which bottom spout production pot?

[Blanco]

I have been making my boolits by ladle from a gas powered melting pot.
I have slowly been saving back clean ingots several pounds at a time. I forsee a bottom pour pot but I am not completely sure of which one works best.
I would probably buy the RCBS but I just don't have that much money to spend.
I really like the Lee products but would consider others if the price is in line with my budget.
Which one is a good option on a budget?

[Doc_Stihl]

I have a couple Lee pots. I have 3 RCBS Furnaces. I only need 1 but I use 2. The 3rd I would sell but I keep on hand if I ever have an issue with the others. After 5 years of trouble free casting, I'll probably never need it. But I like em. I won't part with it.

The lee is a good deal for the money. I cast my first 6,000 or so boolits with a lee pot. Keep it clean and it'll work well. If I had to start over, I'd buy a lee until I could afford an RCBS.
My 0.02¢

[dudel]

Lee has worked fine for me over the years. Recommend the 20# pot over the 10# one. It seems to do best if you don't use if for smelting your dirty lead. The numbers on the dial mean little regarding temperature; so get yourself a good thermometer.

I'd have no problem buying another. Good value for the dollar.

[Smoke4320]

the Lee 4-20 and a PID will get you going and do well .. just have to be with it all the time. It can and most likely will leak/dribble just put a small ingot mold under it to catch the drips ..
If you can save more and get the RCBS its well worth the money .. there just is no comparison in how they pour /operate

[DxieLandMan]

Get the Lee 20# pot and use the rest of the money on supplies.

[revwitha9]

Anyone have the new Lyman 25 Mag digital furnace? I was looking at it since my Big Dipper has served me well. But $300+ may hit too hard on my reloading budget. Is the RCBS of comparable quality and price?

[cbrick]

The Lyman 25 digital isn't out yet. It's been coming anytime now for about 3 years.

The RCBS is a bit more money than Lyman's old pot and is at the very least as good quality or better.

What part of the Arkansas Ozarks are you? Couple of us on this site in Mtn Home.

Rick

[6thtexas]

I have a RCBS pot since 1984. Back about 2001, I sent it in because it quit heating sufficiently. It came back fixed at no charge. It is working to this day. It has enough clearance underneath even for my big sinker molds.

[Cherokee]

I have used Lee pots since they came out. I recommend the 20# production pot, only use clean alloy in it - no smelting. The RCBS is 6 times the cost; I also have them and they are great but the Lee will do the job.

[Blanco]

I remember someone on here having 2 Lee pots one mounted above the other. I would assume it was to keep a reserve pre melted and since it feeds from bottom it should always be clean ?
Sounds like a good idea even if its a bit overkill.

[RobS]

RCBS would be a nicer pot however I wouldn't change the Lee #20 and the PID I built for it.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?233888-PID-not-that-expensive-and-quite-useful&highlight=
I also agree that if you keep the pot clean, don't use it to smelt then the dripping at the spout doesn't happen.

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt206/RobS01/PIDLeePot_zps0c870ab4.jpg (http://s612.photobucket.com/user/RobS01/media/PIDLeePot_zps0c870ab4.jpg.html)

with the PID I can control the lead temp within a degree or so with the lid I have on top.

Also I can use the PID for other things as well such as my convection oven.

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt206/RobS01/PIDConvectionToasterOven_zpsa184c758.jpg (http://s612.photobucket.com/user/RobS01/media/PIDConvectionToasterOven_zpsa184c758.jpg.html)

[rintinglen]

Lee 20 pounder is the way to fly unless you find a good deal on a used RCBS, Lyman, Lachmiller or Cramer.
Once the insanity bites, you'll be spending plenty and that 300 dollar RCBS will seem cheap, but I have had 3 Lee's over the last 35 years, and I figure I'll have to buy 3 more to equal the cost of one RCBS--I ain't going to live that long. The PID controller is nice but many millions of good boolits have been cast from stock Lee Furnaces. Do not buy the lee 10 pounder bottom pour--those drip.

[Mk42gunner]

My first electric pot was a Lee 4-20. After reading some of the horror stories about liquid lead deluges, I lapped the valve and seat before I ever heated it up. I had a few pieces of drip art, but no major spills. I still use it to cast sinkers, after I bought a used Promelt at an estate auction.

You do not need a PID, or another pot on top to feed the casting pot; although we all seem to like making things more complicated than they need to be.

