Ladel pouring

[kbstenberg]

I have never made a bullet using a ladel. If someone could point me to a thread of the how's and the why's. My thanks in advance.

[Certaindeaf]

I'd suggest the Lyman or even perhaps the RCBS "dipper" instead of a ladle/"spoon".

I found this and thought it might help you..

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?217436-Ladle-dipper-Recommendation&highlight=ladle+dipper

[country gent]

On big bullets the faster fill of the ladle is sometimes a plus. Its alot of persolel preffrence. I ladle pour almost everything I cast but the lightest bullet I cast is 38 cal and 335 grns heviest is 45 cal and 550grn long heavy for caliber bullets seem to cast better with the ladle for me. I also recomend the lyman or rcbs ladles with the spout. I have both and seem to use the rcbs most often as it holds a little more lead. My ladl;es both hace the spouts opened up to around .205 diameter to improve flow more. Clean the ladle and dip in lead to heat it up to temp. With a warmed mould fill ladle. there are 2 techniuqes for ladle pouring. 1St is to slightly angle mould and pour into sprue plate hole filling sprue and allowing a little to run off the side even. 2Nd is to turn mould sideways and fit sprue onto spout and tip upright together holding foor a set copunt and then relmoving to form the sprue. I dont cast as fast as some do but I get very good consistent bullets.

[Wayne Smith]

On big bullets the faster fill of the ladle is sometimes a plus. Its alot of persolel preffrence. I ladle pour almost everything I cast but the lightest bullet I cast is 38 cal and 335 grns heviest is 45 cal and 550grn long heavy for caliber bullets seem to cast better with the ladle for me. I also recomend the lyman or rcbs ladles with the spout. I have both and seem to use the rcbs most often as it holds a little more lead. My ladl;es both hace the spouts opened up to around .205 diameter to improve flow more. Clean the ladle and dip in lead to heat it up to temp. With a warmed mould fill ladle. there are 2 techniuqes for ladle pouring. 1St is to slightly angle mould and pour into sprue plate hole filling sprue and allowing a little to run off the side even. 2Nd is to turn mould sideways and fit sprue onto spout and tip upright together holding foor a set copunt and then relmoving to form the sprue. I dont cast as fast as some do but I get very good consistent bullets.

Good advice. The second is pressure pouring and works with some molds. I find it essential on my 457122 Gould HP mold, and find it works well on single cavity molds. I have problems using it on double cavity or more simply because lifting the ladle lets some lead get in the other cavity. I want them both filled at the same time, and will over fill if necessary to get the base of the boolit fully filled out.

[country gent]

I use all single cavity moulds and have "vented the sprue plates to one side to allow a controled over pour. On a double cavity the vents would help allieviate the partial filling of the second cavity also. I no longer pour a sprue but a full ladle of lead and let the sprue form from there. After pouring there is very little shrinkage to the sprue as the mould has been filled and gasses pushed out.

[cajun shooter]

When ladle pouring, which is how I started many years ago and I'm back doing now because I sold My RCBS Pro Melt when I thought I would never cast again because of medical problems.
I prefer the RCBS ladle because it has the spout nose shaped to fit the sprue plate. This allows the pressure from the weight of the ladle and it's contents to pressure pour the mold cavity. This will result in a filled cavity with no air pockets. I then tilt my ladle to the side so that a small amount spills on the top of the sprue plate. This keeps the cavity from not having enough lead to fill all the way after shrinkage. Ladle pouring can be very fast once you have a certain steady movement down. I use two three cavity molds to do my 44WCF bullets with no problems. Good casting, David

[dikman]

I started off ladle pouring (using an old soup ladle) and it worked well enough, but I eventually went to bottom pour pots (much easier and safer, in my opinion) which let me sit down to cast. Note, though, that the biggest I cast are .50 cal roundballs and .44-40 boolits. I can see where, if casting big heavy slugs, a ladle may be better.

As to the how, get a suitable ladle - old soup ladle, RCBS etc (I made a similar device to the RCBS, which works well) - fill with lead and pour. Simple.

