Which Melter?

[Greg_R]

Going to order a Lee melter. My experience so far is melting down wheel weights to make cupcake tin ingots and fishing weights, a few .452, 356, and 230 grain .309 boolits. My equipment is a propane stove, small cast iron frying pan, a couple of Lee dippers, and a Lyman ladle.

I want opinions on the Lee melter furnace and the Lee Production Pot 4. Is bottom pour better than using a ladle?

[Sasquatch-1]

It's a matter of opinion. You have die hard ladlers who believe that is the only way to cast. I prefer a bottom pour and used a Lee 10 pounder for 30+ years. Just don't smelt in your casting pot and remember, it's called the drip-o-matic for a reason.



Is bottom pour better than using a ladle?

[David2011]

Hi Greg,

Welcome to the forum. Most people that cast larger volumes of smaller to medium sized boolits lean toward bottom pour. The big boolit casters seem to prefer dipping. My experience is mostly 260 grains and smaller so bottom pour has served me very well. Ladle pouring allows for pouring a large volume of alloy very quickly. With a dipper like the Lyman you can pressure pour large boolits, like the 500 grain variety and get good fillout.

David

[Ben]

Whatever you do, DON'T smelt and cast from the same melter.

[EDK]

I ladle cast with a 30 year old HENSLEY & GIBBS ladle and a LEE Magnum Melter pot. I've had a SAECO pot that got destroyed in a flooded basement and a LYMAN bottom pour that just never worked for me. The Magnum Melter is around $60 from GRAFS and has worked for 10+ years for me. IF it ever shoots craps, I'll see how far I can throw it or give it to someone to rebuild while I buy myself a new one.

I cast because I like to shoot. I want to make a large quantity of high quality boolits in the least amount of time...four, five or six cavity moulds, a 20 pound melter, and a STAR.

[Yodogsandman]

Greg, Get the Lee Pro 4-20 bottom pour pot, you'll never look back! You're already ladling from your description. A bottom pour pot by itself alone will speed up your production 2 or 3 fold. Keep a drip pan under it and adjust the speed of the flow with the screw to match your mold.

[Lead Fred]

The 20lb Lee is the way to go.
My top pour dont leak, Cant say the same about them bottom pours

[bangerjim]

Lee 4-20 bottom pours all the way for me! Have a CI bottom side ladle and it is just waaaaaay too slow and cumbersome for me. Bottom pour pots work fast and efficient. Even for 300gn boolits!

Some bemoan Lee's dripping, but I have NEVER had either of mine drip.....just keep dirty lead and sawdust out of your casting pot. NEVER re-melt anything in your casting pot as said. Use only beeswax to reduce the Sn back in. You already fluxed the heck out of your ingots in your re-melting pot 3x, RIGHT? Why flux again????? Only need to reduce Sn.

Lee 4-20 is an economical way to get into production speed accurate casting. Just invest in an electric hotplate to pre-heat all your molds to FULL casting temp. The key to perfect drops from the 1st one. Also use it to pre-heat your feed ingots to speed thing up a ton.

Some swear by ladles. I swear at them.

That's MY story and I'm stickin' to it.

banger

[brtelec]

I just got rid of my 4-20 Lee but I never regretted buying it. It worked well and I used a couple of fixes to keep the dripping at bay. I have used my bottom pour furnaces to pour up to 385 gr. bullets with excellent results. I started with a bottom pour and used a ladle only once. Once was enough.

[jmort]

I ladle pour and have a Lee Precision Magnum Melter. Just got the Waage 4757 and I am in love.

[NavyVet1959]

I have a Lee 4-20 bottom pour and have used it for quite a few years, but it occasionally leaks, but it's not that big of a deal to me. I was curious about ladle pouring, and came up with the idea of experimenting with it by taking a stainless steel condiment ladle and drilling a hole in the bottom to make it a bottom pour ladle. It actually worked pretty good and I often cast that way these days instead of using the bottom pour from the pot.

One of the guys over on YouTube (FortuneCookie45LC) reviewed my idea did a video of it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZQQ159QJCo

It kind of depends upon whether I want to be casting while standing or seated. With my current casting table height, it is the right height for the bottom pour pot when I'm seated, but too high for casting with a ladle. If I stand, it is the right height for casting with a ladle. Of course, the solution to this would be to just design and build an adjustable height casting table, but I'm too lazy to do it. Why do today what you can put off until next year. :)

[Bigslug]

I want opinions on the Lee melter furnace and the Lee Production Pot 4. Is bottom pour better than using a ladle?

