bottom pour or ladle?

[RED BEAR]

i will start off with i do not have a bottom pour so i don't know. i see people on here say they use bottom pour for handgun but use a ladle for rifle or procession shooting. if this is true then why not just use a ladle. is a bottom pour that much easier or faster? i was considering buying a bottom pour untill i read some of these comments. is it worth while to buy a bottom pour? i really don't want to spend the money if it isn't worth it. alsohow important is a pid ? using just a pot and thermometer i havent seen where 25 or 50 degrees makes much if any diff or am i wrong? like i say never had a bottom pour so know nothing about them.

[bangerjim]

Bottom pour all the way!!!!! Pistol and rifle! Thousands of them!

I tried ladle pouring years ago and it was waaaaaaay too slow and tedious. Now I pour 5 & 6 cav molds fast and accurately - - - cranking out hundreds of boolits with each casting session. All are perfect and usable, thanks to pre-heating with an electric hot plate.

I would NEVER go back to ladle pouring even with the several 1 and 2 cav molds I have. A ladle is s-l-o-w casting! I want fast accurate quality boolits......and that is what I get with bottom pour pots from Lee.

The Lee 4-20 bottom pour pots ( I have 2 and will be buying a third one soon) are great. Ignore the moaning and groaning about leaking......those people just do not know how to use one. Never had a single leak in the many years of using them.

PID’s are just a crutch to real casting know-how and metallurgy. I do not use one....never have ...never will. I get perfect drops from the 1st one every single time......using skill and the knowledge of casting. Spend the $$ if you want. Just learn to cast 1st!

I apply and sell PID controllers in my engineering firm I own and can get them for FREE. But I do not use any of them on a simple casting pot.

Good luck.

Bangerjim

[RED BEAR]

thanks i may really consider getting a bottom pour. faster sounds better i have better than 20000 already cast and i can tell you that after about 4 to 5 hours it is not a whole lot of fun any more so that is about the limit of my casting session. i was not sure about a pid it seemed like a nice toy but was not sure. as i said earlier cant see where a small difference in temp makes much difference glad to get your input on this. as i am on a fixed income i dont have a lot of extra cash to spend. well thanks for the input.

[lightman]

I started with a ladle and moved on to a bottom pour and never looked back. Many experienced casters like to use a ladle but I considered moving to a bottom pour pot to be a step up. You can get into a Lee pot for not too big of an investment.

[RED BEAR]

yes a lee is the way i would go really can't afford any other. i know lots of people complain about lee and say the others are worth the money but you buy what you can afford. most of my hand guns recently were bought under 100 dollars i just love 32 top breaks. it is amazing how many people will stop shooting and come and check thwm out. bought some as low as 25 dollars.

[HeavyMetal]

if your using a single or two cavity mold, and only one mold, your speed is hampered by the mold.

so ladle or bottom make's no difference, with ladle pouring making better bullets!

now step up to a pair of four or six cavity molds and volume becomes an issue, with the right stuff to help the pot, you can make the same quality bullets, it just needs practice to work well.

figure your bullet needs, both now and the near future and then buy both molds and pot to fit your needs!

HM

[RED BEAR]

yes most are double cavity with a few single have one three and four cavity also multy cavity buckshot mold. this is what i am looking at is it worth the money have arthritis in my hands and the large handles on the lee 6 cavity really hurt my hands so will stick with the smaller handles. i have a couple of older lyman handles that are really small that i try to use when i can. well thanks got some thinking to do.

[Creepin]

The only thing I use a ladle for is to remove dross. It works pretty well. Bottom pour!

[kevin c]

For volume I should think a bottom pour has huge advantages, especially with gang molds of six or even eight cavities (I have the latter, and it makes emptying the pot a very quick proposition).

Another advantage is that the bottom pours I have seen all have a mold guide to rest the mold on as it is filled, while I believe you have to hold the mold in one hand in order to ladle pour with the other. Handling/holding the weight of the mold both empty and filled, all the time through and between each casting cycle, could fatigue the caster a lot faster with a big multi cavity iron or brass mold or even aluminum molds for big slugs.

I've heard that for the ultimate in consistency using a single cavity mold is the way to go. Being lighter than the gang molds and used at a slower pace, the time and fatigue differences between bottom pouring and ladle pouring may be so small that either will serve well in that situation. But for lots of blasting/plinking boolits where high consistency is not a big concern, I think bottom pour is the way to go.