As to why, cheaper than buying a bottom pour, can pour more lead quicker in one go, some people don't like bottom pour pots.

Not much to it, really.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I started with a Lyman ladle and then added an RCBS ladle, but when I went to a six cav I got a soup ladle type and followed he directions in an article and started pouring "uphill" to fill the cavities on one pour. Pretty messy but worked for a long time until I was able to afford a bottom pour pot. For an excellent article comparing both methods reference The Art of Bullet casting, a book still in print by Wolf Publishing and a particular article by Jim Carmichal. Lots of good info on many subjects as well. LLS

[Bullwolf]

Another inexpensive option that's often overlooked is the use of an electric ladle.

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

Here's a new one ($35.00) hopefully still in stock at Barlowstackle.

http://www.barlowstackle.com/Palmer-...2-P352C62.aspx (http://www.barlowstackle.com/Palmer-Lead-Melting-Hot-Pot-2-P352C62.aspx)

I cast small batches of boolits quite often using a hand held electric ladle. They used to be quite common a while ago for use with cast fishing jigs.

http://thmb.inkfrog.com/thumbn/relicman30/HOT_1_001.jpg=800

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=114930&d=1409365478

My version [pictured both above and below] is an older Hilts Moulds Hot1, very similar to the more common Palmer Hot Pot, or Hotpot2.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129579&d=1423107770

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129580&d=1423107785

They are still found for sale new and used in a couple odd places. They pop up on E-bay occasionally as well. They tend to go for around 20-30 bucks unless you find a really good deal on a used one.

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd325/maglvr/casting.jpg

There's a few other threads on Cast Boolits about their use. A quick search turned up this old thread.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?120640-Casting-Boolits-%28Bullets%29-With-A-Hot-Pot-2

In short, the Palmer Hot Pot is simply small hand held melting pot that you pour from like an electric plug in ladle.

One downside is that it only holds a few lbs of molten alloy at a time, and requires a somewhat smaller size ingot than a bottom pour pot. On the upside, they are quite economical to get started out with at around $30 dollars or so.

I've found that mini muffin pan ingots work quite well with the small hand held pot, so I often custom blend up smaller ingots just for use in mine.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_187904f3b0b713d881.jpg http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_187904f3b0de87c371.jpg




- Bullwolf

[shooter2]

I went to a ladle years ago. I think the quality is better (fewer rejects) and therefore, just as fast. I would urge you to buy a Rowell bottom pour ladle.

[Deadpool]

I went to a ladle years ago. I think the quality is better (fewer rejects) and therefore, just as fast. I would urge you to buy a Rowell bottom pour ladle.

Definitely recommended! Just beware, getting larger ones (#5 for example) require two-handed pouring.

[country gent]

Some of the rowels we had at work required 2 man pouring even with the lighter die cast materials ( mish metal or aluminum mix). The #1 rowel if I remeber holds close to 1 pound of lead.

[bhn22]

I was ready to give up casting when I tried the ladle as a last resort. The first bullet was my first ever "perfect" bullet. I stayed up half the night casting because I didn't want the experience to end. Not all bullets have been perfect since then, but I can get much more consistent bullet weights and fewer rejects with the ladle. I think I just couldn't get my first bottom pour furnaces to fill the moulds fast enough. I had to adapt my first Lyman ladle for left-hand use, now most ladles will work with either hand.

[John Boy]

Ladle pouring - piece of cake:
* Fill ladle full with melt
* Turn mold 45 degrees to accept the spout in the sprue hole without dripping melt on top the the sprue plate
* STUFF the spout into the sprue hole and turn mold vertical
* Pour into the sprue hole for 5 seconds ... that's it
Some folks spead some melt on top of the plate to keep the mold as close to the temperature of the melt in the pot

[Deadpool]

Some folks spead some melt on top of the plate to keep the mold as close to the temperature of the melt in the pot

This is a really good point. A lot of issues with casting are due to a sprue plate that isn't hot enough. Your mold could be 375F but the plate could be sucking all the heat out of it. Keep your sprues large. It helps to empty the ladle onto the sprue plate after filling your cavities, and also by connecting the sprues together it makes it easy to collect them after if you have several cavities to deal with.

