bottom pour or top dipper

[coalgeo]

I cannot make up my mind which to buy. I bought a Lyman pot (no bottom spout) but was told by you folks not to use the same pot for smelting and casting. Ergo - need another pot. When just a youngin my Dad and I cast a bunches (and I meand BUNCHES) of bullets and dipped out of a cast iron pot on a gas stove - so I am comfortable that I can dip and pour. I am leaning towards buying another top dip pot but am open to suggestions.
Thanks for your input.
Greg

[Le Loup Solitaire]

One can cast quality bullets witha dipper or ladle and do the same with a bottom pour pot. Bottom pouring is usually a faster process. The only reason that comes to my mind for possibly using a separate pot for smelting/cleaning/alloying and another separate pot for casting is that crud, dirt, dross and whatever else can remain in the smelting/cleaning pot and it would contaminate the mix that you are casting bullets with. If you are willing/prepared to clean well the pot that you smelted/cleaned in and then are going to cast from, then it is just a waste of money to buy another pot. On the subject of pots.....the Lee pot is small and I suppose that it works for some folks to some extent, but there is a lot better around. Next is the Lyman...its bigger and holds more metal, but IMHO its still a flimsy stamping. Of better quality, more substantial and not costing but a couple bucks more than the Lyman, is the RCBS which is a cast iron, well made pot that holds around 10 pounds. A ladle works well especially for multiple cavity or gang molds. For single cavity or double cavity molds a dipper seems to be more manageable. The Lyman dipper is a good one and reasonably priced; the RCBS model although excellent, is somewhat overpriced. As for bottom pour pots, thats a big subject all to itself. Best of luck with your casting and good shooting. LLS

[Leadforbrains]

Since you already have it, you could use the Lyman pot to ladle pour your boolits. You can purchase or find a cast iron pot to do your smelting in.

[coalgeo]

I have a 20 lb. Lee pot so that is big enough for what I will be doing. I suspect your correct in that smelting will produce a very dirty pot. At any rate, if I smelt in a pot I need to purchase burners, regulator, and swipe the gas bottle off the grill - althopugh I have considered that. Leaning towards another top ladle pot. Leaning - not there yet.
Thanks
Greg

[Bret4207]

I'd recommend an inexpensive Walmart (Lodge) cast iron dutch oven and a good heat source like a turkey cooker or propane buner. As for the ladle or BP issue- IMO, and worth just what you paid for it, BP's are tools of the devil and real men don't use them. Seriously, a ladle is more flexible than a BP. Both work fine once you get the henag of them, but I just like the ladle better.

[missionary5155]

I agree with the cast iron cooking pot (kitchen style) for smelting... watch the yard sales and you will find all sorts of GREAT buys for smelting... and cast iron turns up alot. I use an old (1960´s)Coleman 2 burner camp stove (in Illinois) .. cost me a whole $5 15 yeras ago. It gets real hot. Had to make new rack supports for it but it will cook the wheelwieghts. And then there is no smelting cleanup. Down here in Peru I smelt in an old aluminum pot I "liberted" from the kitchen. Holds about 40 pounds. A propane burner (table top )is my heat source. Propane is cheap here.. Used to use a kerosene stove but that stuff costs like gasoline here. I cast using a steel axle hubcap from my old Datsun / Nissan 4 door pickup. This holds near 5 pounds which takes care of my simple needs here.

[runnin lead]

I have been bottom pouring for years , just recently I started ladle(dipper) pouring my big bullets.
I was getting too many culls with rounded bases in the bottom of a 550 gr nose pour mold,
changing to ladle pour took care of it.I still will bottom pour to get out a bunch of pistol bullets.

[Dale53]

The best set up (with reasonable cost) is still a Turkey Fryer (propane fired) with a cast iron dutch over for a lead pot. You want at least an 80 lb capacity. I recently increased the size of my smelting pot (with a cast iron dutch over) but be careful. It doesn't take a very big pot to hold entirely too much molten lead to handle.

Be sure that the turkey cooker you pick is sturdy enough to stand on. Then it'll be sturdy enough to use any pot you SHOULD put on it without danger of collapse.

NOTE:
The use of aluminum pots for smelting is to be seriously discouraged. The elevated heat when smelting (often over 800-900 degrees) will SERIOUSLY degrade the strength of an aluminum pot which has a melting point of 1220.58 degrees F. NOT A GOOD IDEA. I have read reports of sudden failure of aluminum pots after using for some time. It will NOT come at a good time and dumping 100 lbs+ of molten lead on your sweet little toes is NOT my idea of fun. Resist this temptation STRONGLY.

Be safe, boys and girls

Dale53

[crowbeaner]

I have a Lyman Mag 20 that became a Mag Dipper because some YAYHOO broke a drill bit off in the pour spout TWICE trying to enlarge said spout to pour really big boolits. I have to ladle everything now until I send it back to Lyman for a replacement pot and stopper. I learned how to use the dipper when I was around 10 by watching my neighbor kid's dad during the cold winter months while we were thawing frostbitten fingers from snowmobiling. He cast boolits on the woodstove with a single cavity Lyman mould or three. "They all come out of one hole, they should all go back into one hole". Works for me. The BP is great if the mould is a 4 or more banger though; the weight bothers my left wrist.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Cast iron vessels and molds of all sorts have been successfully used in bullet casting for many years. They range from dutch ovens, bread stick molds, skillets, to other shapes of all configurations that can be used for ingots, etc. And they work well as lead does not stick to cast iron. Many of the items do turn up in yard sales, garage sales, attic & moving sales etc. As a collector of cast iron I would suggest that if you come across a cast iron item, that you flip it over and inspect the reverse side to see what is written there. Many now defunct companies & foundries in American history/folklore have produced a huge array of cast iron items, many of which have become heirlooms and highly collectible treasures worth in some cases hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Major names are Griswold, Wagner, Wapak and others. Modern reproductions marked "made in USA" or " made in Taiwan" or no markings at all are not in this category. It would pay to check out what you have, either in one of the books stocked usually in an antique store or in a local library. You might be surprised at the value. LLS

[montana_charlie]

I have a 20 lb. Lee pot so that is big enough for what I will be doing.

If another twenty pound pot is what you think you need, you should get one with a bottom spout. That way, you have both types available should you ever want to switch.
If the bottom spout causes a problem, you can temporarily plug it with a flat head screw and a nut. With the spout plugged, you can also remove all of the other hardware (if it's in your way)...and reinstall it if you ever re-activate the bottom spout.

But most of us like to have more capacity in the pot we smelt in...or mix alloys in.

You should base your final decision on what you think your requirements are.
CM

[Lloyd Smale]

i will be a little differnt here. I think that EVERY caster should at least start as a ladle caster. It takes some of the extra skills and knowlege it takes to bottom pour properly out of the picture. Cast a few thousand bullets that way and if you find that you are not able in your time constaints to cast enough then go to botttom pour as it is MUCH faster. Now me personaly i will probably not ever cast another bullet with a ladle. I can cast just as well with a bottom pour and do it in less time so why would i want to. Bottom line is id rather be shooting then casting and loading.