[Larry Gibson]

"i see people on here say they use bottom pour for handgun but use a ladle for rifle or procession shooting."

I don't say that. I use both methods. Which I use is based solely on the alloy volume of the bullet. Most often I use a bottom pour (Lyman Mag20) for pistol/rifle bullets from 38 up to 300 gr in weight. That is with single, double and multiple cavity moulds. I use a ladle (most often a Lyman) with an enlarged spout hole with large bullets of 300+ to 500+ gr. Those moulds are mostly single cavity.

[country gent]

Like Larry all my rifle bullets (38 -45 cal and most in 1.4" length range) with a ladle normally rcbs or lyman with the spout opened up to around .205-.210 dia to improve flow. The ladle casts these big long bullets better for me with the faster flow of alloy into the mould. I want to be pouring the sprue overfill while the nose is still molten if possible. The ladle does this better for me than bottom pours. I do occasionally cast some smaller pistol bullets with a bottom pour.

Using 2 moulds at the same time really speeds things up since your filling one while the second is cooling. Things to remember doing this are 1) use moukd that cast very different bullets so when separating it easier. 2) have both moulds ready to go and well pre heated. I cast with mostly brass noulds and they hold heat better for me. I cast with 2 moulds and can make a big run of bullets in 4 hours like this.

I recently modified a rcbs ladle to a double spout matching the center line of my 2 cavity moulds. One pour 2 bullets. no cooling of alloy between the 2 pours now. faster fill of mould nad better heat transfer. it is trickier to learn to use as both spouts need to be alighned.

[RED BEAR]

i usually rest the mold on the pot while pouring to avoid fatigue. i thought i had enough cast for the summer. suprise got on a 32 kick lately and can already see they ain't gonna last.

[GhostHawk]

I had a lee drip o matic back in my younger days. Gave it away after 2 months. Was just not smart enough to be able to run it or something.

Switched to a cast iron frying pan and a ladle and stuck with it for over 3 years. Eventually tried a small lee dipper pot I found here. Last year moved up to the Lee Magnum Melter dipper pot.

I'm not in a rush, don't shoot that much, I can sit, enjoy myself while I cast.

If I get 50 to 100 made I had a good session and I'm ready to hit them with 2-3 coats of BLL and walk away.

YMMV. There is no wrong answer. There is only what works for you.

[cajun shooter]

I don't intend to get into a argument with any member on this forum but for a fellow member to say that I don't know how to use my equipment and that's the reason for problems with the Lee pot is very discourteous to say the least. I started casting in 1972 while employed in a full service gun store and the owner taught me the art of casting bullets to sell in the store.
I had 6 Saeco furnaces and several 6 cavity molds along with 4 Star's for the different bullets we were casting. I poured several thousands of bullets while employed there. I also had my own equipment for my use and I was also pouring for myself.
After several of life's problem's and selling off my equipment to pay bills, I started over with all Lee equipment including 2 of the 20 lb pots. They both failed in a short time and I purchased more Lee's only to have them do the same with one spilling the entire load of hot melted lead onto my loading bench. This all took place over 10 years ago and I now use a RCBS for pistol bullets and a Waage ladle style pot for my 45-70 bullets.
The sad thing about the internet where we may gain tons of useful information also gives us the same amount of False information that is neither true nor correct. I suggest you take time to do research that is available for all members who have enough interest to look it up. There are several postings on the pitfalls of the lee casting pots.
We have a sticky that is free for you to download and I strongly suggest you do. I printed it out and put it into a binder. It's 192 pages IIRC and worth the time. The name is From Ingot to Target. Let me know if you do it, later David

[jmort]

"There is no wrong answer. There is only what works for you."