[NavyVet1959]

Although I have the Lee 20 lb bottom pour pot, I was curious about ladle pouring and sometimes got aggravated when the Lee decided to drip or get stuck up. I was at a restaurant supply store one day and noticed some 1 oz stainless steel condiment ladles for about $1 and figured I would give one a try for ladle pouring. Instead of pouring from the top where the oxides are, I wanted to pour from the bottom. My solution to this was to just drill a hole in the bottom of the ladle, get a ladle full of molten lead and move the mold under it while still over the melting pot. Originally, I used a 1/16" drill bit for the hole, but it seemed to flow a bit slower than I would have preferred, so I moved up to a 3/32" bit and I liked the flow rate a lot better. It holds enough lead to fill a 6-cavity 230gr mold while also leaving some in the ladle, so the oxides do not go into the mold.

The advantage of the condiment ladle is that the handle is closer to vertical and you're not trying to *pour* the lead, you're just allowing it to flow from the bottom of the ladle.

I like it well enough that I use this method quite often. The only disadvantage (for me at least) is that my casting table is at a height that allows me to sit while casting with the bottom pour pot, but if I use the ladle, I must stand.

Something like this ladle:

http://houstons-inc.com/product/13-0483.jpg

Basically, look for a deep ladle -- it's probably be half a sphere. You don't want one of the wide shallow ladles.

[dikman]

but if I use the ladle, I must stand.

Yep, I had to stand too. It wasn't until I got a bottom pour and found I could sit down that I realised how civilized using a bottom pour is!

[btroj]

Rowell #2 ladle made me a believer. Bullets are better, far fewer rejects. I find it easy even with 6 cav moulds. I have a few moulds that were about I possible to keep hot enough before, not any more. By pouring that much molten lead into and over the mould the heat transfer is far greater.

I doubt I will ever go back.

[376Steyr]

Rowell ladle with the "bombardier" method works good for me with multi-cavity moulds. You can move a lot of lead and pour a heck of a big sprue (which I knock off directly back into the pot) which keeps the mould toasty warm. Once the mould is up to temp, I start experimenting with angling the mould blocks, altitude I'm pouring from, and pour rate. Once I find the "sweet spot" combination I can crank out perfect pours one after the other.
Since you don't have the pressure of a bottom pour to force the air out of the cavities, you need to pour so all the air bubbles out the top and under the sprue plate.

[jmort]

I have a #1. Have you used a #1? The #2 seems a little large. I also have a #7 which is great for smelting.

[NavyVet1959]

Yep, I had to stand too. It wasn't until I got a bottom pour and found I could sit down that I realised how civilized using a bottom pour is!

Depending upon your age and prior body injuries (yeah, if we had known we were going to live this long, we would have taken better care of our bodies, or at least not don't quite as many stupid things in our youth), standing or sitting for very long can cause pain and it's nice to change it up. I think it would be possible to sit and cast with my ladle, but I suspect that I would need to redesign the casting table to be lower or I would need the chair to be bar stool height.

From a purely safety standpoint, an argument could be made that standing is better since if you spill molten lead toward you, you are more likely to be able to jump out of the way than if you were seated and subject to it landing in your lap. I wear a leather welding apron when I'm casting, so I'm hoping that it will give me an extra second or so to push away from the table before I end up getting broiled.

[marshall623]

Only been ladle pouring a little while, but so far I've noticed more consistent bullets and fewer rejects. The Lyman 287641 likes pressure pouring. My NOE 360-180-wfn. The pressure pouring caused lots of flashing ( fins on the boolits) worked better holding the spout out of the sprue. Plate

[bhn22]

I have a #1 Rowell. I bought it as a means to make my ingots a consistent size, and have never tried actually casting with it, Most of the problem is that it's not left-hand friendly, although I did start out casting with the wrong hand.

