bottom pour v. open top pros and cons

[Benji40]

Been casting for a few years using a friends open top and have just started using a Lee 4-20 bottom pour. Have seen posts where some have very strong opinions about one or the other but none have really elaborated. Would like to know what the pros and cons of each are and what to watch out for.

[KYCaster]

Ladle casting seems to work better than bottom pour for very large boolits (400 gr. +).

Other than that I can't tell much difference.

Jerry

[mooman76]

Mostly just casters preference. I like top and see no reason to change at this point. Some say bottom is faster but top is pretty fast to if you do your job.

[Jon K]

Ladle also goes pretty fast, if you have a GOOD mould.

I ladle pour all my 300+gr(BP) boolits. Those are all 1 cavity anyway.

Jon

[geargnasher]

Ladle makes better LARGE or LONG boolits than a bottom pour in my experience, also makes better boolits in general due to constant stream velocity compared to a bottom pour. Rate of mould fill affects boolit quality. Bottom pour is much faster for me, especially with gang moulds, I can pour six and cut the sprues before the first one poured gets hard. For 90% or more of my casting, I can make very good boolits with the bottom pour so that's what I use. For those where perfection or special needs is required, I pull out the ladle.

Now for the kicker: I ladle right out of the top of my bottom pour pot, so as long as you have a bottom pour, you don't have to choose one or the other.

Gear

[nes4ever69]

i did ladle cast my shotgun slugs, when that 4lb pot got dammaged i bought a lee bottom pour. i still have my ladle incase i feel like casting that way, but my dad some times use that to make lures.

one thing i have noticed is bottom pour is slow to get going untill the spout is hot enuff to let the lead flow.

of coarse that is why i bought the 20 lb pot, big open top in case i want to ladle cast i can.

[stubshaft]

I made the switch because I got tired of "old drippy" making lead sculptures. Plugged the spout and never looked back. I feel that it casts better for ME and I have fewer rejects as I can control the flow of alloy.

[Bret4207]

For me it's not so much the ladle vs BP but the ladle vs Lee pot. Had very poor performance from my Lee. My SAECOs are much better. I still make better boolits over all with the ladle and with a good ladle the speed difference is negligible for ME. Other people may just not be good at ladling. I do notice finding the BP spout is a pain sometimes.

[pdawg_shooter]

I get better bullets of any size with a ladle, so that is what I use. After all, if just any old bullet would be good enough I could just buy them!

[thompsonm1a1]

i have used a "drip o matic" for years and have gotten used to it, never tried the open style but maybe in the future i may try one.

[robertbank]

I've tried both and wasn't particularly good with the ladle. I bought a RCBS Pro Melter with my Lee 10# pot above it. The latter drips into the RCBS pot and is used to pre-melt sprues etc for filling the RCBS. I reversed the position of the Lee and mounted it above the larger RCBS pot. Works.

I cast large volumes of pistol using 4 hole moulds and find the bottom pour faster. I also cast with at least three moulds at once casting three different bullets. Try both and go with the style you prefer.

Take Care

Bob

[Benji40]

Thanks for the input, was casting today and made some of the best looking boolits I've ever made. Still a lot to learn.

[Ben]

I've tried the bottom pour. I've yet to see one that doesn't drip. I have a Lee 20 pound ladle pot.

When it burns out, I'll buy another one just like it ! !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Casting%20Table/PICT0002-1.jpg

[10 ga]

I'm retired and I'm poor. Got a cast iron pot and some SS ones. Have 3 ladles. Started in 1964 with a ladle and .69 minie mold. Did use bottom pour when learning stuff from Ed Harris at VT in the late 60s. Mostly castin 250 gr. + boolits for MLs and sabots and RBs. Bottom pour cost $ I don't have sooo. I'll keep on dippin. 10 ga

[Dale53]

I started out casting as a teen ager (fourteen or so) using a Lyman 10 lb pot with ladle. As I started shooting more, I saved up and bought a bottom pour Lyman 11 lb pot. I used it for a long time. It did take a bit of learning but I adapted to it and got excellent results.