Pretty much

[gwpercle]

I cast for decades with a Lyman ladle , read about the glories of bottom pour and bought one.
The thing I discovered is I could make a lot more second rate bullets with the bottom pour .
But I don't want a bunch of second rate bullets....I want near perfect , well filled out , all corners sharp , with a perfect base . I went back to the open top pot and Lyman ladle .
I gave the bottom pour to a fellow member who lost all his stuff in a fire and wanted it.
What I have found very helpful is a big Lee Magnum Melter , holds 20 lbs. and a new Lyman ladle with a larger bowl and longer handle. A small pot is a big hindrance , go big if you can . I don't have any big gang moulds , only 1, 2, 3 and a single 4 cavity so ladle casting isn't a problem with them.
I just prefer quality boolits over a bunch of so-so boolits.
Gary

[GhostHawk]

"I don't intend to get into a argument with any member on this forum but for a fellow member to say that I don't know how to use my equipment and that's the reason for problems with the Lee pot is very discourteous to say the least. "

Cajun if you are refering to me you misunderstood sir. Was not talking about anyone else. Was talking about myself. Sorry if I communicated that poorly.

No insult to anyone else intended or otherwise.

For me, calling a spade a spade. But I also did not have this wonderful place back then to learn and edumacate myself either.

But me and Lee Bottom Pour pots did not work, at all.

And there is a zero missing behind that 3. That should have been 30 years. Fingers get lazy somedays.

[Lloyd Smale]

I haven't used a ladle for ANY bullets for over 20 years. I cast anywhere from 500+ grain bullets to 55 grain bullets. Biggest contributor to consistent bullets is using the right temp and casting at a consistent pace that insures the mold stays at a fairly consistent temp.

[Hairy Dawg]

I started out with bottom pour about 25 years ago. I've never ladle poured. Like Lloyd, I use a pid on my pot, and thermocouple mounted into the mold to regulate my pace, and ensure that the bullets I cast today are an exact match to what I cast last year. I have developed my system of casting over many years, and I think it would be tough to switch over to use a ladle. I can imagine that someone who has cast with a ladle for many years might have a difficult time transitioning over to bottom pour, especially if you have already perfected your process. Head pressure would be significantly different.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Red Bear,

For sure this is one of those to each his/her own things. However I tried a bottom pour and didn't like it.

Then, for a number of years used one of the Lyman ladles with the side nipple.

Then the sun came up with the Rowell bottom pour ladle!

Now, I don't hate casting, but when I cast I want to maximize the production for time spent. 3 - 4 weeks back it was casting with 3 - 6 cavity lee molds for the .40S&W. About 3 hours and over 1500 bullets.

Yesterday, about 2 hours and 40 minutes with about 38.5 LBs. of cast bullets. 21lbs. of a 275/280gr Wide flat nose .44 that I case for a son's triple four but also use in my RUGER 77/44. And, 17.5lbs of 240gr WFN also for the .44. That is about 535 of the heavier and 510 of the lighter bullets.

I was casting with 2 - 4 cavity molds made by Accurate Molds in Utah.

I use an old and much used Coleman gas stove and a 40 - 45lb. open pot which allows almost continuous casting until I run the gas tank dry. Warm up and about 3 hours of casting time.

With this heat source, I can continue to cast while adding back sprues and fresh ingots something not possible with the typical bottom pour pot.

I like molds with a minimum of 4 cavities - do have some of the smaller Lyman an RCBS molds - and the Rowell bottom pour ladle with the big pot keeps two to three molds in rotation with only the occasional break to add back metal or flux.

The only time I plan to use a single mold is when casting for my 45/70 where I am using a different alloy and a 4 cavity 465gr. mold.

As said, don't hate casting, but do want to maintain a high volume of out put for the time spent.

Crusty Deary O'Coot

[BCOWANWHEELS]

Theres a place for both ways imo. Setup for both as its not costly. Ladle is slower, bottom pour is best for higher production imo

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Hey there BCOWANWHEELS, Help me out here please.

I hear repeatedly how the bottom pour pot casting is faster then using a ladle. As per that statement, I'd like for someone to tell me where to go to find such a bottom pour pot.

As I said in an earlier post, this is kind of one of those to each his/her own things, and I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from using the bottom pour, but I'd like to know what brand/name of a faster bottom pour pot is as the pots I know of are mostly in the 20 - 25lb. capacity range.

About 4 weeks ago I cast something over 1500 bullets for the .40S&W using three - 6 cavity molds in rotation with my 40 - 45lb. open pot and a Rowell bottom pour ladle. That was something over 40lbs. of alloy used in about 3 hours.

Yesterday, in 2 hours and 40minutes of casting I used about 38.5lbs of alloy casting with 2 - 4 cavity .44 molds for about 535 - 275/280gr bullets and 510 - 240gr. bullets.