[NavyVet1959]

I have a #1 Rowell. I bought it as a means to make my ingots a consistent size, and have never tried actually casting with it, Most of the problem is that it's not left-hand friendly, although I did start out casting with the wrong hand.

Then give the condiment ladle with a hole drilled in the bottom a try. It only costs a buck or so and should work the same for left or right hand use.

One thing that I have noticed with it is that the mold comes up to temperature quicker since you can pour a bigger sprue while allowing the excess to drain back into the casting pot. If you tried that with a normal bottom pour pot, you would most likely end up with a big mess of solidified lead under the pot.

[country gent]

I ladle cast using an rcbs or lyman ladle. I use single cavity moulds although I have been considering some 2 cavity moulds. I cast moetly 40-45 cal bullets in the 400 grn to 550 grn range. A few 38 cal rifle at 335 grns also. My ladles have the spouts opened up to .205 dia holes now. My sprue plates are set up like the brooks vented sprues with the run of u shaped groove. this allows control of run off metal and a consistent sprue. I dont pour for a sprue but a controlled pour of a ladle full of molten metal allowing excess to run back into pot. I have noticed 2 things doing this, 1) is there is much less shrinkage as the sprue cools. 2) bullets look much better for sharp edges and are much more consistent as to weight to weight variation. Less shrinking of the sprue indicates a better flow and fill of the cavity to me as does the more consistent weight variations. The vented sprue plates seem to help alot with controlling the lead run off. Experimenting with diffrent techniuqes will show what works with you set up and moulds. Bottom pouring can work as ladle pouring can also work, gravity pouring, pressure pouring, angling the mould on the pour, over pouring all need to be tried and tested to see what works best.

[bhn22]

Realistically, you could make one of those condiment ladles into bottom pour. Drill a hole in it and add a tube, similar to the way the cast ladles are made. Silver solder might even work for the joint. If not, brazing surely would.

[NavyVet1959]

Realistically, you could make one of those condiment ladles into bottom pour. Drill a hole in it and add a tube, similar to the way the cast ladles are made. Silver solder might even work for the joint. If not, brazing surely would.

Actually, with the hole drilled in the bottom, it is already a bottom pour. :)

I had though that just drilling a hole would result in a flow of lead that was not a smooth stream and I might need to use a punch to cause the area around the hole to deform into a funnel shape or braze a small tube in the hole, but I was surprised to find that it flowed smoothly and the hole was good enough.

I had also though that the flow rate might be too high and I might need to create a bottom pour plug for the ladle that I could leave it off until I had the ladle over the mold, but that proved unnecessary also. Sometimes, simple solutions work. :)

[Deadpool]

You could probably attach a spring and lever mechanism to the handle that pulls/pushes a pin to open/close that hole for your condiment ladle. Maybe overbuild, but you'd be able to sit down again.. especially if it had a 90 degree bend in your favor.

[btroj]

I have a #1 Rowell. I bought it as a means to make my ingots a consistent size, and have never tried actually casting with it, Most of the problem is that it's not left-hand friendly, although I did start out casting with the wrong hand.

Het a mirror, cast behind your back. Now the Rowell faces the right way.

Some people just like to find problems, not solutions.

[dikman]

:awesome:Great bit of lateral thinking! [smilie=l:.

NavyJet, after I analyzed the casting process using a ladle, I figured it was far too dangerous to do it sitting down! (Partly 'cos I'm getting clumsier as I get older!).

[NavyVet1959]

:awesome:Great bit of lateral thinking! [smilie=l:.

NavyJet, after I analyzed the casting process using a ladle, I figured it was far too dangerous to do it sitting down! (Partly 'cos I'm getting clumsier as I get older!).