For what it sounds like you're doing (semi auto handguns & small rifle bullets) I certainly think so. My experience with ladling is somewhat limited because my father has some physical limitations which make that mode of casting unfeasible, and that has dictated the equipment purchases - his and mine - toward bottom pour. Having dabbled with ladling for some off the wall projects, it certainly does seem like a method better suited to someone with 4-6 arms. Too much picking up and putting down for me.

As to the Lee pots - can't help you there. That the Lyman Mag 20 leaked like a sieve, and the RCBS Pro Melt doesn't is as far as I can take you.

[RogerDat]

Single 2 cavity mold you I doubt you will be able to cast faster by a significant amount using a bottom pour over a ladle. More than one mold or mold with 4 or more cavities then the bottom pour might really impact your speed of output.

I ladle but I can "go" faster than the single aluminum mold can handle the heat build up. At least with 158 gr. and 255 gr. so if I want to really crank I'm using both molds at once and dropping in 2 different piles. I do not recommend it. Only went there once, it worked but I don't think the bullets were as good quality and I was jumping like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Exact opposite of a relaxing time spent casting boolits. I have no doubt I could feed a 6 cavity mold with a ladle, 2 of them however... does not sound like fun.

If you want or need quantity I think more cavities and a bottom pour make sense, if you just want to make 1k bullets in the spring and again in the fall for your annual shooting needs bottom pour is not a huge advantage.

[Mk42gunner]

Honestly, I would get the Lee 4-20. It will allow using a your ladle without too many problems, and it doesn't drip as bad as the ten pound versions.

The only reason I am not still using my 4-20 is that I stumbled onto an RCBS Promelt for about ¼ of retail price.

Robert

[garym1a2]

I ladle pour only with the Lee Magnum melter. Its plenty fast enough for the 6up lee molds.

[44man]

I ladle pour everything and nobody will ever change me.
I wanted the Lee 20# production pot but they were out of stock so I got the bottom pour, wasn't long before the junk was removed and a tapered brass plug stuck in that nasty hole! :kidding: It has worked perfectly for many years.
I tried Lyman and RCBS pots and after they age, the thermostats went bad and I would set the ladle in on hard lead because cycle times got so long. The remote thermostat on the Lee is the best ever.
I admit to never getting in tune to a bottom pour.
Don't fool with a 10# pot. I have one from LBT for nose pour but if you cast the whole boolit, it will drain fast.
With a ladle I can use two, two cavity molds in rotation and have even used 3. I don't like the pre heat times to get 3 going though.

[Greg_R]

OK, I ordered the the melter furnace. Hoping it will will be what i needed. I think ladle pour is the way I want to go. Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

[NavyVet1959]

I think ladle pour is the way I want to go.

Try the bottom pour ladle idea that I previously posted. It only costs about $1-1.50 for one of the stainless steel condiment ladles and it makes for a pretty cheap experiment. You might actually like it.


Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

Some say zinc contamination, but I've never experienced that... For me, the biggest problem would be that when I'm smelting, I'm doing large batches whereas when casting, a 20 lb pot is sufficient --ok, maybe a 30 lb one would be better, but 30 lbs on a smelting pot would be way too small.

[Landshark9025]

I smelt using the bottom of an AC Freon tank. No matter how much you flux, stir, scrape, etc there is dirt and other stuff that sticks to the sided and bottom. This is just part of the process. If you smelt in your casting pot, this junk will always be there and if you have a bottom pour it WILL cause the valve to stick. If you ladle cast, I would imagine it would be floating to the top and you have to deal with it sometime. You don't smelt in your casting pot for the same reason you don't use the good kitchen broom to sweep the garage. It'll just track more dirt into an area that is somewhat clean already.

