I prefer ladles? What about you?

[prangr51]

I started casting with a cast iron pan... then I splurged and got a bottom pour... within a week I sold it. Something about casting with a pan and flame seems to make it infinitely more fun. Whats your preference?
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/s720x720/524048_4321978172962_562389034_n.jpg

its not much, and its not like I dont have the funding to get better, just feels right this way.

[canyon-ghost]

:coffee: I like a ladle. I started out with the Lyman Master Casting Kit, has the little electric pot and lubesizer. I still use the same kit and I even bought a duplicate kit. I don't see anything wrong with pouring bullets with a two cavity iron mold, or even a Lee mold. It seems that everyone wants to go so fast that they don't have any fun at it. I like the way I do things, it suits me.

http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/3rdshooter/hollowpointmoldcom-32-20001.jpg

[Crawdaddy]

I have a small Lee pot and a ladle. I don't have any desire for anything fancier. I have a stove just like yours. I may give it a whirl


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[puddledog]

Same here, shiney lil babies going down range with care and loving aim.

[snuffy]

I prefer ladles?

Good for you! I prefer good boolits, to get them I use a bottom pour most of the time.

When I use a ladle, it's for long slender rifle boolits, or huge 45/70 and 500 S&W boolits. Then I use a pressure casting method, a Lyman bottom pour ladle held against the sprue plate to provide pressure to the cavities.

Some molds just can't be used with a ladle. Like a Miha cramer style hollow point system. Flooding lead on one of those would have lead all over those pins on the side of the mold. It would prevent them sliding to release the boolits.

Your set-up has no control over temp. Other than it seems too hot, I'll turn the heat down, then find in a few minutes it's too cold. A thermometer would be a help, but you still can't have a fine control of the casting/alloy temp.

[dragonrider]

Why not put your mold against the spout of your bottom pour pot. Would that not give you the same result, probably better as the pot has greater capacity. Just a thought.

[prangr51]

oh, im not saying i did not get good results. Just saying its kinda like playing baseball with a wooden bat, not the best piece of equipment, but sometimes more fun to use

[500Smith]

Not for me, I love my Pro-Melt. However, the most critical part of what we do is having fun! Looks like you’re on the right on track!

Just don’t tell me at the range after you have outshot me. :bigsmyl2:

[BruceB]

Started casting in late '66 with a ladle.

Within WEEKS I had transitioned to a Saeco bottom-pour furnace, and never looked back....nor will I.

My current RCBS furnace has given me excellent service for at least fifteen years to date, and I am a bottom-pour devotee for certain-sure.

My output so far is in the hundreds of thousands. A few years ago I tallied up some totals..... wadcutters in .38 Special reflect our love for Bullseye pistol competition, with a TRUE total of over 140,000 35863 loaded to that date.

About 100 moulds now grace my bench. and ALL of them yield fine bullets with bottom-pouring.

If it isn't broken.....

[geargnasher]

Good for you! I prefer good boolits, to get them I use a bottom pour most of the time.

When I use a ladle, it's for long slender rifle boolits, or huge 45/70 and 500 S&W boolits. Then I use a pressure casting method, a Lyman bottom pour ladle held against the sprue plate to provide pressure to the cavities.

Some molds just can't be used with a ladle. Like a Miha cramer style hollow point system. Flooding lead on one of those would have lead all over those pins on the side of the mold. It would prevent them sliding to release the boolits.

Your set-up has no control over temp. Other than it seems too hot, I'll turn the heat down, then find in a few minutes it's too cold. A thermometer would be a help, but you still can't have a fine control of the casting/alloy temp.

Ditto, excellent and accurate post from my perspective and experience. Others will differ I'm sure.