I think it might be possible, but I'm pretty sure that I would need to use a significantly lower casting table (or a chair that was bar stool height). I'm thinking the "table" would need to be maybe 8-12" high (depending upon your chair height and body proportions). I'm thinking you would want the top of the casting pot to be about the same height as the top of you knees as you are seated, maybe a bit less. Your left arm could rest on your left leg while you are holding the mold and you control the ladle with your right hand. This would not be a full width casting table, just a small raised area where there was room for one leg on one side of it and your other leg on the other side of it. Maybe two 8"x16" cinder blocks laid side by side with the faces facing upwards. I wear a leather apron, jeans, and boots when I'm casting, so any spilled lead doesn't hit me directly, but I've never had a *major* spill while casting. If you were seriously concerned about a major spill, you could put the casting pot in a larger steel container that could catch spills that happen within a certain distance of the casting pot. Perhaps something like a metal 5g bucket would work well enough for a "proof of concept"? You might need to build a round platform to fit in the bottom of the 5g bucket to raise the casting pot up to the right height since you might not want the rim of the bucket up so high that it was touching your arm that was holding the mold. If it worked well, you could refine the design with something a bit more customized.

I grew up on a ranch and we had a few pecan trees. I can remember many of a fall day, sitting on the front porch with a 5g bucket of pecans in front of me, shelling them so that we could freeze then and use them throughout the year. It's possible that the body position / ergonomics are about the same with this sort of lowered casting pot idea.

[Wayne Smith]

I think it might be possible, but I'm pretty sure that I would need to use a significantly lower casting table (or a chair that was bar stool height). I'm thinking the "table" would need to be maybe 8-12" high (depending upon your chair height and body proportions). I'm thinking you would want the top of the casting pot to be about the same height as the top of you knees as you are seated, maybe a bit less. Your left arm could rest on your left leg while you are holding the mold and you control the ladle with your right hand. This would not be a full width casting table, just a small raised area where there was room for one leg on one side of it and your other leg on the other side of it. Maybe two 8"x16" cinder blocks laid side by side with the faces facing upwards. I wear a leather apron, jeans, and boots when I'm casting, so any spilled lead doesn't hit me directly, but I've never had a *major* spill while casting. If you were seriously concerned about a major spill, you could put the casting pot in a larger steel container that could catch spills that happen within a certain distance of the casting pot. Perhaps something like a metal 5g bucket would work well enough for a "proof of concept"? You might need to build a round platform to fit in the bottom of the 5g bucket to raise the casting pot up to the right height since you might not want the rim of the bucket up so high that it was touching your arm that was holding the mold. If it worked well, you could refine the design with something a bit more customized.

I grew up on a ranch and we had a few pecan trees. I can remember many of a fall day, sitting on the front porch with a 5g bucket of pecans in front of me, shelling them so that we could freeze then and use them throughout the year. It's possible that the body position / ergonomics are about the same with this sort of lowered casting pot idea.

Only problem I see with that is water dropping. This places the pot and any water for dropping way too close together. I'll stand, thanks.

[NavyVet1959]

Only problem I see with that is water dropping. This places the pot and any water for dropping way too close together. I'll stand, thanks.

That might be a concern. Normally though, a drop of water will vaporize when it hits the surface of the lead and not case a visit from the tinsel fairie. It's when you have a wet piece of lead and drop it in the pot that things get exciting. As a general principle, I like to keep water away from molten lead, but there might be a way of arranging the workflow or water bucket and casting pot so that the risk is minimized.

When I'm standing and ladle casting, I raise the 5g bucket with water so that it is sitting on a chair. That puts the top of the bucket below the level of the top of the casting pot. When I'm seated and using the bottom pour, I put the bucket on the ground.

[shooter2]

I am constantly amazed by the ideas that come forth in order to save a few $$ on tools. Ladles with a hole in it. Really? Do you always buy the cheapest car or gun?

Lyman and RCBS ladles are reasonable, the Rowell's are a little more and so much better. These tools last longer than you will and make life so much easier. Skip one dinner out and buy a good tool and use it for the rest of your life.

Lastly, stand if you are ladle asking. I know it's tiring. I am 78 and have a limited amount of energy for all the days jobs, but I just do not feel comfortable sitting while doing this job. Better yet, find a young guy that wants to learn, set him up at your workbench and teach him how for a 50-50 split.

