First pot...bottom pour -or- laddle type ?

[Tedly]

I'm new and have been using my uncles stuff. He lets me use his Saeco bottom pour and Lyman moulds and Lyman sizers, etc. Hes been a caster for 45 yrs. but has'nt been active for awhile.I'm seeking a independant opinion.He likes the Lyman moulds and not the Lee aluminum ones. Am I better off with a bottom pour pot or a ladel/ dipping system? What are the reasons? Which makes better bullets? I see myself getting into this hobby and would like to get some stuff that will not need upgrading as soon as I get familiar. Lee pots seem affordable, or should I go with Lyman or who? Also seems like Lyman has a serious sizer, Lee seems much more basic, yet much more affordable? Please advise...Tedly

[Dale53]

You can make fine bullets with either ladle OR bottom pour. I am a bottom pour man for the last fifty plus years simply because it is MUCH faster. I do them in 20 lb lots. With a six cavity mould I can run 20 lbs of match quality finished bullets in an hour. Being a "Certified Old Fart" I no longer run a continuous operation (once cast 13,000 match bullets over a weekend) but generally run a pot full (sometimes two) at a sitting. I may cast a couple of times a week but not so long at a sitting. I want production and a bottom pour gives me that.

l lube with a Star luber and normally lube right after I cast. I carefully stack them in layers in plastic boxes with tight lids. I store them in a climate controlled basement until I need them.

FWIW
Dale53

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Both methods produce excellent bullets. The bottom pour generally is faster. The reasons are simply a study in time-motion. but there are also individual beliefs involved as well. A very excellent reference article is the one by Jim Carmichael on Ladle vs Bottom pour in "the Art of bullet Casting" still in print by Wolfe Publishing. The Saeco bottom pour pot is a classic unto itself. Of course Lee pots are affordable; but ideas and beliefs related thereto do differ. This writer's opinion is that if you intend to stick with the hobby and don't want to be involved with upgrading...plunk down the bucks and get an RCBS Pro Melt. The Lyman sizer is, as is RCBS, a good place to start, but if you have the coins, look as well at Star and Saeco versions. Lee sizers are economical, but a bit slower than the others. As for molds, don't get locked into Lyman or Lee, as RCBS amd Saeco produce good/excellent molds as well as some of the independent mold makers that are vendors on this forum. Ask lots of questions and shop around....don't be in a rush. It takes time to get/form a balanced perspective. Any/all info that you gather is power that will enable you to make the right decisions. Good luck. LLS

[Frozone]

I'd like to point out that while you can ladle from a bottom pour (or at least most of em), you can't bottom pour from a ladle pot.

Bottom pour is faster, but I have a couple of moulds that just don't like it. They work best with a ladle. So I do both.

As long as you don't want to size more than a hundred or so at a sitting the Lyman/RCBS sizers are great. You can get the older 450 used for around $70.

Iron or Aluminum (or brass) are great for molds, as long as they are good quality. I like brass over iron and iron over Aluminum, but that is just a personal preference.

[troy_mclure]

i started out trying to stay cheap by ladle casting.

making a mess everywhere, etc...

i LOVE my lee 10lb bottom pour pot. it makes casting soooo much EASIER.

i also have had no problems with the 3 lee 2 cav moulds i have bought. same with the lee sizers.

[sagamore-one]

I am also a certified old fart having over 35 years of casting experience. I suffered through the learning process deciding which stuff worked best for me.
Got frustrated with Lee drip o matic lead pot- upgraded to Saeco-upgraded to Lyman Mag 20- got tired of repairing it - up graded to RCBS Pro Melt. Kept the Lyman as a back up, never needed it again. Get an RCBS and be done with it!
Sizers........started with Lyman-broke it- upgraded to RCBS still use it on occasion- still have a Saeco almost unused-have and regularly use six (6) Stars. For small to middlin quantities RCBS-- Star for real production.
Moulds......I do have five aluminum gang moulds that get used very seldom,and very cautiously. I tend to have issues with wear with aluminum.
I have and use Hensley & Gibbs gang moulds for any large quantity/ hi-quality production. I think I have 19 or 20. H&G moulds will last several generations of boolit casters- several lifetimes of extensive daily use, even with minimal care. I paid for three trips to Gunsite with a pair of H&G 68 , 6 cavity moulds and they still cast as NEW.
also have two RCBS 2 cavity, three Lyman 2 cavity,4 Lyman 4 cavity for specialty low quantity boolits.
Decide for yourself which fits you and your individual needs....
These are just my thoughts and my results.