With the exception of when I'm casting for my 45/70 where I use single mold with a different alloy and a 4 cavity 465gr mold I cast with 2 - 3 molds in rotation.

I 'm not trying to set any speed records, the above is simply my normal pace of casting bullets.

So, as said, I'd really like to know the name of a typical bottom pour pot that can meet that rate of alloy use in the amount of time listed.

And yes, I have tried a bottom pour pot so I'd be interested in a single bottom pour pot that could keep my pace without down time to allow for a new pot of alloy to come up to temp.

Thanks!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[sureYnot]

Hey there BCOWANWHEELS, Help me out here please.

I hear repeatedly how the bottom pour pot casting is faster then using a ladle. As per that statement, I'd like for someone to tell me where to go to find such a bottom pour pot.

As I said in an earlier post, this is kind of one of those to each his/her own things, and I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from using the bottom pour, but I'd like to know what brand/name of a faster bottom pour pot is as the pots I know of are mostly in the 20 - 25lb. capacity range.

About 4 weeks ago I cast something over 1500 bullets for the .40S&W using three - 6 cavity molds in rotation with my 40 - 45lb. open pot and a Rowell bottom pour ladle. That was something over 40lbs. of alloy used in about 3 hours.

Yesterday, in 2 hours and 40minutes of casting I used about 38.5lbs of alloy casting with 2 - 4 cavity .44 molds for about 535 - 275/280gr bullets and 510 - 240gr. bullets.

With the exception of when I'm casting for my 45/70 where I use single mold with a different alloy and a 4 cavity 465gr mold I cast with 2 - 3 molds in rotation.

I 'm not trying to set any speed records, the above is simply my normal pace of casting bullets.

So, as said, I'd really like to know the name of a typical bottom pour pot that can meet that rate of alloy use in the amount of time listed.

And yes, I have tried a bottom pour pot so I'd be interested in a single bottom pour pot that could keep my pace without down time to allow for a new pot of alloy to come up to temp.

Thanks!

Crusty Deary Ol'CootHoly smokes. I don't think they make one big enough for you.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[country gent]

Actually running 2 pots one preheat one casting speeds things up a lot. A stand made to set one pot above the other with some clearance between and dump into the bottom pot. The top pot is melting while the lower pot is being cast from when the lower pot reaches the refill point the top is dropped to fill bottom pot and refilled with ingots. A small chunk of wax lube while dumping helps flux with little stirring until its done.

Leave enough room between pots to pour flux and fill when starting out. A light shield to protect from spatters when filling and a cover for the top pot to speed melting

[sureYnot]

Seems a great idea. My limitation on that is the spousal unit feeling ignored. But this is going into practice at some point.
Actually running 2 pots one preheat one casting speeds things up a lot. A stand made to set one pot above the other with some clearance between and dump into the bottom pot. The top pot is melting while the lower pot is being cast from when the lower pot reaches the refill point the top is dropped to fill bottom pot and refilled with ingots. A small chunk of wax lube while dumping helps flux with little stirring until its done.

Leave enough room between pots to pour flux and fill when starting out. A light shield to protect from spatters when filling and a cover for the top pot to speed melting

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[KCcactus]

For large scale casting sessions, I use both my Lee 20lb and my much older Lee 10 lb bottom pours. I use the 20 until nearly empty, the 10 while the refilled 20 is melting, refill the 10 and keep going. I use one 4 or 6 cavity mold at a time. For me, the biggest waste of time is waiting for the pot to melt and then getting the mold back to that sweet spot temperature. Using 2 pots lets me cast until I get tired without having to wait. I also get better boolits with a consistent pace through the entire session.

My Lee bottom pours drip occasionally. A steel condiment cup under the spout takes care of it.

[Chad5005]

I use a lee bottom pour pot also and am thinking about adding a second pot on the casting bench so you don't have down time,my pot drips very little and I over run the molds a little but I just wait till im done casting or taking a break and throw it back in the pot

[223Lorenzo]

Bottom pour, ladle's way to slow for me. Once you get the pour adjustment right you can really put some bullets out.

[RED BEAR]

The only thing i don't understand a lot of people say they use a ladle for rifle and bottom pour for hand gun . Why the difference if one is better than the other then why not just use that. Some of my hand gun bullets are 2 to 3 times as heavy as my rifle bullets .