Couple of hints if you ever do get the bottom pour Lee:
1. Get one of these: http://goo.gl/Gp3oXt to put the pot in. You can bend the front edge down a bit so it isn't in the way and can actually act as a guide. This way, in the unfortunate event of a full on "lead waterfall", it has some containment. Changes an "OH SH%$" moment into an "oh, shoot" moment.
2. Preheat the ingots on top of the mold or a hot plate turned on low and keep it about 2/3-3/4 full. Much easier to maintain the temp if the melt level is high and consistent. If you are casting boolits in the 150g range, that means that you are getting 40-50 per pound of lead. If you are using a six cavity mold, and have one pound ingots, you can plan on dropping an ingot every 5-10 "runs". Helps keep a nice rhythm. Plus the pot doesn't work as hard as it is easier to maintain the temp. Kind of the opposite of having a full fridge.


OK, I ordered the the melter furnace. Hoping it will will be what i needed. I think ladle pour is the way I want to go. Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

[Tatume]

OK, I ordered the the melter furnace. Hoping it will will be what i needed. I think ladle pour is the way I want to go. Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

Ladle casting is the best, in my opinion. I have both, and only use the bottom pour pot for casting pure lead. This is because I can cover the melt with sawdust and keep it from oxidizing, which pure lead is prone to do.

No harm will be done smelting wheel weights in your melter. The harm people worry about is getting grit and debris in the bottom pour mechanism, which will certainly happen if you smelt in a bottom pour pot. Your pot will not be harmed. When you are done smelting wheel weights, just pick up the entire pot with a large pliers (grasp the base), and pour the last little bit of melted lead out. Then after the pot cools, wipe it out with a damp cloth.

The RCBS casting ladle is a good one. The Rowell #1 is even better.

http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/casting_ladle_bottom1.htm

Good luck, and welcome aboard.

Take care, Tom

[44man]

There is a huge amount of trash and dirt on WW's. Then they toss valve stems in the buckets too. There is tape, grease, zinc, aluminum, etc there too.
Smelt separate and keep the melt at 600° and skim off what does not melt.
Yes you will want to raise the temps but what you think you save is not good.
Do NOT flux until you skim, even pure antimony will melt in at 600° with flux.
Pick out and toss stick on weights, They have strange metals today due to the nuts in Kalifornication. Seems birds steal them from wheels! The last batch I melted were almost all zinc. Pot was all oatmeal, nasty junk. Some SO's are strips of pure and you can tell.

[Tatume]

For small time production of ingots for personal use, it is practical to pick out the lead wheel weights, examine them individually (or a handful at a time), and drop them into the pot. When I go out to cast, sometimes I'll smelt one pot of wheel weights and cast ingots, then smelt another pot full, and cast bullets of it. I get almost no macro trash (valve stems, for example), and can easily check suspect wheel weighs for zinc using a side cutter pliers.

If I were smelting barrels of wheel weights for ingots to sell, I would not use my casting pot, for a variety of reasons. For one, it is too small.

[bangerjim]

For VERY VERY small production, a non-bottom pour pot is fine for re-melting and fluxing. Most of us do hundreds of pounds of lead and alloy at a time and a large gas-fired pot is the best for our needs.

I cast in mostly 6 cavity molds and the bottom pours are fast and efficient. I can crank out hundreds of perfect boolits in an hour! I only use 2 cav molds when Lee does not make a 6 cav version.

I hope you can find a friend that has a 4-20 bottom pour you can try sometime. Once you use one and see the volume of QUALITY output, you will be sold! My bottom/side CI ladle just hangs on the shop wall.......been there a while........gathering dust.

Have fun with you new melter. It is sure better than a coleman stove.

bangerjim

[NavyVet1959]

I only smelt in the dead of winter and outside (due to the smoke from fluxing and trash in the wheelweights), so I smelt in larger batches. Unless I have at least a 5g bucket of wheelweights, I don't even bother with it. A cast iron dutch oven, cutoff freon tank, or cutoff 20-lb propane tank and gas burner is plenty for a couple of 5g buckets of wheelweights. When I'm casting though, I do it in the garage with the door open. Not as much smoke is produced, so I don't need the same amount of airflow that I need when smelting. Plus, when smelting, I sometimes use used motor oil for a flux and that will often burst into flames. Don't want to be doing that under a roof. :)

[Tatume]

I use five or six-cavity molds almost exclusively, and wouldn't consider changing to a bottom pour pot. I don't like them, and in my opinion they don't produce the quality of bullets that ladle casting does. Learn to use what you have. You won't look back.