Gear

[10 ga]

Ladle all the way. That's the way all my ancestors did it and I'm still doin it. Fact just scored 2 more at a yard sale. 1 is steel plumbers ladle and the other a short cast iron ladle that needs a handle. That is my next casting project, a handle for my $.25 iron ladle. Soon as weather cools have about 4C# of "ore" to process into ingots for the hoard and cast 30# of ML boolits for sighting and hunting. I'll enjoy using the new found antique ladle with my handle on it. Best to all, 10 ga

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Once upon a time there were no bottom pours and folks using ladles did just fine. The oldest thing I recall seeing (in a picture) was a bottom pour that was made by Potter and it was heated the same as an ordinary cast iron pot. I used (and still have) a Saeco model T34 which is a 20 pounder and always did well with it and a Lyman, RCBS and an open soup style that I bought from H&G to run my first 4 cav. It was and still is messy to pour uphill, but the bullets are fine. For those interested in a good analysis of ladle vs bottom pour there is a classic article written by an icon in the casting world named Jim Carmichael, in the "Art of Bullet casting" (still on sale by Wolfe Publishing). It compares techniques and claims by proponents of either of the two methods and discusses results to be expected. Definitely worth the bucks. LLS

[btroj]

I don't care which method you use. Learn to makeit work with your alloy and your moulds.

I use a bottom pour for everything. I don't cast any 45/70 bullets over 420 so I don't see a need for a ladle.

Thisis a question with no universal correct answer.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I agree it is every persons preference , I use both , but have cast the lee 45/70 500 grain with bottom pour , and it was fine , to each their own , as long as it is enjoyable do it that way .

[3006guns]

My choice is strictly on an "as needed" basis. Although I started out with a ladel, my first bottom pour pot really cranked up my production with pistol boolits. When I tried it with a long rifle slug, things changed in a hurry. The weight of the metal was so great that I suddenly spent more time just getting the mold open and cleaning the boolit. So long, heavy boolits get the ladle treatment.

Some of my molds, such as my Hensley and Gibbs, have a pouring trough cut in the top and using a bottom pour with those is futile, so it FORCES you to use a ladle.

[Bret4207]

I use both, the ladle is lots faster and easier for me. What works for someone else is their business. I find the ladle far more versatile, other find it awkward. To each their own. Just don't get thinking one is "better" than the other and you'll be fine.

On the camp stove and heat control- yeah, you do have heat control, it's the flame adjustment, casting rate, how much stirring you do and things like that. It's just not as simple as turning a knob.

[ipijohn]

I started out with a bottom pour and have never looked back.

[Fishman]

On the tiny iPhone screen I am using I misread that the topic to say "I prefer LADIES, how about you?" and I thought "that's kind of personal, and what a dumb question!":oops:

So on topic I prefer bottom pour, particularly for multi-cavity moulds.

[canyon-ghost]

^^^ As to that, I prefer ladies too, you guys are kinda boring, lol.

[Recluse]

Ladle pouring, water-quenching, tumble-lubing versus lubesizing, heat-treating, linotype adding, pure lead, etc etc.

All are components and tools.

I use the components and tools in the combination and configuration to give me the results I'm seeking.

For some applications, that means ladle-pouring and water-quenching. For others, bottom pour, air-cooled and tumble-lubed give me 100% satisfaction.

Whatever works best for me is what I use.

:coffee:

[gbrown]

I use both ladle and bottom pour "drippy" Lee's. The bigger molds, 4+ cavity, I use an old plumbers pot over a propane burner. My 2 cav's I use the Lee. Works for me. I can control the temp on the Lee's easier. Use an NOE thermometer. On the ladle I use a Roto Metals. Have one of their bottom pour ladles, also. I have 2 Lee's, one for WW and one for my rifle alloy (18 bhn). I also tumble lube, pan lube and have a Star. It is all good, and as said, works for me. For sizing, use Lee or Star. Do what you gotta do.

[dromia]

I do both, depends on the mould, the boolit and how I'm feeling. All my large calibre BP moulds .45" - .75" tend to be ladle poured, its slower but nearly every one is a keeper. Ladle is mandatory for hollow base Minies.

