Need a new lead melting pot ... any suggestions?

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have several one & two cavity Lee molds (12), and the have served me well. I bought one Lee 6 cavity mold, it warped during the first session. Rather that fight over it, I considered it a lesson in "Penny wise and Pound foolish". I have half dozen Lyman 4 cavity molds and about 30 one & two cavity Lyman molds, some are so old the are Ideal molds.

I think a mold every caster should have is a 32-20 115/117 FN mold and I would suggest get the one for gas checks. I have found this mold will work for an amazing amount of cartridges in the 30 cal, 7.7 mm/303 cal. and 32 cal range. I have sizing dies for .308, .309, .311 & .314. It was designed for 32-20, but is the proper bullet for 32 Colt New Police (a heavy 32 S&W Long load). I have loaded 30 Mauser for my C-96, 30 Tark. for my CZ-52, 30 M-1 Carbine, 30-30 Win, 303 Savage, 308 Win & 30-06 (plinking loads). It will do several others, I just haven't tried!

On the subject of tumble lube bullets, I have 2 molds. One is a 32 SWC and the other is a .330 200 grain for the weird 8x56R Hungarian round (which is almost impossible to get a sizing die for). I find the lubed bullets to be messy and dirt clings to them. On warm to hot shooting days, the lube will eventually get on almost everything you handle. They are quick and cheap to lube, and on lower velocity loadings don't seem to hurt accuracy. I have only cast them with hard alloys, so I don't know about leading, but I would be suspicious.

I have 2 Lyman Lube/sizer presses (a 450 and a 4500), and an RCBS they use the same dies. I leave one set up with SPG Black Powder lube. I also have a Starr sizer with about 7 or 8 sizer dies. It is incredibly fast and a pain to set up and expensive! I only use it for runs of 5000 or more. I have a few of the Lee push through sizers you use on your loading press. You have to lube the bullets before sizing with them and Pan lubing take a great deal of time! but can be worth it for unusual sizes or things like Maxi-ball or other bullets with enormous lube grooves.

Ivan

 

[4barrel]

I presume I can separate the steel clip weights using a magnet.

What would be an efficient way to remove the zinc clips from the lead?

Try to get one with an adjustable thermostat. You can drop wheel weights on concrete & decide lead or zinc. Whatever floats skim it off with a large spoon. I try to avoid wheel weights because the new ones are not lead any more. On a 200 grain bullet I add enough hardener to make it weigh about 193-195 grains. The harder bullet & a good lube will cut down on leading. When you have the pot full flux and mix. I use a small amount of bullet lube & it mixes like soup. I pore the lead into molds & mark the weight on the lead & make another batch. 8 pounds of lead makes around 300 38 bullets. Wear glasses when mixing lead. A guy gave me some wheel weights and there was a primer mixed in them. That one primer blew 1/2 of the lead out of the pot. I have 5 different brands of molds & they all work. The metal ones makes prettier bullets.

 

[Arub]

I use a Lee bottom pour and it works fine. No issues.

Transitioning from wheel weights to the Lee "furnace" I use an old steel cook pot over a propane fish fryer base. Works great. Clips and non lead material float to the top and then be skimmed off. Then pour the lead into Lee ingot molds. Put the ingots into the Lee "furnace", turn up the heat, and you are in business.

Be careful with the pot you melt the wheel weights when handling. It gets very, very hot. I wrap an old pot holder around the handle and then put on an over mitt. I guess a welders glove would work well also.

Lots of luck!

 

[fredj338]

My favorite casting pot is by Waage. They have a variety of sizes.

Best thing is they will keep the lead +,- 15 degrees. This makes for consistent bullets.

Buy a Lee $60 add a $60 pid, for way less than the higher end pots, you have an efficient bottom pour that hold +/- 5deg all day. Thing i dont like about the lee is it is not insulated, inefficient. Btw, dont even consider a 10# pot, way too small when you start cast bigger bullets. I have one that is about 30yrs old, still works but i only use it for lead hp or cores for swaging, low volume.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

Buy the largest size Lee pot if you will not be casting large amounts and the Lyman or RCBS if you will . I own all three and really would not miss any one of the other two if I only had 1. If you have not cast bullets before and have access to someone that does I would suggest that you get them to let you try their equipment before you buy. I have the bottom pour feature on all three pots but really prefer to hand dip and the Lee pot in particular can be a tad tight on dipping room with the larger ladles. If you like dipping better you can buy either Lee or Lyman in a model especially for dipping and it will cost you less not to have a feature that you wont use. I started casting in the 60's with a Potter gas furnace and iron pot backed up by a Saco electric bottom pour and would still be using them now but they were stolen in a breakin in the late 80's.

I use Lee, Lyman,and RCBS molds . I like them all and have had no more trouble from the aluminum Lee's than I have had with the iron molds. Follow the instructions that come with them and always put them away with the cavities full and they will last a lifetime. Good luck and enjoy !

Eddie

 

[da gimp]

I just got done processing 5 gallons of wheel weights into ingots. I used the same technique as a fellow above, who suggested using a pair of medium large dikes/wire cutters to test each wheelweight WW for hardness... it works extremely well & is surprisingly easy & quick.

regular lead alloy WW's will get a sizeable dent with moderate hand pressure.. the zinc WW's & the iron/steel WW's will only get the paint covering them scratched by the same or harder hand pressure. The zinc WW's tend to float o top of your melted lead... scoop them out & throw them with your discarded clips.

I was also given a chunk of magnet to test some for steel.. as noted above most but not all steel/iron WW's are marked Fe, & most but not all zinc WW's are marked Zn.... thus the test using the wire cutters.

I checked every WW with the wire cutters & magnet before I started turning them into ingots... Out of a nearly full 5 gallon bucket of WW's... about 1/5th of the WW's turned out to be either steel/iron or zinc.

I've used a 20 lb Lee bottom pour for many years 1984 I think. I believe the bottom spout is about 4" from the floor of the machine's deck, giving plenty of room for good molds.

I used our Lee pot to process the WW's, using a metal teaspoon to dip out the steel clips to discard them. I quit using fancy ingot molds as they were all to big, and adding them lowered the temp of my pot while I was casting. Now I use 3 medium large serving spoons..pouring all 3, then emptying one into a metal 3lb coffee can, refilling etc etc etc... adding a handful of WW's, scooping off the clips & trash.. then empty the spoon, refill, empty 2nd spoon, refill etc etc... adding WW's to keep the level near the top of the pot... as it's easier to see clips & trash & scoop them off. I use a pea sized chunk of discarded bullet lube/solid Alox to flux, lighting it with a butane BBQ red plastic lighter ...stiring & fluxing as needed.

My only complaint about the Lee molds is that their designs for semi-wad cutter & wad cutter bullets all have rounded noses, instead of that great flat nose that is produced by Lyman, RCBS & I'm told Saeco molds too... I've never had a set of the Saeco's as they were too expensive for me... but I'm told they are first class.

When you get a luber sizer.. get one with the heater on it. When we got our RCBS LSII, they didn't make the heaters for them... we bathe the body of the luber/sizer with a propane torch in winter while we are sizing bullets.

 

[4barrel]

A solder iron tied to the lubber will work as a heater also. So will a 100 w bulb in a tight.

 

[azjohn]

This is another good site with info on casting bullets.
Cast bullet reference on lead alloy's, min / max pressure, lube, shrinkage,