I use ingots made from angle iron that are from eight to ten inches long. They will rest across the top of the pot to preheat so I don't have wild temp swings when I add an ingot. (Both of those ideas were from BruceB).

An added plus with the 4-20 is that it is easy to ladle from if you have molds that cast better that way.

Robert

[Shiloh]

20 # LEE pot has served me well for thousands of boolits.

Shiloh

[cainttype]

I have, and use, pots made by LEE, Saeco, RCBS, Lyman,and Waage. If the cost of the pot is the overriding concern, LEE deserves a close look. If the quality of construction, design, ease of use, and the pot's longevity are primary...the RCBS version is vastly superior to anything LEE offers, or are likely to offer in the future.
I would not hesitate to choose the RCBS over the LEE if there was any way I could justify it. I have several backups (just in case) but continue to use my very first as the primary, and it has served well for decades.

[sigep1764]

I just started casting and am on a budget. I got the Lee 10# bottom pour and it has worked fine for a couple thousand bullets. My second casting session though, it got clogged up. Wasn't fluxing when I added a new ingot and scale built up because I wasn't scraping the sides. Cleaned it up with steel wool and drilled the spout a little. Following advice from these guys in other threads, I now flux when adding a new ingot and scrape the sides at the same time. Also, when I'm done, I now leave it 1/4 full of lead to keep the trash out of the spout. If I had to do it over, I would get the 20# bottom pour, but this one works fine so far.

[John Allen]

I have two of the RCBS pots I upgraded from the lee's the RCBS ones are great.

[MT Chambers]

I remember someone on here having 2 Lee pots one mounted above the other. I would assume it was to keep a reserve pre melted and since it feeds from bottom it should always be clean ?
Sounds like a good idea even if its a bit overkill.
Born out of necessity, the top one leaks and it is caught by the bottom one......I'd get the RCBS.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

i have a lee 10 pounder I got used. Cleaned it all up & it worked great
for about 10 minutes, Its a ***.
I later bought a RCBS ProMelt a year ago, it has not dripped yet!

[hermans]

If you have lots of time and patience, I suppose the Lee pots will do, but for me there is only one, the RCBS Pro Melt, had it since the mid 80's and it has never missed a beat in all these years of casting tens of thousands of pistol boolits for IPSC style shooting.

[dverna]

Here is my advice.

First, DO NOT listen to advice from people how have NEVER used the product. If you have never driven a Mercedes S Class, the Ford Taurus seems like a great car. There are couple of posts from those have owned Lee's and others - weight their opinions more.

Second, look at how much you want to cast, and the quality of the product you need. Someone casting musket projectiles, has a different quality need than a Cowboy Action shooter, than a Bullseye shooter, than a target rifle shooter.

Third, and lastly, money. I have equipment that is 40 years old and I have enjoyed the pleasure of using great quality equipment with no need to ever "upgrade". If you think you will ever upgrade, just bite the bullet and buy what your really want/need now. I am in the process of selling off a lot of the "good enough" stuff I bought because as I never used it after buying better stuff. Money wasted - when I thought I was saving money.

Having said all that, if money is tight, the Lee is a decent choice. IT WILL NEVER BE A PROMELT!! So what? At least you can start making bullets. But you are in a different spot.

If money is tight, stay with what you have now. Why are you spending money for a bottom pour pot you do not need? I lot of great bullets have been ladle poured. Buy a thermometer and control your melt temperature if you want higher quality.

Edit to add:
After sleeping on it, there is one reason for a bottom pour that I did not comment on. I have issues with handling multi-cavity molds for long periods of time. Even though I have a good pot with a PID I am looking at a bottom pour to make casting easier. I do not expect any higher quality or any increase in bullets/hr. but it should allow longer casting sessions. Old age sucks - but it beats the alternative

[GP100man]

I pinched & squrrieled $$ away until the day came , a used Lyman Mag 20 .

The Lee works & you`ll find what works & what does`nt & can cast many a boolit with it , but for me if I had to do it over I`d buy a new Lyman . I have a 20#Lee that is reseved for casting the few rifle boolits I get time to shoot. It has a harder alloy in it .

Here`s mine the temp only swings 17f even when full .

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx110/GP100man/102_0620.jpg (http://s746.photobucket.com/user/GP100man/media/102_0620.jpg.html)