Pouring your lead, Bottom pour, Laddle pour or custom set up

[wildchild2010]

What seems to be the best for pouring lead for you? Bottom pour, paddle or your homemade set up?

I was wondering if an old electric fryer with a spicit drilled and tapped in the bottom with a ball cable for controlling the lead flow.

[longbow]

I have been a ladle pourer for about 40+ years. I've tried bottom pour pots and found I preferred the simple open pot and large ladle.

Different strokes.

Longbow

[GLynn41]

i HAVE USED BOTH, and both work but I AND HAVE STAYED WITH A LYMAN or RCBS dipper even with a 4 cav mold

[hickfu]

Bottom pour!! I would like to try ladle casting but I have fibromyalgia so my hands would not be able to handle the weight of both the mold and a ladle full of lead..... all of my molds are 4 to 6 cavity, maybe if I had a 1 to 2 cavity I could try it.


Doc

[waltherboy4040]

I have a 4 pound hand held pot, so ladle style.

[Tatume]

Although I have both I very much prefer casting with a ladle. The RCBS ladle works very well without any trouble, and in my opinion is the better of the two methods. For casting bullets of lead/tin/antimony for centerfire cartridges I use the ladle exclusively.

The reason I have a bottom pour pot is for casting soft lead bullets for my various muzzle loading rifles. I find that pure or nearly pure lead casts better very hot, and the surface quickly skins over in the pot. Using a bottom pour pot I can cover the surface with pine sawdust, protecting my lead from oxidation.

Take care, Tom

[Hickok]

I have been a ladle pourer for about 40+ years. I've tried bottom pour pots and found I preferred the simple open pot and large ladle.

Different strokes.

Longbow+1. Seems we both started way before the Internet !!!

This site would have been a great thing to have starting out!

[41mag]

I haven't been casting very long at all, maybe three years now. I started out with the Lee 4-20, and use it for all pouring to date.

I have however been researching different methods of doing different things for different purposes. I picked up a small ladle just recently to give it a try and see how I can compete with the consistency I get from the Lee pot.

What I like about the pot is that I can control the temp of the alloy much closer and I also have several spacers I use to set my mold to spout height with and usually can get most of my molds to within about 1/4" or less of the spout opening. I feel this helps out a lot by keeping each pour as close to the same as possible.

How well I will do with the spout is yet to be discovered. I do however believe that when using it for single or double cavity molds that it should be very close to being equal to the pot pour.

[Ed_Shot]

Still using the Lyman dipper I bought in 1968.

[44man]

Been a dedicated ladle caster for way over 61 years, started with sinkers as a kid. I still have my original Lyman ladle and an RCBS.
I tried bottom pour too many times, just plugged the evil hole!
Every single mold I have responds exactly the same to a ladle, no need for records or fiddling with each.
I like the Lee 20# pots.

[357shooter]

The Lee bottom put gets it done for me. The amount of time is have for casting, lubing, loading and shooting is finite. So in my case time is important and the bottom pour put gets it done. I enjoy casting, but I also cast to enjoy the other aspects of this hobby and have to balance the time spent on each.

[44man]

I hate casting and loading, hum, drum work but I love to shoot cheap.
I just crawled under the wife's 4 Runner to grease and change oil---about the same hated work!
Casting is like raking leaves.

[singleshot]

I have done both and don't mind either, however, bottom pour is faster and in theory will make more consistent boolits since it keeps all oxidized material out of your boolits...oxidized metal, being lighter, floats to the top.

[longbow]

44man:

I am with you on crawling under trucks or vehicles of any kind for that matter, it got old a long time ago but I am too cheap to pay someone to do what I can do (complaining or not).

As for casting, I love casting boolits! Not too fond of the rest of the reloading activities but like you, I like to shoot cheap. Casting I do like though, raking leaves not so much.

Longbow

[tazman]

Lee bottom pour for me.
I have used ladle and it works well for 1 and 2 cavity molds. Most of my molds are Lee 6 cavity and the ladle just won't do it. Much faster with the bottom pour.

[44man]

I agree with the six cavity but I won't own one. Too much hassle.

[Tatume]

Lee bottom pour for me. I have used ladle and it works well for 1 and 2 cavity molds. Most of my molds are Lee 6 cavity and the ladle just won't do it. Much faster with the bottom pour.

I cast with Lee six-cavity molds too. For 44 & 45 caliber pistol bullets the RCBS ladle works fine, and is just as fast as a bottom pour rig.

[OverMax]

Bottom pour from a Lyman. Never tried a ladle.

[Dusty Bannister]

I started with the Bottom Pour pots and have several for different alloys and blends. I also use the ladle, but for small runs of bullets for hardness testing samples. Either works, but after the many hours with the bottom pour pot, it is the most used method. It is whatever you are most comfortable with. I cast a lot of pistol bullets, not so much rifle bullets though.

[Bullwolf]

I often use a Palmer Hot Pot, Sometimes called an electric ladle.

http://www.barlowstackle.com/Assets/ProductImages/Molds/453025.jpg

It's inexpensive ($30 or so) and holds around 4 lbs of lead. I make special mini-ingots just for the convenient little Palmer HotPot.

I purchased it years ago as a small cheap electric pot to cast fishing sinkers with. I use it for many of my smaller casting sessions now. It has turned out to be a very convenient item.



- Bullwolf

[TXGunNut]

My big Lyman 2-cavs seem to prefer ladle pours, Lee 6-cav's and other 5-6 cavs seem to prefer bottom pour. Smaller 2-cavs seem to do OK with bottom pour.