I recently lent two moulds to a friend and fellow shooter and, without asking, got back hundreds of first class bullets from each mould as a thank you.

JMHO

[NavyVet1959]

I am constantly amazed by the ideas that come forth in order to save a few $$ on tools. Ladles with a hole in it. Really? Do you always buy the cheapest car or gun?

Lyman and RCBS ladles are reasonable, the Rowell's are a little more and so much better. These tools last longer than you will and make life so much easier. Skip one dinner out and buy a good tool and use it for the rest of your life.

The reason that I came up with that design for a ladle was just to see the difference in ladle casting before spending the money for a Rowell ladle. It's a cheap experiment and it will tell someone whether they like it and what kind of throughput to expect before spending money on the RCBS, Lyman, or Rowell ladles.

One of the justifications for a bottom pour pot is that you are always drawing lead from the clean lead at the bottom of the pot. With some ladles, any oxidation on the surface of the lead is going to be more readily transferred to the bullets since you are pouring off the top of the lead pool in the ladle. The Rowell has a tube that goes to the bottom of the lead pool in the ladle, so other than a slight amount of oxidation that might be at the top of the tube, it minimizes this potential problem. From what I have been able to tell about the Lyman and RCBS ladles, they attempt to minimize this by making the wall of the ladle extend further than the spout so that when you rotate the ladle, the oxidation on the surface quickly rotates upwards and you are pouring from below the surface of the lead. On the other hand, a truly bottom pour ladle like I created is always pouring from the bottom and as long as you are not using a mold that uses more lead than you have clean lead in the ladle, you should not end up with any of the oxides in the castings. Sure, you can minimize the oxides on the surface of your ladle by skimming the oxides to the side in the casting pot before you fill the ladle, but with a bottom pour ladle, it doesn't matter.

As I think about it though, I'm not so sure that my bottom pour ladle design is comparable to the traditional ladles from a process standpoint. Looking at it, I suspect that this design has an advantage with casting pots that are narrow and deep whereas the standard ladles probably work best with casting pots with wider openings. Filling one of the standard ladles when you only had an inch or so of lead in a deep casting pot with a small diameter might be not easy as it is with the condiment ladles due to the angle of the handle on the condiment ladle vs the straight sidewards handle on the traditional casting ladle.

Not everyone will end up liking ladle casting. Being able to try it out with an outlay of only a buck or so allows people to determine whether it is for them or not.

Some of us, because of age or various injuries in our "younger and dumber" days have pain if we sit too long or if we stand too long. For that matter, I seldom even get a good night's sleep because of the pain of *laying down too long*. Having a method where you can cast while standing up and another while you are sitting down helps with the pain.

[NavyVet1959]

One of the guys over on YouTube made a video of casting comparing my "design" with a traditional casting ladle. From looking at it though, I think he was using a larger ladle. I found that a 1 oz ladle was sufficient for a 6-cavity 230 gr mold while still leaving enough extra that any "crud" that got picked up from the surface of the casting pot still did not flow into the bullet mold.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZQQ159QJCo

[Bonz]

I upgraded to the Lee bottom pour 20# pot to get away from the ladle. LOL, and the pour spout gets blocked all the time requiring a torch to get it flowing again. It may work great when its warm outside but certainly giving me a headache right now.

[NavyVet1959]

I upgraded to the Lee bottom pour 20# pot to get away from the ladle. LOL, and the pour spout gets blocked all the time requiring a torch to get it flowing again. It may work great when its warm outside but certainly giving me a headache right now.

Every once in awhile, I completely empty my Lee pot and take a 1/16" drill bit to the bottom pouring spout. I also clean the inner sides and bottom of anything that might be left at the point.


Heat the pot until all the lead is molten
Pour as much of the molten lead out as possible into ingot molds (either through the bottom pour or by a ladle)
Tilt the pot to pour whatever lead is left in the pot out the top opening
Let the pot cool off so you can work on it without burning your hands


This also gives you a chance to tighten up the screws that always seem to come loose on the guides and such.

