New guy here

[340six]

I am looking at some lyman moulds and have 2 lyman books so the selection is made. I will be looking for used ones on ebay and gungroker and a few sites.
The thing that has me baffeled is what pour pot to get?
Pro 4 20? Rcbs looks like close 2 300-400 also same with lyman
What do I realy need? Hate to buy a cheapo and then find out it is junky and wasted the $$ rather spend the $$$ front and wait if nessary.
Thanks kevin

[lwknight]

The Lee 4-20 is about as cheap as they get for what you get for your money and they work just fine. No need for a 400 dollar melting pot.

[Mk42gunner]

I agree the Lee 4-20 works. For molds, if you are looking at currently manufactured ones, check out some of the online retailers; they can be cheaper that buying from e-bay.

Robert

[RobS]

The Lee 20 lbs pot will work just fine. It may drip at the spout a little but there are threads on this forum on how to fix it should it leak. There are better ways to spend your $$$ than on an overly expensive pot i.e. more molds, more molds, more molds .

[woody1]

What do I realy need? Hate to buy a cheapo and then find out it is junky and wasted the $$ rather spend the $$$ front and wait if nessary.
Thanks kevin

What do you really need? Prob'ly nothing but a ladle. I still use gas, a cooking pot (about a 2 quart) and a Lyman ladle. What source for gas? I started with a single burner Coleman stove. My gas now is the side burner from an otherwise burned out barbecue. The main burner section of the barbecue I use for a place to dump the boolits, the upper shelf holds moulds, etc. I can prob'ly find a photo if you want. Regards, Woody

Oh, and welcome.

[340six]

What do you really need? Prob'ly nothing but a ladle. I still use gas, a cooking pot (about a 2 quart) and a Lyman ladle. What source for gas? I started with a single burner Coleman stove. My gas now is the side burner from an otherwise burned out barbecue. The main burner section of the barbecue I use for a place to dump the boolits, the upper shelf holds moulds, etc. I can prob'ly find a photo if you want. Regards, Woody

Oh, and welcome.

being a coonass from La/new orleans I have at least 6-7 propane full bottles 10-12 with emptys guess they are 5 gallons? The same as you use on a gas bbq grille.
I have 4 burners but are large and for 60 and 80 qt boiling pots and a smaller one for turkey fring that I am not going to do again{I think}
Just to give you some back ground I am not scared to use a burner
And I have a smaller 2 burner camp style cast iron That I plan on use with just a cast iron pot and laddle that I plan on trying first. Thing that gets me most is temp I have a larger termomiter but only goes to 550 and was told 7-800 for lead.
Was going to get some lead off ebay or tire weights from a friends shop{I already have some}

[340six]

Sorry to post again I was looking at the lee 4-20 is it the same as the lee 4-20 pro?
I will try some laddle and pot first before investing in a pot. Realy worried about getting it the right temp.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi and welcome to the forum. there is nothing wrong with starting out with a dipper/ladle and pot. If you begin with that setup you can make perfectly good bullets. A cast iron pot such as made by RCBS is of good quality and a dipper by RCBS or Lyman will do well too. A bottom pour pot is a jump up from that, that enables you to cast faster, but makes no difference in bullet quality. El problemo with the bottom pours is that there are only two routes to travel...cheap or expensive. If you intend to be with the hobby for a while or a long time then you want good quality reliable equipment that will go the distance. I've got two old Saecos and an RCBS pro-melt for over 30 years and none of them have ever burped once. The right temp in a pot- ladle setup can be monitored with a casting thermometer. What ever you do invest will come back to you many times over, over the years. Buying used molds is alright if the person that you buy from is honest and will stand behind what they sell ; E Bay has sometimes stiffed buyers with some bum deals and is reputed to be way overpriced as well. LLS

[RollerCam]

"E Bay has sometimes stiffed buyers with some bum deals..."

That was certainly true for me. I bought two "NIB" (HA!) RCBS molds, took them from their original boxes and sure enough, they'd never ever been used.

They'd also never been cared for or stored properly, so the attaching screws were rusted solid. Quite a bit of surface rust and a few pits on the outside, too. It only took about 8 hours of effort to clean them up with Evapo-Rust and drill out and re-tap the screws. Live and learn, I guess.

Needless to say, the seller didn't get a favorable rating from me.

"Buyer beware." Really, really aware.

[mooman76]

I wouldn't worry about temp too much rightaway. I think some people get hung up on it too much. Turn the heat up untill you get good bullets. When they get frosted to the point of being distorted turn it down until they come out good again. It's just something you get used to and it isn't as hard as some make it out to be. The good thing about lead is you can't really mess up the bullets. If they don't turn out you just remelt them. It's good practice.

[lylejb]

Hi, and welcome!

I use a Lee 10lb bottom pour, the "little brother" to the 4-20, and it works fine for me. In my case, I found it used at a very good price, went for it and am not sorry. Yes it drips sometimes....so what!! I just return the drips back to the pot with the sprue, no problem.

I think the 20lb pot might be a more consistant temp ( mine gets hotter when it gets low) This is not a problem, I've just learned when I need to add more lead.

I see no reason to spend $300 on a pot for home use. Maybe if someone really was going to use it all day, every day, But that's not me. Or most people for that matter.

Before I went to ebay, I would look at the selling section on this board. Some moulds do come up, and lead is availible much of the time.

[blikseme300]

Only 2c that I will add here is not to buy off evilbay. Often the new stuff will cost more than from, lets say, Midwayusa online. The customer service is very good also.

I would recommend an electric bottom pour pot, but don't use this for cleaning up wheel weights or other scrap lead. The pouring spout will get blocked and and the casting experience will likely be spoiled.

Bliksem

http://bliksemseplek.com/boolits.html

[462]

350six,

A Lee 10-pound pot takes care of my needs.

As stated, be wary of ebay auctions. Many times used moulds will fetch a higher price than what a new one sells for. I've found a number of bargain moulds, but you need to know what the item is worth to you. I figure a currently catalogued, used mould, in like-new condition, is worth no more than about 70% the cost of new. Watch out for shipping costs, too. Any more than $5 is too much.

[Phat Man Mike]

I have a LEE 4-20 and it works great for me !

[Wayne Smith]

Dedicated ladle pourer here. I use an old Propane 2 burner Coleman stove and have gotten my Lyman pot up over 900 degrees when I wasn't watching! You won't have a problem getting enough heat! If you are worried get a thermometer, they are not all that expensive. I 'smelt' my wws in the same pot, it doesn't matter in a simple thing like an open pot, you just dump it all out.