[Lissauer]

Midway has a lyman kit pot and sizer for $143.00

Lyman kit (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=573247&eblastid=413201016&custnum=101203026&utm_source=minimagcastkit&utm_medium=eblast413201016)

[Wayne Smith]

It depends on what you are casting. If you read the pistol shooters they, almost to a man, bottom pour. If you talk to the BPCR shooters most of them ladle pour. It depends on the size of the bullet. Apparantly big boolits are difficult to bottom pour. I don't know myself, I ladle everything from a Coleman two burner stove - mostly because I'm cheap! If I had an uncle with an unused Saceo bottom pour things may have been very different.

[Suo Gan]

Use your uncle like a library. He has probably forgotten more than you will learn about casting in the next year. I use a bottom pour pot for boolits up to 300 gr. ladle for larger. What works for one may not work for another, but there are general guidelines that work for EVERYONE. Accept that mistakes will happen all of the time as a rookie, and what you think is great today will be old taters tomorrow. But it ain't that hard, remember to always let the guns speak fer themselves, lure companies sell their lousiest lures time after time because they were designed to catch fishermen and not fish...the same holds true for casting, and we cast to shoot or at least that is how we con ourselves into this game anyway. Like kissin and playing hookie it just takes practice to perfect. Use that uncle like a resource and shave some off the learning curve!

[Dale53]

Longer bullets are a bit harder to cast (.40 caliber 422 grs or .45 caliber 520+ grains) but I cast them with bottom pour. I learned how - it's just that simple. Most of us have to LEARN how...

Short, fat, pistol bullets are easier to cast but if you stick with it you can bottom pour anything.

However, I've had a lot of people tell me it couldn't be done but they are wrong, it CAN be.

At any rate, cast whatever way you prefer. The important thing is to just DO it.

FWIW
Dale53

[thenaaks]

i ladle pour out of the 4lb lee pot into an aluminum 2 cav mold and i love it! i cast for a couple hours and wind up with around three hundred boolits...nice relaxing evening if you ask me

[Duckiller]

I am incapable of ladle pouring. It may be the size of the ladle, temp of the alloy, wind etc. All I know is that the ladle ALWAYS freezes up before I can get any lead out of it. Cast pistol boolits to .45-255gr and rifle to .30-200 gr. Bottom pour is wonderful and my new Lee 20lb pot is much nicer than my 20 year old 10 lb pot. As Dale53 says you have to learn how to pour. In my case, first I have to want to learn how to ladle cast, then I would probably learn in a short time. Suggest you cast with the method you are most comfortable with. Aluminum molds aren't bad.

[DLCTEX]

I cast most of my boolits with a Lee 10# bottom pour, fed by an old Lyman 20# when I do volume, and cast from 45 gr. 22's to 550 gr. 45's or 400 gr. 475's with no problems. I have steel, brass and aluminum moulds, with more being aluminum. Lee's moulds will do fine with sometimes a little leementing I've had to leement some steel moulds also. The biggest advantage of the Lee moulds is the cost factor, allowing me to cast a larger variety of boolits on the budget. I have RCBS, Lyman 45, and Lee sizers and prefer the RCBS for strength and I like to size and lube at once. I ladle cast occasionally just to keep in practice, but it's slow.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

All three of my pots are Bottom Pour. Like as has been said before, you can always ladle from a bottom pour. But not vice-versa.

[fredj338]

I tried ladle pouring, what a time consuming way to get bullets. The bottom pour pot is just so much easier IMO. The Lee 20#P4 is a good buy for the money.

[threewheels]

Me I use a old colman stove with a cast iron pot and ladle the most expesive thing was the ladle the rest was picked up at yard sale but I'm cheap LOL

[mooman76]

I've been top pouring for about 40 years and I see no reason to change. It is really personal preference. If you are doing bottom pour and you are doing good and like it, Id stick with that. I don't really think there is that much difference between the two. I can top pour pretty fast because I have been doing it for so long. Allot of people say that bottom pour is faster. I don't see how my self but if it is I don't think it is that much difference but I've never even watched somone do it so I don't know. Either way you can crank out lots of good bullets and like someone said, You can always ladle pour from a bottom pour pot but can't do the reverse.
I also have allot of Lee moulds and like them fine. I have others too and if they were the same price I'd go with more of them because of space but either will do great bullets also.

[Trey45]

I started with a Lee 4-20 bottom pour and still use it. I have ladle poured with it when needed. I don't know how interested you are in hollow point boolits, but if you use a Lee 4-20 and a pin type hollow point mold, you won't get the mold under the spout, not enough clearance.

[Cowboy T]

Go bottom pour. Specifically, Lee Pro 4-20. You won't be sorry.