Lee 20 lb Pot

[ryan richards]

Hi guys,

Since I have never cast a bullet in my life and I am in the stage of gathering information about the subject, I have an easy question for the old hands.

How many onces of lead does a Lee 20 lb pot actually hold?

Is it just 27 ozs?

Does my math below check with yours?

I have learned that 1 gal of lead weighs closed to 95 lbs or about 1.35 ozs to 1 lb of lead. If so, the Lee 20 lb pot holds about 27 ozs of lead.

With 7000 grs to a lb and 11,810 grains to the Lee 20 lb pot, it looks like it can hold enough lead to make about 127 148 gr wadcutters or 21 castings from a six banger mold.

[AnthonyB]

Ryan, I think your math is off a little, and you don't need to worry about converting to ounces. Assume the Lee pot holds 17 lbs of "useable" allow and you get the following:
17 lbs x 7000 grains per lb = 119,00 grains of lead.
119,000/148 = 804 boolits
Tony

[Heavy lead]

Dude,
What? I have one, never measured anything in it, but when it's full it's feels like it has 20#'s in it, and it'll cast 250 or so 429421's or RCBS 270SAA without a refill with some lead still in it. No offense, but stop thinking and start casting. I like the 20# pot, IMO a much better purchase than the 10# Lee.

[Shiloh]

I get about 15 lbs of lead in my 20lb pot at a time. I suppose a 20lb capacity is pure lead but I am weighing on a postal scale, close weights but not precision.

That equates to 240 oz. That would mean 710 148 gr wadcutter boolits per potload. I normally run my pot one lead muffin short of full and add muffins as I go.

15 lbs. x 7000 = 105,000 grains. 105,000 grs. divided by 148 grs. = 709.46 boolits

Shiloh :castmine:

[Meatco1]

" 1.35 ozs to 1 lb of lead", way off
"How many onces of lead does a Lee 20 lb pot actually hold? Is it just 27 ozs?", way off

I've never counted, but you can make a shi#@! load of 148 gr wadcutters from a 20 lb pot, more on the line of 950 bullets per pot.

Oops, wait a minute, my pot only hold 19 lbs, so that would be 898 of your 148 wadcutters.

Richard

[Bluehawk]

Just go buy the 20 pounder nad start casting about 15 to 16 lbs depending on what alloy you are using is about right
I finally got one about 3 months ago after having three 10 pounders allthese years ( the 10s did NOt wear out or break I still use them but for smaller boolits)
I will probably get another one soon to keep alloys more seperate. :bigsmyl2:

[docone31]

Hehehe.
Casting is not that concise in weight issues.
I have a 20# bottom pour. I love it. When it drips a little, I hold down the valve and turn the screw.
For me, I fill the pot, kinda figuire the tin needed, if any, and start pouring. When I eyeball it and it needs some added, I slip some in, sit back, shake my arms, reheat the mold, and cast away.
I have the 20#pot, and I do not even know if it holds 20#. I never weighed it and do not see weighing it in the near future.
It is more like, eyeballing it, ....yeah, thats about right,.....add a little tin, don't add tin,.... toss in some beeswax, I like the smell, and cast away.
Shoot, just start melting, and have some fun. You will figuire it out pretty quickly.
Probably in the time it takes to break in the mold.

[imashooter2]

If you are talking volume, your math is a little off. A fluid ounce of lead weighs .739 pounds. A Lee "20 pound" pot actually holds around 17 pounds of lead, so the "20 pound" pot would have a volume of about 23 fluid ounces.

[Jon K]

Ditto, Ditto what imashooter2 said, BUT.............Don't worry about "how many boolits in a pot"

The isssue being you don't want to run the pot dry, or even close to the bottom. I believe the instructions say keep the level of the pot at 1 inch +.

When the pot gets low add more...................

Jon

[ryan richards]

"stop thinking and start casting"

I wish I could. Unfortunately, I can't.

I live 2,000 miles up the Amazon river. In Peru, things are different. First, I must obtain authorization to import handloading and casting equipment, second, I must pass a test to demonstrate my expertise in this art. Not to mention third, I must apply for a gun permit and fourth, I must buy a gun.

Since about half the country is the "wild west", with drug dealers and terrorists as the bad guys, the authorities are concerned about who's got the guns and ammo.

Fortunately, the authorities are located only 700 miles away by air plane (no roads out of here) waiting to attend to my every wish. I hope to actually cast a bullet and fire it in my pistol before I die. Meanwhile, I am marking time by learning more about the subject and posting my simple question on the forum.

I have over 200 pages of information I have learned from the various forums and I thank you and others for giving me your time and expertise to help me along.

Oh, I guess I could start casting now, if I were in prision, because that's where I would be without authorization.

[Heavy lead]

I certainly wasn't trying to insult you. Sorry about that. Doesn't sound like a place I want to be. Typical government though. Instead of taking guns in situations like that, they ought to be passing them out, then the innocents could protect themselves.
HMMMM!
Maybe Lee should start making 20# chocolate melters, and 6 cavity candy moulds?
Very interesting concept. Then you could get them past the gestapo!

[georgewxxx]

Ryan

May I be so bold to ask, what the heck are you doing out in the upper Amazon boonies anyway? In your post you don't sound like you'll be there forever. Unless the one of those armed druggies get to you first!!.....Geo

[yondering]

Ummm... There are 16 ounces in a pound. I think you're confusing yourself thinking about fluid ounces. Fluid ounces is completely irrelevant for casting boolits.

[dwtim]

I am only able to get about 18 ~1 lb. ingots in my Lee pot, but I also flux with that stuff that coats everything with borax, so I thought it was just me. The problem I have with the tall pot is that when I get down below four pounds, it is hard to fill up the ladle enough to cast two 250 grainers in a row.

