Pot recommendations

[qajaq59]

Anyone care to recommend what they feel is a hassle free pot? I hear so much about the Lee's having problems with drips that I'd rather not deal with that. Or..... do they all have different things to put up with?

[Doc Highwall]

You have to give more information as to what calibers you are going to load for. For example if you are going to cast for pistol calibers like 38-357 you are going to use a gang mould and a bottom pore would be the first chose. then again if you are going to cast large 400gr and up most people go with a ladle, in this case I would go with a Wage pot.

[JSnover]

I've used a bottom-pour and it was pretty sweet but if we didn't run it hot enough the spout would freeze. I still like it, but that's one more issue.
For now I'm dipping from a dutch oven and the only complaint might be that it's a heavy/bulky setup and I end up leaving a good mount of lead in the bottom because the ladle needs a minimum depth to be useful. I don't think either is "best" but I'd say use the big pot for making ingots and the smaller one for boolits

[NuJudge]

I like the 20 pound Lee. Yes, it drips a little. I had a Lyman before and it's temperature control died on me.

Bottom pouring, having two furnaces, 6-cavity molds, and water dropping all bullets makes it possible for me to cast 24 bullets a minute for long stretches.

CDD

[qajaq59]

You're right. I should have mentioned that. Most of my casting will be .30 cal probably weighing in around 165 gr. And 400 or 500 a month would likely be max on how many. And I've done the ladle routine years ago. But it was such a hassle without a bottom pour that in the end I stopped all together. Of course in those days I didn't have a thermostatically control pot either, which was a mistake.

[HeavyMetal]

400 to 500rounds a month is a little hectic but not really bad either. I think you could go either way.

So my suggestion is: If your only going to use one single cavity mold, or even two, buy the Lee pot designed to dip out of, no bottom pour. Do the 20# unit.

If your going to use a pair of two banger's then consider a bottom pour.

The real decision isn't about what you want to cast today it's what are you going to want to cast next week? I always suggest you look to your future when making this type of purchase.

That way you don't buy twice!

[LAH]

Buy for life and get a RCBS 20 pounder. Just my two.........Creeker

[Drilling Man]

Many years ago i bought a Lee and it dripped and the control went out... I bought a second one, and it dripped and the control went out... Then i bought a RCBS 20 pounder, and it still works perfectly after many years of use, and i think it's been a great investment.

DM

[runfiverun]

this is one area you get what ya pay for.

[wills]

Waage
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=26081&highlight=Waage
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=24644&highlight=Waage
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=20667&highlight=Waage
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17343&highlight=Waage
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=15133&highlight=Waage
use the search feature, there is a lot of discussion

[Old Ironsights]

Anyone care to recommend what they feel is a hassle free pot? I hear so much about the Lee's having problems with drips that I'd rather not deal with that. Or..... do they all have different things to put up with?

Usually I go for Maui Wowie, though Matanuska Thunder*uck is premo as well.

Occasionally you can get some pretty good BC bud, but it's getting harder & harder to get across the border...


What? [smilie=1: ;)

[mstarling]

+1 for the 20 lb RCBS ... mine was made in 1987 and is still in use. I used up a Lyman before that.

I make 286's, 425's, and 500's of two designs in multiple cavity molds. No problems.

[mooman76]

Why not get the 20lb Lee top pour and a 6x mould. Youcould knock out enough for a year in one day!

[timkelley]

I am pretty new as a caster and have cast only a couple thousand boolits so take my opinion with a pound of salt. Having said the former, I cannot figure what is the big deal about a drip from the spout. Put an ingot mould under your pot and when you stop to put the cut sprues back in the pot empty the drips from the mould back in too.

I obviously like my 20lb Lee.:-D

[Junior1942]

The Lee pots are cheap enough to have a pot for each different alloy. And like "noclue" said, What's the big deal with a little drip?

[Drilling Man]

The Lee pots are cheap enough to have a pot for each different alloy. And like "noclue" said, What's the big deal with a little drip?


It wasn't the drip that got to me... It was the controls going out after a few years... Maybe they are better now? But i'm glad i have the RCBS as i've cast thousands and thousands of bullets out of it.... Cast a lot of cores for swageing out of it too...

DM

[AZ-Stew]

My $0.02 from a previous post:

Speaking of the Lee 4-20 pot, I had an exciting few minutes in my shop a couple of weekends ago. My son (age 31) and I were doing some loading for his .357 and he wanted some .44 bullets to load and shoot in one of my guns. I lit-off the pot and let it come to temp. When I stirred the alloy I apparently bumped the valve mechanism with my stirring spoon. The valve rod groove disengaged from the flow rate adjustment screw and the valve rod lifted up out of the nozzle, with its tip coming to rest on the bottom of the pot, locking the valve in full-open mode. I couldn't get it back in to stop the flow due to the small ridge around the nozzle where it is pressed onto the bottom of the pot. 700 degree lead began pouring out as fast as it could run through the spout. Since I had enlarged the spout opening a bit with a drill when it was brand new to allow a faster flow for casting big bullets, the flow was a lot faster than one would want under the circumstances. I keep an ingot mould under the spout to catch the "Lee Drip", so the molten lead didn't immediately spread out over the entire bench, but it was exciting trying to get a couple more ingot moulds out of storage and under the open spout before things really got messy. Let's just say the Lee 20 pound pots don't have a robust valve mechanism. I didn't get burned, but I was lucky. On top of that, this particular pot won't hold temp. I've seen 100+ degree temp swings during casting without changing the thermostat.

I ordered an RCB$ ($330+ +shipping -Ouch!) Pro Melt several weeks ago from MidSouth to replace the Lee 4-20. I'm going to send the Lee pot back to them in the RCBS box and ask them to swap it for a mould or two. It's only had about 10-20 hours of use.

As for the RCB$ pot, it is more professional than the Lee, but I'm not sure there's $250 difference between them. Time will tell. At least it holds temp and the dripping is minimal.

Regards,

Stew

[NoDakJak]

I presently have three Lee pots and one Lyman sitting on my shop floor with fried thermostats. Just took possesion of my new RCBS Pro Pot today. Sure hope that it cures my problems. Neil

[Boomer Mikey]

I've been using an RCBS 20# bottom pour pot for over 20 years... it's outlasted 2 Lee pots and 2 Lyman pots. I agree they're pricey and I can see the logic of 2 or 3 Lee pots for the price of one RCBS but I've certainly received my money's worth and I don't need to keep a thermometer in the RCBS pot to see what's going on.

I'm currently using one Lee 20# bottom pour and the RCBS, the Lee occasionally drips but a twist or two with a screwdriver on the metering rod stops the drip. The Lee does my WW/2% tin work and the RCBS a 50/50 WW/Lino alloy.

Boomer :Fire:

[Randall]

I started with a Lee 10 pound about 20-25 years ago,it always dripped. About 15 years ago I bought a Lyman. The Lyman has just started dripping and I have cleaned the pot several times,fluxed and fluxed the melt and it still drips a little. The Lee burned out the pot after a few years and the Lyman dripping is the only problem I have had with it.