Lee 4-20 Pot

[Sundogg1911]

i'm currently using 2 of the Lee 10 pound production pots. I was considering buying the 4-20 pots because of the price. From the picture it looks like it has a different type of valve on it. Do they leak as bad as the 10 pound pots? What are the pro's and con's of the Lee's? I have had very good like with the 10 pound production pots (other than the drip, drip, drip which I can live with. I just put an ingot mould underneath) The prices are so much better than the others. A friend of mine uses the Magma (I think it's a 40 pounder) and it's really nice, but I can't justify the price difference. :castmine:

[dragonrider]

I got a few months ago and mine at least does not leak near as much as the two ten pound pots I used for years. If fact it leaks so seldom that I don't notice it at all.

[454PB]

Yes, the 4-20 has a different valve. It's completely vertical, rather than angling as the 10 pounder does. There is still a tendency to leak, but it can be cured or at least minimized by keeping the valve rod tapered end and the valve opening itself clean. Our own Buckshot and some others clamp a set of vice grips on the top of the metering rod to add weight and stop leakage. Myself, I keep leakage under control by cleaning and the occasional twist of the screw headed rod.

Considering the fact that you can buy 3 or 4 of the Lee 20 pound pots for what one Lyman or RCBS costs, some of us have learned to live with the Lee short comings. Only you can decide if the others are worth the money.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I've had the opportunity to use both. I like the way the 10 pounder pours a little better, but I like the capacity of the 20 pounder much better. If you have two tens, you can set up a rig to feed the 20 and you can set up a rig to catch the drips of the 20 by drilling a hole and putting a catch pot underneath the 20's spout.

I'd go ahead and get one if I were you.

Regards,

Dave

[lovedogs]

I've been using a 4-20 for about 3 yrs. now and I like it. If you use clean lead I don't think you'll have any valve leakage. With clean alloy and an occasional twist on the rod to seat it well into the spout mine doesn't leak.

[robertbank]

One thing I can attest to. If you go to a piggy back design where one pot drips and then feeds into the other. Use angle bracket to secure the stand for the top pot on to the base for the bottom pot. I came as close as I ever want to to "bronzing" my twigs & berries the other day when my knee accidently jarred my stand. Off to Canadian Tire in the morning to get a set of brackets.

Incidently I wired my Production Pot stem to the lever very tightly with thin wire. Virtually no more drips as the stem cannot "Clock" anymore from use.

Take Care

Bob

[Murphy]

Sundogg1911,

Go ahead and go with the 4-20. I've been using them for years now. I, like the many others here have learned to just 'live with it' when it comes to the Lee Drip O'Matic.

I keep two 4-20's at all times. One for straight wheel weight alloy, the other for mixed alloys. Not that it would make any difference to just empty the pot and fill it with what alloy I wish, it's just that considering the cost of the Lee vs the others...why not? *Smile*.

Murphy

[imashooter2]

I made the upgrade from the Lee 10 to the Lee 20 last year. It truly is an upgrade. The larger mass of metal makes it easier to keep the melt at consistent temperature while replenishing the lead and the valve works are much superior. Easily adjustable for flow and, so far anyway, no drips.

[eka]

I've been using the 4-20 for a year now. Very rarely do I get a drip. When I do, I give the screw a few turns and it goes away. I also employ the vise grip trick that Buckshot told us about to keep pressure down on the rod. Again, I think the key is the cleanliness of the ingots.

Keith

[UweJ]

I´m using the pot right now and it´s lots better than the 10 pounder.I believe it pours better but thats my opinion.Only be using the smaller pot to keep the big one running.
Uwe

[Springfield]

I have 1 LEE 10, 3 LEE 20's and an RCBS 22#. I use the RCBS for casting and one of the LEE 20's(really 17) for keeping the RCBS full. I like the RCBS much better. It holds more lead, it doesn't drip, and it has a thermostat on the pot and not in the little tower NEXT to the pot, so it is much more accurate. LEE's work fine but the RCBS works great. These things last for decades so the price difference isn't that big a deal if you cast a frequently.

[happy7]

Springfield, I found your reply most interesting. I have been gearing up to start casting and I recently bought a Lee Pro 4. It made a lot of sense because of the price and I have had good success with other Lee products for reloading. But just afterward I came accross a great deal on a whole used casting outfit including an RCBS pot. I could just try for myself and see which I like better, but I haven't had a chance to use the LEE yet and want to keep it new if I am going to sell it. So I am looking for advice. What would you guys do? Keep the RCBS or sell in on ebay and keep the LEE?

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Depends on which pot it is and what you paid for it. The pro 4, is that the 4-20 and is the RCBS a bottom pour?

I think if it were me, I'd keep both and use the one to feed the other, which allows you to cast faster.

Just my .02,

Dave

[robertbank]

If the RCBS works then either keep the Lee as a spare or sell it. The RCBS is a much better pot and it holds more lead.

Take Care

Bob

[Shepherd2]

It wouldn't take me long to decide between an RCBS and a Lee pot. Keep the RCBS if it works and sell the Lee. I agree tha t Lee makes some good products but melting pots are not one of them IMO.

[happy7]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was just reading last night about one pot feeding another. I will give the RCBS a try and see how I do. If I can swing it financially I will think about keeping the Lee for a feeder if that really does make better bullets. The Lee I have is the pro 4-20 and the RCBS is the Pro Melt. I never would have bought it new, but like i said, it came with a whole setup with molds, luber and lots of other stuff so I couldn't pass it up.

[imashooter2]

I can cast continuously with a Lee 20 pound pot, preheating ingots on the rim and sliding them in as the lead level drops. I'm only limited by my supply of clean ingots and my enthusiasm for the session. I don't see why you couldn't do the same with the superior RCBS unit. No reason to keep the Lee if the money could be converted to better use elsewhere.

[Sundogg1911]

happy7. if you decide to sell either one....let me know.
thanks

[lurch]

I just got one - the 4-20 - just to have a second pot around, and my first impressions are not exactly positive. Now I realize that we are talking a "cheap as you can possibly make it" item here, and that price tag is THE reason I bought it. But, is it too much to ask that the base be flat so that the pot doesn't rock on the bench....? 15+ lbs of molten lead in a wobbly platform is not my idea of terribly safe. To paraphrase a thought I saw in some other post here (not sure who said it), this sounds like a good way to try and "bronze" ping & pong. I guess I'll have to bolt it to a separate board to steady it up before I use it to see if it is a keeper or not.

Worth sending it back to Lee?

I have some limited other experience with Lee equipment and can honestly say that the only thing I have found worthwhile from them is the priming tool. It works very well.

Load-All - works (?) sort of. I'll keep my MEC.

Tried a set of collet dies - My Redding and Bonanza sets did a better job in the accuracy department.

Tried a single cavity 44 mold (long time ago) and never got it to work, so put it away. I dug it out the other day and looked at it after reading the Leementing thread. None of the vent lines went from the cavity all the way to the edge. More trouble than its worth to Leement it at this point since I have other good 44 molds that work just fine.

I'm looking at the 44 wadcutter mold group buy and am tempted, but then I remember who is making the molds and get cold feet.

[robertbank]

Yes I nearly "bronzed" my twig & berries with my arrangement . Sent me out for an angle bracket in a hurray. I bolted my Lee pot down to ensure I didn't have a repeat perfomance of an Indian Rain Dance.

Take Care

Bob

[lurch]

Robert,

You know, If I had bothered to read up a little higher in the thread I would have known where I had seen that before...

Thanks.