I went to an RCBS 22 lb pot simply because of the size - I was casting for myself and two sons along with some commercial casting and needed the capacity. I later got heavily into Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette shooting. I started with a single cavity mould and just couldn't cast fast enough, handle my full time job and raise a family. I talked to LBT and NEI and as a result ordered a four cavity mould from each of them. Both of them produced a very nice mould for me (slightly different designs). It did take a bit of learning but by this time I had several hundred thousand cast bullets behind me. In a short time, I was casting bullets for the big guns (.40 and .45 Caliber) + or - .6 of a grain. They regularly shot just over a minute of an angle (6" ten shot groups, with witnesses, at 500 yards using a temporary mounted 20 power scope off a bench). I called that acceptable and continued to shoot. I was NO longer troubled by a lack of bullets.

You CAN cast good LARGE bullets with bottom pour and do it with four cavity moulds if you are willing to learn and, of course, WANT to.

We all have different ideas and I am good with what ever way YOU wish to do it. I am a dedicated bottom pour guy...

Dale53

[GLynn41]

I too have cast both ways and both will work -- but since I used Lee bottom pour they dripped I completely wore out a 20# saeco couldnt find any one to fix the elements-- and 10# and now have a 20 # Lee and a 4# all of my last pots are for dipping and I am happy to stay that way -- btw I have never used a 4-6 cav mold so that might change things -- but I have never wanted one -- so I will stay with 2 cav and dippers

[Larry Gibson]

I use both methods and as previously mentioned the determing factor in which to use is simply the size of the bullet; 300+ gr I use the ladle, under that I use a LYman Mag 20.

Larry Gibson

[rockrat]

Tried the ladle ONCE, that was enough for me. At least for boolits, now lead soldiers when I was a kid, an electric ladle was in the kit.
When I started casting for shooting, I bought a Saeco bottom pour. Still use it 40 years later. Just got in from the shop casting with an old lyman 61 bottom pour, probaby from the 50's and it does't drip. My Lee 20 lb new pot is another story, Mr. Drippy. I use a RCBS 22lb bottom pour pot for really big boolits , 850 gr or so, and they shoot fairly well. I would think the flow from the 22lb pot is alot more consistent that a ladle, after all, you have such a large column of lead above the mould, 850gr poured into a cavity would be a small change in head pressure.

850gr@2,200 fps at 100yds
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d149/Bigdog337/002-3-2.jpg

[doubledown]

Rockrat, what pushes in 850 grain bullet 2200 feet per second ? 600 NE? sounds like fun , I love the big bores! impressive group also , sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread .

[MikeS]

I've just started casting, and it's with a ladle. While I haven't read about it, with my luck, I'd get a bottom pour pot, and it would decide to dump it's entire contents all at once, most probably while I was right in front of it! So I have a Lyman Big Dipper 10# pot, and so far I've been doing ok with it. I do have one question tho, I'm using a Lyman ladle, and can't figure out how to get the last 3/4" or so of the pot into the ladle? Is there some magic way, or is not using the bottom of the pot normal for using a ladle? And before anyone says it, I started out with 10lbs of WW, and about 5 lbs of pure lead, and went thru both of them pretty quick. I think I might be over fluxing, as I seem to have lots of what looks like good lead mixed in with the dross, and with that much lead, I was only able to make about 120 230gr boolits for my .45, slightly over 100 175gr. boolits for my 30-30, and 98 225gr pure lead for my 45 Old Army, does that sound right for the amount of lead I started out with?

[MGySgt]

Ladel pour everything - I simply can not control a bottom pour - I get voids in the base of the boolits.

[Von Gruff]

Ladle pour for me, because I always have. See no need to change but then my output and needs may be less than some of you guys who cast 1000's at a time.

Von Gruff.

[PbHurler]

Rockrat, what pushes in 850 grain bullet 2200 feet per second ? 600 NE? sounds like fun , I love the big bores! impressive group also , sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread .

Ditto..... WOW

[stubshaft]

Ladle for me, gives me more control and fewer defects.