[gwpercle]

I tried the bottom pour pot, couldn't master it, I cast more boolits all right but had a high rate of rejects. I want them well filled out, sharp edges , no wrinkles or voids and perfect bases.
Discovered me and my 2 cavity moulds cast more keepers with Lyman ladle and Lee open top Magnum Melter. Love the big capacity of the Magnum.
I'm thinking bottom pour pots are great for 6 cavity moulds, but I don't own any.
Just for reference , 2 cavity Lee mould, Lyman ladle , open pot, 1 hour produced 250 perfect or darn near perfect boolits. Without rushing...just took my time. Lee open top pots are great, they never leak! Lee spoon type ladles I don't care for, Get one that has a spout on the side. This is my experience on the subject, jump in there and cast...experience is a great teacher.
Gary

[bangerjim]

In the past I have cast with a ladle in 1, 2, 4, & 6 cavity molds. Excellent boolits - as long as the mold is preheated to CASTING TEMP. But very slow and low production rate.

Do the exact same now with Lee 4-20 bottom pours. Same exact excellent boolits. Tons of them!

I just cannot see why people say they get better boolits with a ladle??????

Only difference I saw was 3 to 6 times as many excellent boolits with the bottom pour because it is so dog-gone fast. And on the odd occasion when you have a cantankerous mold that will not fill out right, pressure casting is faaaaaaar better with 15-18# of molten lead above the spigot!!

Everybody I teach casting to, they start out with a Lee 4-20 bottom pour and 6 cav molds.......with excellent success!

To each his own. It is just what you are used to. Start out big......stay big.

banger

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Today I cleaned my Lee 20lb bottom pour for the first time since I got it about 5 years ago. I disassembled it to get to the hole. I found using a small propane torch helped heat up the junk enough for me to scrape it out.

Even after cleaning it good, it still drips, but what forced me to do this cleaning in the first place is I couldn't get more than a trickle of lead to come out.

It's so cheap my first thought was just to buy a new one, but the penny pincher in me decided to try and fix it.

[MT Chambers]

One word: RCBS Promelt

[bangerjim]

One word: RCBS Promelt

That's two words!!!!!!! :kidding: Or some letters and a word!

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I have always done my smelting in an old Saeco model 34 non bottom pour 20 pound pot so no issues with range lead or crudded up WW's. I have ladle with an RCBS and a Lyman ladle from it when it has been cleaned up and gotten excellent bullets. I have two bottom pours....a Saeco model 24 that I use for single and double cavity molds and an RCBS Pro Melt for the 4 cav molds. The PM has been going strong since 1978 without a hitch and produces equally excellent quality bullets. I have successfully ladle casted with my 4 cavity molds using a soup type ladle before I could afford a bottom pour and got excellent quality bullets as well, but it was a fairly sloppy process with lots of splashing and grotesque sprues...but it worked well. LLS

[RogerDat]

I don't smelt scrap lead in the same pot I cast out of. Too much grunge in the pot when melting scrap and WW's lead. Those nice clean well fluxed ingots poured from the grungy smelting pot go in the casting pot. I have a bucket for washing the car, I don't use the dishpan I use for dishes. Desire bullets to have the least amount of dross and garbage possible so that extra step of making clean ingots works for me.

I have never tried a bottom pour, I use the Lyman little dipper and in three casting sessions all less than 2 hours. Have at least 500 45 colt RF 255 gr and 800 38 SWC 158 gr. Two bread loaf pans of cast output is plenty to feed revolvers, now if I shot auto loaders.....

I would rather have the larger capacity melter for ladle than a bottom pour but then I don't run a lot of volume either.

[Sasquatch-1]

Even after cleaning it good, it still drips, but what forced me to do this cleaning in the first place is I couldn't get more than a trickle of lead to come out.

The next time you have the problem with the spout plugging up take an old paper clip, and a pair of pliers to hold it with, and run the clip up the spout while draining lead. This will help get rid of any dirt they may have migrated to the spout. When done with your casting session drain the pot, turn it upside down, using method previously mentioned for draining, and tap lightly with a stick like you would use to open the sprue plate.

No matter how careful I have been are I still end up with dirt in my pot.

[Ken O]

I smelt in a turkey fryer, and do a 5 gallon bucket of WWs at a time. There were plans on here many years ago to make the turkey fryer a bottom pour, on the same principle at the Lee pot. Only cost a couple bucks for parts. You lift the handle, and the lead flows out a bottom pipe to fill the ingot. That way the **** that is floating on top of the smelt doesn't get into the ingot. There were many casters who made the pot, works like a champ.

