds unless I am using a pot on a burner and a ladle to match. Too much temp variation with a small setup.

By the way, an infrared thermometer is a handy 'no touch' way to keep track of temp. Bit pricy just for lead pouring, but tell your wife you bought it for her cooking!

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I really dislike 6 cavity molds unless I am using a pot on a burner and a ladle to match. Too much temp variation with a small setup.

By the way, an infrared thermometer is a handy 'no touch' way to keep track of temp. Bit pricy just for lead pouring, but tell your wife you bought it for her cooking!

You can get that thermometer from Harbor Freight for about $24.00. Mine works great.