[Chad5005]

I hear they use the ladle on rifle because the pour hole is bigger and it pours faster so the nose of the boolit doesnt solidify before the pour is finished,i say bump the heat up a little on the lead or mold and itll pour fine with the bottom pour

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Morning folks,

Bright and sunny here with temps in the mid fifties at 10am. It appears the 90 to 100 degree day time temps are over for this year. I HOPE! HATE HOT WEATHER!!!!!!!

Anyway, the pros and cons of the bottom pour versus the ladle pour will continue and the facts are simply not relevant, we like what we like.

However, and yes I have used a bottom pour. Didn't like it. But go back and read post #22 then do a bit of math.

Considering that both RCBS and Lyman do or at least did sell side pour ladles, and yes I used the Lyman version for quite awhile, I suspect seeing or using those ladles are what most folk base their experience/opinions on when they think/speak of ladle casting.

Were it not for the fact that that I some how - before the days of the internet forums - got acquainted with the Rowell bottom pour ladles and even though I did not like my bottom pour experience, I might agree that ladle casting/pouring is relativity slow. NOT! Not if your set up correctly.

In the two examples given in post #22 the finished result of bullets in hand was just short of 40lbs. in one case and exceeded that level in the other.

Counting sprues, in both cases 2 - 20lb bottom pour pots would have been more then emptied. In fact, there would NOT have been enough alloy in the two pots to cast that quantity of bullets in the time spent.

Rowell sells a broad range of ladle sizes. All the way from small up to and including a bottom pour ladle with two handles requiring to strong adults to pick up and pour. Been a long time since I placed my order, but I seem to recall that my ladle is the second from the bottom in size with I believe the longer available handle.

Mine is the version that measures about 2 1/4" across by 1" deep. That is enough alloy to, providing I'm not being wasteful, pour 4 of my 465gr (total or 1860gr. PLUS sprues) 45/70 bullets.

I always start the alloy flowing from the ladle BEFORE moving the stream over the first mold cavity, so if I'm pouring to rapidly, I may need to go back for a second dip to fill the fourth cavity. It happens from time to time.

The secret to maintaining my rate of casting is the 40 - 45lb open pot over the OLD Coleman gas stove. This combination allows me to add 3 1/2lb. ingots of fresh allow as needed as well as every so often adding the sprues back to the pot, All while continuing to cast with only short breaks as needed to flux the pot.

So, as stated, we like what we like and I'm surely NOT going to change anyone's mind, but I'd still like to see the bottom pour pot that can match my old and out of date system. Two 20lb. bottom pour pots would be hard pressed to even come close while the sessions spoken of in post #22 came to a close with 20lbs. +/- of alloy still remaining in my pot and an empty fuel tank.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[gundownunder]

I have used a cast iron camp oven and gas ring, and a ladle for over ten years. The pot holds about 30 - 40 lbs of lead. My ladle is a soup ladle with a hole drilled in the bottom, so yeah, a bottom pour ladle. Using that set up, and 2 x 4 gang molds I can cast at about 700 - 900 bullets per hour for two hours before the pot is empty. So including preheat and setup time, I guess I average about 1600 bullets for 3 hours. Refill the pot and while the pot reheats I sort the last batch for defects and apply the Hightek coat to the batch before that one. I Hightek coat my bullets while I cast, so every ten minutes both molds get a 30 second rest while I swap trays in the oven. I guess if you wanted to go really psycho you could do about 3 batches in a day, but you would definitely feel it after casting and coating 4000 - 5000 bullets in one day. I did it once, gave me tennis elbow for months. These days I restrict myself to one session a day, or two if i need the extra stock on hand.

[Triggerfinger]

For bigger and heavier bullets and for more consistent weights I ladle pour. For pistol rounds I bottom pour.

[MT Chambers]

RCBS bottom pour is tops, you can still ladle pour, you can't with the Leak-a-matic.

[MtnGunner]

I just picked up a used RCBS Pro Melt, I will be glad to move my Lee pot to backup use only. No more drips.

[Youngtimer]

I started with ladle pour and a colman stove with good results although it was slow. A year or two later stepped up to a bottom pour furnace and never looked back. Eventually purchased a second bottom pour furnace and run both at the same time. While I am casting from one the second is melting a fresh batch of ingots so I never need to stop and wait for lead to melt. This has worked for me for many years.