For the molds I bottom pour from the big Lee. I occasionally go back and ladle pour, but not for long.

[44man]

I tried the bottom pour pot, couldn't master it, I cast more boolits all right but had a high rate of rejects. I want them well filled out, sharp edges , no wrinkles or voids and perfect bases.
Discovered me and my 2 cavity moulds cast more keepers with Lyman ladle and Lee open top Magnum Melter. Love the big capacity of the Magnum.
I'm thinking bottom pour pots are great for 6 cavity moulds, but I don't own any.
Just for reference , 2 cavity Lee mould, Lyman ladle , open pot, 1 hour produced 250 perfect or darn near perfect boolits. Without rushing...just took my time. Lee open top pots are great, they never leak! Lee spoon type ladles I don't care for, Get one that has a spout on the side. This is my experience on the subject, jump in there and cast...experience is a great teacher.
Gary
Me too. I can cast 20# all the way to scraping the last out of the bottom without a reject. I don't need a level of lead in the pot.
Pressure cast is a myth, you can't compress molten lead, you just force air out. A ladle works fine for that. To dribble lead in a mold has some cooling before the cavity is full.
Lead is colder at the pot bottom since there are no heat coils there. There is crud at the bottom that does not float. To pick at the hole to open it is nuts.
Cast fast with a huge mold and toss over half back in the pot or shoot scuds is not for me.

[Sasquatch-1]

I beg to differ with you Jim but my Lyman pot has the heating coil at the very bottom.:kidding:


Also I find failure to fill out the mold is more a lack of tin. Since I started adding pewter to the mix I get great fill out.




Lead is colder at the pot bottom since there are no heat coils there. There is crud at the bottom that does not float. To pick at the hole to open it is nuts.

[NavyVet1959]

I smelt in a turkey fryer, and do a 5 gallon bucket of WWs at a time.

Most of the turkey fryers that I've seen are aluminum pots. I believe that there is a general consensus against using aluminum pots for smelting lead due to localized heating when you are first starting off a batch or the fact that aluminum is starting to weaken when it gets to smelting temperatures.

There are some stainless steel turkey fryers though...

[RogerDat]

The aluminum turkey fryer pot goes to the dear wife, the burner on the other hand does a bang up job of melting lead in your favorite cast iron dutch oven or heavy stainless steel pot.

I added some drop in angle iron cross pieces so I can set a small stainless pot on the burner to cast from.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I finally got rid of my old, ooooold 4-20 Lee pot. I know it was old because I bought it when Lee first came out with it. I rebuilt it one time a while back, but it finally just would not work properly. I've got two ten pounders (bottom pour also) that are older than the 4-20 and still working just fine. I will be getting a new 4-20 though. My preference is bottom pour. I used ladel pour for several years when I first started casting, that was before I even knew about bottom pour pots.

[44man]

I beg to differ with you Jim but my Lyman pot has the heating coil at the very bottom.:kidding:


Also I find failure to fill out the mold is more a lack of tin. Since I started adding pewter to the mix I get great fill out.
None of mine did. I tore one apart and the coil was only on the sides. The biggest problems were the bi-metal thermostats were subject to direct heat and the strips would over heat and lose tension.

[44man]

PLEASE do not use aluminum to smelt. It gives no indication it is at the melting point and will fail all at once. It does not turn red hot, just melts.

[Mal Paso]

I just cannot see why people say they get better boolits with a ladle??????


I think they are pressure casting and are probably getting good fillout at a lower mold temp.

I've noticed with some molds how you hit the sprue hole with the lead stream is critical. With a bottom pour the Pot is in the way of good mold visibility. I have built a small spotlight that bounces light off the aluminum bottom
of my Lee 4-20s. Even so with some molds I can't get even a little sloppy.

It would be nice if we could look over each others shoulders.

Glad I got into the bottom pour rut. :grin:

[Greg_R]

Bought the Lee open top furnace, figured it would be enough for me, 4 pounds, or 294 to 112 bullets, depending on which of my bullets I am casting.

I went ahead and bought the 10 pound bottom pour also. 736 to 280 bullets, depending on which mold I am using. I will see which one I like. Got th both for $75 including shipping using my birthday discount.