I prefer the pace of the ladle and enjoy its intimacy, but as I can't cast for long at a time volume is good too and my bottom pour Pro Melts and 4+ cavity moulds can churn out the smaller diameter boolits and then some. So for me its not an either or. :castmine:

[HDS]

I use a Lee pro 4-20 and I think it's perfectly fine. I have upgraded it with a PID kit from Frozone and now I am really happy with it. I have never tried casting with a ladle.

[dbarnhart]

For some reason, every time I see the title of this thread I read it as 'ladies' instead of 'ladles'.

[splashout101]

I just started, I was using a rcbs pot on a burner, but it did not hold very much lead, so I bought a lyman mag 20 bottom pour. I should have gotten one with out the bottom pour, as the minies I am casting do not sit well on the rail and so I am using a ladle.

[km101]

Bottom pour all the way. 2 cav, 4 cav, 6 can. I want to make nice uniform boolits as fast as possible so I can load them and go shoot. Plus I cant pour whrth a darn with a ladle!

[I'll Make Mine]

I'll be pouring with a ladle before too much longer -- I got a small gasoline camp stove today (free) that I need to fix (seems like it's got a pump problem; fairly cheap and easy to repair); I've got a cast iron corn bread pan (seven shallow round cavities) for ingots, then I need to get at least one more pot (I've got an old stainless pot I think I can use for smelting, but I need another for melting ingots to cast from). I can get a bucket of wheel weights just up the street for $35 (probably tomorrow). On top of this free or nearly free stuff, six bucks for a Lee spout ladle and $20 to $30 for a Lee mold will make it a lot easier to get started casting than laying out $50 to $80 for a melter on top of the other. I still won't be shooting cast for this season's deer hunting, but I might well be before rabbit season closes at the end of February...

[Gunslinger1911]

I started out with a Lee 4-20 and a few Lee 6-bangers (9mm, 45, 357), happy as a pig in mud.

Then I started getting "bigger moulds (45/70, 500 S&W) and had trouble getting good boolits - on advice from here I tried a ladle and who-hoo good boolits !!!

Just depends on the mould and caster. Boat load of 45ACP ammo ? 6-banger (or two) and bottom pour.
Want precise boolits for 1000 yd Quigley ? 500 g mould and ladle, good to go.

Thats what's so great about reloading, so many ways to do the job - I figure I can experiment for the rest of my life !!

******* by the way I'll Make Mine - I had MUCH better luck with a Lyman ladle than the Lee I started with *******

[I'll Make Mine]

I had MUCH better luck with a Lyman ladle than the Lee I started with

For five or six times the price, I should hope! [smilie=l:

[TXGunNut]

My large Lyman moulds seem to prefer ladle pour, most Lee moulds seem to prefer bottom pour. I think I could improve my bottom pour technique to appease my Lyman moulds but not much luck so far. When my moulds are happy, I'm happy! :coffeecom

[FergusonTO35]

I'm a ladle caster because it works well enough for my taste and I'm a cheapskate. The Lee ladle would work a whole lot better if it was bigger. It's one example of the many Lee products that aren't bad but would be way better with some minor changes.

[bruce drake]

If they got the LEE Ladle big enough to actually fill a 240gr mold in one scoop than I'd still be using mine. I've since upgraded to a RCBS Ladle that can fill an entire 6-banger with one scoop.

Bruce

[Sonnypie]

I prefer Ladies, too.

Oh wait, I think I misread that word....

Never mind. :drinks:

[gofastman]

I cant stand ladles!

I need my PID controlled bottom pour, lol

[aa1911]

I prefer Ladies, too.

Oh wait, I think I misread that word....

Never mind. :drinks:

This was my first thought when I clicked on the thread!

oohhh, ladles....

Bottom pour only for me, never liked ladles one bit. :Fire:

but I do like the ladies....

[357maximum]

I prefer ladles as I find I get alot better quality (more accurate) boolits with one. I had a lee pro4-20 and I much prefer my ladles and a 40 lb capacity homemade gaspipe pot sitting atop a propane powered turkey fryer. I really despised the elctric lee whe I was doing pure lead boolits....never seemed to get hot enough for my liking. To each their own and whatever works for you...but you could not give me another bottom feeder.