With regard to the OP's situation:

* There may also be US export restrictions on those items. I have no experience dealing with these, so I don't know how it effects an individual buyer.

* Is an electric pot more practical than a locally-purchased gas-fired burner and a big cast iron one? Maybe a thermometer is all that is needed.

* Peru is a big exporter of lead. Is it easy to get?

* If you're buying an electric pot, why not order replacement parts at the same time?


Good luck with your venture!

[Papucho]

There are 16 ounces to a pound. Redo your math.

[wills]

First, I must obtain authorization to import handloading and casting equipment, .



A Waage melting pot is sold as commercial soldering equipment. They are highly regarded by BPCR competitors for their ability to maintain constant temperature, and are priced less than some of the pots sold as reloading equipment.

Perhaps it will be easier to import soldering equipment than firearms accessories.

Waage Melting Pot:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=8225&highlight=waage

http://www.waage.com/soldpot.html

http://www.waage.com/

The 20 pound pot is not shown on the website, you will have to e mail Mr. Waage.

Weight of Lead And Other Metals

http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra2.html

708 pounds per cubic foot.

1 cubic foot = 1728 cubic inches
708 ÷1728 =0.4097222 pounds of lead per cubic inch

23.661457 Pounds per Quart.

1 cubic inch = 0.017 316 017 quart [US, liquid]
1 gallon [US, liquid] = 231 cubic inch
1 quart [US, liquid] = 57.75 cubic inch
1 pint [US, liquid] = 28.875 cubic inch

[copdills]

just fill it up and have fun, good luck

[ryan richards]

Hi guys,

Not only am I learning a lot about reloading and casting, I am also having a good time chatting with you guys.

I've been here about 25 years counting frogs and I thought I should return to my pistol shooting days up in the "Land of the Big PX" and begin counting boolits instead. To my horrible surprise, I learned that commercial bullets cost over $1 a piece down here. So, I connected the dots which lead me to the "boolits" forum, bless your kind hearts.

And I haven't been asleep either. I found the only supply of wheel weights in town and I have been building up my stash for the big day. However, since plan A always springs leaks, I'm already onto plan B. Time to track down the lead. Yup, you got it, Peru ranks as the Nº1 lead producer in the world and accounts for 17% of the total. Now I can sleep at night knowing that lead certainly will not be outlawed down here.

[John Boy]

Ryan - you have the WW's and I presume a mold. So why not just scrounge a cast iron pot, put it on the fire (gas I presume again) and start casting. For fire, a Coleman gas burner stove works nicely. Then just appy for the gun permit and buy the gun for the bullets you made.

Powder - cases - primers ... restrictions on these components too?

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Ryan,

I think John Boy has the right of it. Just get yourself a heat source, a dipper and such. Much simpler to get going and you don't have to import it. Then all you'd need to import would be the molds and that's only if you can't get them there.

Regards,

Dave

[ryan richards]

Absolutely right!

At least I can get my feet wet by cooking up wheel weights and pouring them into ingots. I'll get some angle iron welded up for ingot molds (got that idea from the forum). Buy a propane burner. Hunt down a pot. And get all of the protective gear for the big melt down.

I'll report back later.

[mooman76]

I was going to say what John boy said until I read his post. I still cast from a cast iron pot at times and totally di until a year ago. A coleman stove or regular kitchen stove will work. You can fasion a laddle out of a good size spoon.

[John Boy]

At least I can get my feet wet by cooking up wheel weights and pouring them into ingots.
Ryan - do not use the same pot to melt your WW's into ingot and cast bullets from! If you do, you'll have the WW residue left in the pot contaminating your bullets. Use 2 different pots: one for the ingots (an old 5 qt aluminum pot works just fine) and a separate one for casting your bullets (a cast iron pot that will hold the heat)

And use a therometer doing both the ingots and the bullets. If you hold the WW pot temperature at 620 degrees, if there are any zinc WW's in it, they will float to the top of the melt

[snuffy]

an old 5 qt aluminum pot works just fine)

Yeah, until you get the propane fire too hot, then the aluminum will melt. What a mess THAT makes!:groner:

Definitely do the smelting separate from the casting pot. The less dirt that gets introduced into that casting pot, the better.

[imashooter2]

Snuffy is right. Do not use an aluminum pot for melting lead. Aluminum gets very weak well below its melting temperature. It can fail catastrophically without warning. And standing in a 100 pound puddle of molten metal is generally regarded as a bad thing...

Iron and steel for melting lead. Aluminum works fine for ingot molds.

[Freightman]

You have lots of wood build you a pit get it going lots of coals sit the cast iron pot in the middle and let the lead melt, use a dipper use to do all our fishing weights that way and boolits to.
Poor Folks have Poor ways!

[zampilot]

Thanks for the thread Ryan, it answered a question, rather a $200 question. I'll try a pot before a furnace, now. Still have a propane 3-burner from my parkerizing days, that'll do.

[USARO4]

Ryan since others have already answered your question, I just have to ask, how many frogs are there in the Amazon?[smilie=1:

[Echo]

Ryan may have a different answer, but you asked '...in Arizona?', so I think I can answer, too.

We had a sorta 'pet' Colodado River toad in our backyard (in Tucson) for a couple of years. Those dudes are fist-size, and they are the type the toad-lickers love - they secrete a substance that is psychodelic, or so I've been told, and some dips keep them. Cheaper that LSD...

And then there are the occasional horned toad...

[ryan richards]

Dear USARO5,

There are probably as many frog species down here as there are boolit molds up there.
Some are common, some are rare, some are big and some are small and some have yet to be found.

The "group buy" gives us the opportunity to have those "rare" or "yet to be found" molds, to cast them, to shoot them, and to smile with the enjoyment they bring us.

The hunt is on.