going over to a dipper ?

[49FMarlin]

Ive been casting with a Lee Pro 4 20 pound, for a yr now, got it used, works good kept for the famous drip,

I'm looking to try with the Lyman dipper and a cast pot on a campfire or my gas burning cooker this year
just so i know how to do it when the power goes out,and I've heard the 45-70 will do better this way

I see lee and lyman sell the 10 pound cast iron pot,
seems small to me?

what size cast iron pot is advisable to buy to get involved with doing it the old way?

I have a lot of cast iron Lodge pots,
looking to do 200 at a time of 45-70 and 357

thanks

[Bruntson]

About a 4 quart should be plenty for your needs.

[RogerDat]

I have a small cast iron sauce pan that can hold a bit over 25# and it works well over a burner. Have not cast anything as large as your 45-70 but for 255 gr. RFN the lyman little dipper ladle worked very well. Even for little .225 cast it was good. Little hard to keep the thermometer in place in that pot, but then I think the lid helps speed up the initial melt.

Only thing I would point out is most electric hot plates seem to have a hard time getting melt up to the temps around 700* propane reaches these temperatures easily.

Oddly enough I'm thinking of getting an electric 20# pot for ladle casting (not bottom pour) because I find the height and size of the propane burner stand more difficult to use. I'm currently working over a fish fryer I use for smelting with bars dropped across the existing supports to hold the smaller pot. I want to be able to work seated, the fryer is too high, and takes up a lot of table when I'm working. Works pretty well while standing but that bugs my back after awhile.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Ive been casting with a Lee Pro 4 20 pound, for a yr now, got it used, works good kept for the famous drip,

I'm looking to try with the Lyman dipper and a cast pot on a campfire or my gas burning cooker this year
just so i know how to do it when the power goes out,and I've heard the 45-70 will do better this way

I see lee and lyman sell the 10 pound cast iron pot,
seems small to me?

what size cast iron pot is advisable to buy to get involved with doing it the old way?

I have a lot of cast iron Lodge pots,
looking to do 200 at a time of 45-70 and 357

thanks
The Lodge pots will work but the flat bottom is a little hard to work with when the lead gets low. I would check out the second hand stores for a round bottom cast iron pot, or even a small stainless steel cooking pot that looks like it will hold twenty pounds of lead, any thing larger will take a long time to heat up and use a lot more fuel to keep it at casting temp.

[Mk42gunner]

I used to use a cast iron one pint sauce pan with a Coleman stove as a heat source.

It worked, but since I bought my first electric pot I haven't melted any lead on a Coleman stove. I have however dipped a lot of lead from the top of my Lee 4-20. It is a lot more comfortable, due mainly to the insulation around the hot pot.

Robert

[country gent]

Buffalo Arms (Baco)has a selection of cast iron pots in diffrent sizes for casting. These are goog heavy pots and not a bad price. Round bottoms so you can ladle down to just 2-3 lbs left in the pot. I would recomend one in the 30-40 lb range. The larger quanity males it easier to regulate heat of the melt. A larger mass changes much slower than a small mass. I cast over a propane burner and large pot ( 125Lbs). It works great for me. On the lyman ladle its a very good ladle but if you havent bought it yet give the rcbs ladle a look also it holds a little bit more lead aiding in holding heat better. On both of these opening the spout hole up to .200-.215 dia greatly improves flow and fill of the mould. Ladle pouring can make some very good bullets and very consistant ones. I hold mould blocks over pot and pour a full ladle of lead into mould sprue hole letting excess runn of blocks back into pot. This keeps sprue sprue plate and bullet molten as long as possible allowing complete fill and gasses to escape. When doing this you see very little shrinkage of the sprue. I cast 40 cal 400 grn and 45 500-550 grn bullets and normally have less than 1 grn variation thru the run of 300-400 bullets. Things to watch for with a cast iron pot are simple and easy, 1) when heating start low and warm up to temp slowly as this helps keep it from cracking. avoid impacts aor sharp blows on it. I also recomend pre heating the new pot for a little while to burn of impurites perservatives and "seasoning" ( if its a cooking cast iron pot. Also get a good thermometer to know what temp your lead actually is.

[Blackwater]

I'd check the junk and antique and Christian thrift stores for a much bigger pot. That .45/70 eats lead like a hungry kid! Bigger pots make for longer casting sessions, thereby eliminating all the prep and heatup times. And shooting a .45/70 CAN be rather addicting, too!

[bedbugbilly]

I've used two 10# pots for better than 50 years - one for pure lead for my ML casting and one for range lead for my boolit casting. I ladle pour with a Lyman bottom pour ladle the same age. I use these on a propane hot plate but have also used the pots over wood fires to cast. A 10# pot is more than sufficient for casting. As it gets lower during the casting section, just add more ingots, let them melt and carry on . . . and I cast everything from .350 RB up to 255 gr. 45 Colt boolits. Think about it . . . at .255 gr. you should get about 27 boolits per pound. A 10# pot with 8 # of lead in it should let you cast a 100 boolits easily with 4# left in the pot . . . so take a break and add about 5 pounds, let it melt and then carry on.

[GhostHawk]

I cast for years with just a 6" cast iron fry pan with 1" sides. Lyman dipper, old spoon and fork for picking crud out.

I did finally happen across one of the older lee 10# pots, no thermostat, but it works fine.
I ended up finding a small steel table at harbor freight for a casting table. Top whas fiberboard so I found an end off a sheet metal desk and made a nice top for it. 3 edges are nicely rolled, so I put the rougher edge at the back. So far no problems, catches all the drips, etc.


As to the small pot, I have no problem casting 100 of most boolits before taking a couple min break while it melts some ingots to bring the level back up. With a third to a half a pot of hot melted lead, drop 2 ingots in, go for a smoke, get a drink, rest my arm. Before you know it your back in the groove.

[bpatterson84]

I have the Lyman 10# and a Rowell #1 bottom pour. Love the Rowell, but it's a lil bulky when using the 10# pot, seems too narrow. I like the depth, but really wish there was a 20# available with equally tall sides.