My supply of free wheel weights has dried up. The company I work for has quit balancing the wheels on our tractor trailers. Have two 6 gallon buckets left. Then I have to find another source. Guess that's the topic for another thread. The good news is that I know where the wheel weights came from, and they are all lead, except for the clips.

[David2011]

There is a huge amount of trash and dirt on WW's. Then they toss valve stems in the buckets too. There is tape, grease, zinc, aluminum, etc there too.

I usually get chewed Redman, tire lube gorilla snot, lug nuts and broken studs, razor blades, tire labels and broken tools, too. Don't want any of that in my Pro-Melt!

David

[bangerjim]

Pressure cast is a myth, you can't compress molten lead, you just force air out. A ladle works fine for that.


Pressure casting is NOT a myth. It is called "injection molding" in industry and has worked just fine for many many decades for millions of items and various metals. Darned near everything you pick up that is made from zinc (or pot metal) is injection molded. Same with plastics.

You are NOT compressing anything here. Granted, liquids are non-compressible media. But you ARE forcing molten lead into the cavity faster under the pot's head pressure.

If you have a mold that is a bit cantankerous, you can use pressure casting to your advantage. And to get a good pressure cast, you need the "head pressure" of 15-18# of lead in the pot, not a fraction of an inch in a ladle. I pressure cast on a couple molds that will not behave with either standard bottom pouring OR ladle casting. (and please do not go into any old litany of poor casting techniques and mold/lead temp and alloy mix.) And yes, I have an excellent CI bottom-side pour ladle that now rarely ever gets used.

Pressure casting has it's place in our hobby and from all I have done and observed over the past (A LOT), it works best with a FULL bottom pour pot of your choice.

banger

[Sasquatch-1]

I rebuilt my little Lee 10 pound pot a couple years ago and the coil in it wraps around the inner liner towards the bottom. The Lyman 20 lb. pot I have, the inner liner sets on top of the coil. Have not had a problem with the thermostat on either although I did have to redo the insulator for the prongs the power cord plugs into on the Lyman. (I got the Lyman used and it was old to begin with.)




None of mine did. I tore one apart and the coil was only on the sides. The biggest problems were the bi-metal thermostats were subject to direct heat and the strips would over heat and lose tension.

[44man]

Pressure casting is NOT a myth. It is called "injection molding" in industry and has worked just fine for many many decades for millions of items and various metals. Darned near everything you pick up that is made from zinc (or pot metal) is injection molded. Same with plastics.

You are NOT compressing anything here. Granted, liquids are non-compressible media. But you ARE forcing molten lead into the cavity faster under the pot's head pressure.

If you have a mold that is a bit cantankerous, you can use pressure casting to your advantage. And to get a good pressure cast, you need the "head pressure" of 15-18# of lead in the pot, not a fraction of an inch in a ladle. I pressure cast on a couple molds that will not behave with either standard bottom pouring OR ladle casting. (and please do not go into any old litany of poor casting techniques and mold/lead temp and alloy mix.) And yes, I have an excellent CI bottom-side pour ladle that now rarely ever gets used.

Pressure casting has it's place in our hobby and from all I have done and observed over the past (A LOT), it works best with a FULL bottom pour pot of your choice.

banger
I agree it gets lead in faster and gets air to exit faster. But there seems to be an idea that you are compressing the lead. That is the only point I don't agree with.
I use a ladle and will cast the first cavity and when the sprue flashes, I cast the second with what is left in the ladle. Up to 440 gr boolits but when I get to 560 gr, I fill the ladle more.
I hold the ladle tight in the plate and do all I can to prevent leakage at the nose.
I don't think it is the weight of the lead but how it enters the mold.
Injection casting is a must for some materials due to how they act when they contact the mold and how many little turns and openings they need. Plastic and zinc, etc. Need the push but most boolits do not.
Making a boolit more dense by weight is what is the myth. Forcing it in a mold is different.
Casting my soft nose boolits does not allow me to seal the ladle after I pour the nose so I just pour with a gap to the mold that is held level on a board. Get perfect boolits.
Most cast with a bottom pour with an open stream but the temp difference at the spout is a problem. Keeping more lead in the pot keeps the lead at the bottom hot.
My question would be are you causing pressure or better heat control?