ladle vs. b. pour?

[rifleshooter]

From a few post I have seen there seems to be varied opinions on wether ladle pouring is better or a bottom pour pot. I have the lee 4 pot and other than the occasional drips it has done pretty well. But my question is what are the specific facts that make one better than the other. Like temp, volume of pour, etc. I've heard opinions but not really the scientifics. I have never used a ladle and haven't casted for about five yrs now but am trying to get back in it pretty heavy.

[runfiverun]

imo
smaller cavities will take a force feed better..
the middle ones 150-350 can be poured or bottom dumped and they will tell you what they
want.
there are two ways to run a ladle pour into mold same as bottom pour [pot]
and the line up and twist, [what i call a force feed] same as putting the mold up to the bottom of the pot spout,

and the bigger cavities prefer the ladle, gut each mold will tell you how to feed it.

[AZ-Stew]

As far as I'm concerned, if the mould and the pot are at the correct temp and the flow rate is high enough to fill the mould correctly (sharp corners), there isn't any difference, quality wise. Bottom pour is a bit faster.

Regards,

Stew

[NVcurmudgeon]

AZstew is 100% correct regarding ladle cast vs. bottom pour. One must remember that casting is as much art as science. Different casters will have different results with the same equipment. More than forty years experience have taught me that I can cast somewhat more boolits per hour with bottom pour, but I can cast many more PERFECT boolits per hour by ladle casting. I have owned a Lyman and three Lee furnaces and will abide neither Lee's dribbling nor Lyman's clogging. (RCBS furnaces came along too many years after my opinion on this issue was petrified.)The Coleman stove always works. It's very much a matter of pet peeves. These days my ladle casting usually yields more than 90% perfect boolits sans cleaning up dribbles or clearing clogs.

[Bret4207]

Some guys like blonds, some guys like redheads. Simple as that. Neither is "better" in all cases. A ladle always works for me, but I don't own an RCBS either. Maybe that would make things different.

[Whitespider]

I've never used a bottom pour pot but I do see where it could be convenient at times. I will say I don't have near the amount of rejects I see the bottom pour guys post. I started with a large (2 lb) open top lead dipper I picked up at an antique store for 5 bucks. A few hundred boolits latter I bought a ladle with a spout (RCBS I think) because I thought it might give me more control. It don't, I can cast good boolits with either. I did pick up one mold that likes a "pressure pour" though, so the spout ladle has come in handy.

[44man]

After pre-heating my molds, and it doesn't matter which mold, I usually empty the whole pot without a single reject. Doesn't matter if it is a .22 boolit or a 540 gr 45-70.
Yes, I am a confirmed ladle caster. I have been for 52 years! :p I plug the bottom pours and remove the junk that is in the way.

[GabbyM]

I picked up a Lee bottom pour last winter. No problems with drips. I do all my smelting in a 5 quart pot over a turkey fryer.

Issue I've with the Lee is I basically have to manually control the temperature.
I set the dial on the high side of where I want to run the melt. Hang a lead thermometer in the pot. Then when the temp climbs I'll add some spurs or an ingot to bring the melt temp down. Constant fiddling. But at $63 I can't complain.

Last week I bought some mystery lead that included a steel melting pot. Looks to be about 40 lb capacity. So I just have to get my old Lyman dipper out and see how my production compares to what I've been getting with the Lee 20 pound bottom pour pot. I'll be using a 10 cavity 9mm mould with a 4 cavity 45 acp mould in tandem. Takes lots of lead to keep them running.

That old melt pot I picked up looks to have been salvaged from some sort of cooker or steam table. Probably a zero dollar investment to original user. Now to be recycled again.

[montana_charlie]

Some guys like blonds, some guys like redheads. Simple as that. Neither is "better" in all cases.
Naw...there's too much variation in blondes. But a tall, green-eyed redhead - - - she'll be one you can ride the river with.

I changed the arrangement of the bottom pour mechanism on my old Lyman to make more room for ladle work.
It's now spring-loaded so it can't drip, but it can still be opened to drain the pot.
CM

[45nut]

It's now spring-loaded so it can't drip.

Well now,,,there is an idea to work with..................