Eventually, it will junk up again and you'll have to repeat this. I also keep a propane torch handy for getting the pot to start flowing initially. Casting with the bottom pour ladle turned out to be a lot less work.

[Deadpool]

Tilt the pot to pour whatever lead is left in the pot out the top opening
Let the pot cool off so you can work on it without burning your hands



I do something similar, but simply wedge a 2x4 under the front so it tilts back.. Helps ladle the last of it out until it clears the spout. Then I just turn it off, let it harden, and sometimes I can remove the lead wedge but often just leave it in. I'll wear gloves and overturn the whole pot, at this point instead, if I want to do the water cleaning method. The water method works very well, letting it simmer on lowest setting.

[montana_charlie]

Only been ladle pouring a little while, but so far I've noticed more consistent bullets
I tried a bottom pour pot for a litle while, then went back to the dipper.

I had some work done on a mould recently, so I cast a run of 50 bullets to see how it does.

This is the Paul Jones Creedmoor bullet from an aluminum NEI mould, expected to weigh about 550 grains.

The total weight spread was from 548.8 grains to 550.0 grains.
Of the 50 cast, 21 weighed 549.6 and 18 weighed 549.4.
That is a degree of consistency that I can live with.

CM

[Boolseye]

I was recently given a little Lee 4# melter. I already have the 4-20, and had never ladle casted. I use a ladle I bought at a junk shop and can cast a few boolits fast without the big set up. When I want production, I fire up the big pot.

[kbstenberg]

For those of you familiar with ladel pouring. How does your process differ from NavyVets vid.?
Do you empty the excess lead over the mold? Do you only leave a small sprue puddle like the vid.?
Using the Roul ladel, dep. on what the mold likes. Do you place the spout of the ladel into the chamfered hole, or pour at a distance from it?

[Bonz]

I use a small Lee casting ladle (holds about a tablespoon) and fill one cavity, go back to the pot for another scoop, etc. Keeps the temp right there. But honestly have never tried a larger ladle.

[btroj]

I use a #2 Rowell ladle. It holds enough lead for any multi cav mould I own. I fill the ladle and put the spout near the hole in the sprue plate. I find it important, critical actually, to keep pouring into a cavity after it is full. I tend to count the pour into each cavity. I then move to the next cavity. Don't let lead overflow one cavity and into the next, it tends to give nose wrinkles.

I do leave a small sprue puddle but I hold the mould at an angle over the pot so most of the excess lead flows back into the pot. Sprue puddle alone doesn't prevent poor base fillout, it is pouring after the cavity is full that fills out the base. You need the base to remain hot long enough to let it remain fluid until the very end, it needs to be the last part of the bullet to harden.

I was was taught to think of the excess lead not as lead but as heat. Yep, you are pouring heat into the mould. I have a mould that will not give good fill out with a bottom pour yet with a ladle it does fine. This is all because the ladle lets me keep that mould hot enough to give good fill out, the bottom pour just doesn't cut it.

[bhn22]

Right. My findings lead me to believe that not only is the fill of the cavity more consistent with the ladle, the base of the bullet seems to stay molten slightly longer (for my style), allowing more air to purge from the bases, decreasing porosity, and giving me more consistent bases and bullet weights. I tend to run everything a bit to the hot side, and I generally treat a multi-cavity mould as two to four individual one cavity moulds. I see guys running moulds really fast, and more power to them. I'm glad it works for them, but anyone who has had to remelt an entire run of bullet ('fess up!) understands the frustration of wasting all that time. I cast a bit slower, and more deliberately with the ladle, and my results more than repay me for the extra time involved. I'm happy with my results.

[white eagle]

thats all I ever do
may not be the fastest but I don't mind

[bhn22]

My reject rate was originally quite high with bottom pour. I was ready to quit casting entirely. Now I can hold my weights to within 1/2 of one percent, and my physical rejects are pretty much limited to the first few pours. Better all-around technique is part of this, but my consistency when ladle casting is very rewarding. So I'm actually being more productive because I'm not having to remelt so much.