[dromia]

I do both depending on what I need and the boolit/mould and its application.

Generally speaking anything rifle over 8mm gets ladled as do boolits of any calibre for long range high velocity shooting. I use Lyman and Rowell's

Pistol calibre and low velocity rifle where volume is important then I bottom pour from a couple of RCBS Pro Melts.

[JimA]

Bottom pour for me.. I use the Lee six cavity molds mostly and can drop bullets very fast with the bottom pour.

[Walter Laich]

Bottom pour here, too. Had to Lee-ment my 6-cavity molds but that doesn't take long compared to how much better they are when done

[mikeym1a]

I've used both. It all depends. I prefer to ladle, as I feel I have greater control. but with big boolits, I used my lee bottom pour. I guess it all depends on what you like and what you are casting. Cheers!

[Nikolaus]

I use a Lyman bottom pour ladle. So far no issues with it. Have not decided I want to buy a bottom pour furnace yet or not. Seems the ladle is doing just fine!

[jrmartin1964]

I started with ladles around 40 years ago, and that's still my preferred method - even with a 4-cavity Lyman 457125. I have given bottom-pour several opportunities to sway me, but I have returned to my ladles every time.

Jim

[pdawg_shooter]

I have always gotten better bullets with a ladle, especially on the bigger bullets.

[HeavyMetal]

I do both depending on what I am casting.

For my 45-70 I have a Lyman SC 457122 HP with the Pin heater and a single cavity a bottom pour pot doen't make much sense and I have a 20 Lb Lyman dipper pot for that and other old style HP molds.

For my auto pistols I run two Lee 6 cav's per caliber using a pair of bottom pour pots rigged one over the other, the top one being a feeder pot. This works very well when I need a 1000 or so 9mm or 45 acp boolits.

It's as simple as what you need for the job at hand so I do both and enjoy casting both ways equally as well.

[Bigslug]

Bottom pour only.

I use a ladle for making ingots during smelts of raw materials. I have zero desire to even try one for the actual casting. One more item added to the cycle of picking up and putting back down. The spigot handle on a bottom pour doesn't move. I like that.

[Trinidad Bill]

I often use a Palmer Hot Pot, Sometimes called an electric ladle.

http://www.barlowstackle.com/Assets/ProductImages/Molds/453025.jpg

It's inexpensive ($30 or so) and holds around 4 lbs of lead. I make special mini-ingots just for the convenient little Palmer HotPot.

I purchased it years ago as a small cheap electric pot to cast fishing sinkers with. I use it for many of my smaller casting sessions now. It has turned out to be a very convenient item.



- Bullwolf

Cool, never saw one of these!

[jonp]

I have done both and don't mind either, however, bottom pour is faster and in theory will make more consistent boolits since it keeps all oxidized material out of your boolits...oxidized metal, being lighter, floats to the top.

Have you measured boolits from each method to prove your theory?

[ukrifleman]

I use a Lee production pot IV, I find it an efficient way to handle molten lead. I also think it is a safer way, as the lead is transferred straight into the mould and it eliminates any possible spillages from a ladle.
ukrifleman

[Tatume]

I use a Lee production pot IV, I find it an efficient way to handle molten lead. I also think it is a safer way, as the lead is transferred straight into the mould and it eliminates any possible spillages from a ladle.
ukrifleman

Hmmm. What about when the bottom-pour pot dumps 20 pounds of lead on the bench?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?234554-Lesson-learned

[Wayne Smith]

What seems to be the best for pouring lead for you? Bottom pour, paddle or your homemade set up?

I was wondering if an old electric fryer with a spicit drilled and tapped in the bottom with a ball cable for controlling the lead flow.

I have been ladle pouring since I started about 15 years ago. Yes, I routinely pour my 462420 Group buy six cavity mold with my Lyman ladle. You need to realize that steel and iron float on molten lead so anything on the bottom of the pot cable controlled from the top won't work.

[Prs61109]

My last casting before this afternoon was 40 years ago. So I guess you could consider me a newbie. I originally used a bottom pour electric pot (still have it and it still works) but today used a propane burner, cast iron pot and ladle to cast RCBS 45-255-SWC bullets and a few RCBS 500 grain BPS bullets for a 45/70. I was satisfied with the result and will do even better next time. The RCBS mould blocks are large and need to be hot to get a good bullet base. The ladle poured a larger flow than my old pot which helped keep them hot, especially for the 500 grain cavity. It was fun and a good learning experience.

[Ghost101]

I really like to use a ladle, but have had to switch over to a bottom pour. I have Parkinsons an it's getting harder to use the ladle. I have two ladles, one is a RCBS, but am unable to control the pour with it. I bought a gravy ladle which has a pour lip. For some reason that is easier for me to control kind of. I just do my BP pours with a ladle now. I do have the RCBS bottom pour with a PID that I got for it. It seems to do a really good job but it's not as much fun as using the ladle. I haven't been at this very long, don't have the experience that a lot of ya'll do.

Ghost101

[Lloyd Smale]

I remember the good old days when this was the hottest argued topic on here.

[Rick Hodges]

I use a ladle...just the way I started and have seen no reason to change.

[bangerjim]

I have 2 Lee 4-20 bottom pours and a 10# standard.

I bottom pour 90% and use the tiny one for the RCBS ladle or rare occasions.

You cannot beat bottom pours! And they REALLY pressure cast well....with 18# of molten lead pushing down on your little cavity!


banger

[Smoke4320]

RCBS Pro Melt Bottom pour with PID all the way .. get very consistent bullets and quick to pout all those 4 to 6 cavity molds that seem to keep multiplying in my shop