[RED BEAR]

i would like to have two pots one for smelting and the other for casting as it is i take my lee pot apart and give it a good cleaning with a wire brush on a drill then use wet dry paper . i still kick myself our son bought us a glass top stove and i threw away a whole set of cast iron cookware. wasn't casting at the time . still looking at second hand stores and yard sales but haven't seen a good size soup pot since.

[Dusty Bannister]

When I started bullet casting many years ago, I was on a tight budget. I did not have the camp stove, and with small children knew kitchen stove casting was out of the question. The Lee 10 pound pot seemed to be a good idea. I did not choose to use the ladle at that time because it seemed to me, it would be difficult to reach the melt when the pot started to get down to half full, but the bottom pour would keep going until near the bottom. Plus, I use the sprue tapper not the thumb bumper to cut the sprues. It was a lot easier to just hold the tapper in the hand and lift the lever with the thumb and finger and have less picking up and laying down when casting. Having space limitations, I also needed to consider wind direction and velocity so the bottom pour seemed to be more consistent in the flow temperature than waving a ladle around in the air when filling a mold. These days, I might consider a larger pot with a Rowell ladle, but that would be to feed the larger gang molds that need to be laid on a rest and the ladle moved from pot to mold and back. There is no real right or wrong method of casting. Just use what you have, or decide if the other method better suits your needs. I think too many new casters are being told what they need, instead of being asked what type of molds and casting they are doing. One size does not fit all. Enjoy the hobby and be safe.

[RED BEAR]

well thanks for the encouragement Dusty. i use what i have its an old lee pot over 10 years old with a ladle . my bullets come out good and they shoot good . my brother and nephew cast with cast iron pot on wood fire in back yard. i am lucky enough to have plenty of space out of the weather. i use a garage it even stays cool well into the morning during hot days.

[frankenfab]

I drilled the pour spout out on one of my first 2 Lee 4-20s for larger boolits. Don't remember what size bit I used, but I will soon find out, as I have another brand new 4-20 now, and am rebuilding the first 2.

I have no trouble producing first quality boolits with my bottom pours.

[Grmps]

HeavyMetal with ladle pouring making better bullets!
With a bottom pour, you can “pressure pour” Hold the mold up to the spout and do as good if not better than ladle pouring until the mold is up to it’s optimum operating temperature [ this is something you need to find out for each mold, mold temp in relation to alloy temp for type of alloy and rate of casting] then you can pour/drop the lead normally.

With ladle pour you always have the same lead pressure for every pour, but I find with bottom pour if you don’t let the pot get to low it doesn’t matter.

I also started with a Ladle then quickly went to bottom pour because bottom pour eliminates having to worry about any dross. I actually like to leave a layer of pine sawdust dross on top of my pot (some use clay kitty litter) to help prevent oxidation and prevent splashing when returning your sprues and really ugly boolits to the pot.


" have arthritis in my hands"

With arthritis bottom pour has less movement you may want to look at this for your sprue opening
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?353031-NOE-and-Lee-Sprue-opening-jigs

"There is no wrong answer. There is only what works for you."
It’s like the “great debate between Chevy/Ford/Dodge--- developed personal preferance

I've used a Lee 4-20 for many years, we've become intimately acquainted. It works well enough for me with a PID that I have not felt the need to "upgrade?" to a more expensive pot.

[country gent]

Things speed up with practice. The more you do a task the faster you do it. With bullet casting its not just the movements to open close pour but also the cooling set up time of the molten materials. Using 2 moulds greatly offsets this cooling time since one mould is cooling while the other is being filled. The big thing to speed is having everything arrange for comfort, then as short a movement as possible and everything being done in order. The getting used to the set-up to the point its done with out thought. My shelf is on the side of the pot I fill the first mould and set on the shelf fill second and set it beside the first pick up the first and tapper the sprue container is setting next to the shelf and cut sprue. bullet catch pan is next to it and drop bullets close mould and fill repeat. Once this becomes a learned movement your doing everything by memory not thought. Another way to speed things up is to pad the catch bin with several towels then when the pile becomes large pick up the top towel by the four corners and set aside leaving the next to use. As above casting with 2 2 cavity moulds ( 550 grn 45cal and 400 grn 40 cal) I have run 50 lbs of bullets in 4-4 1/2 hours. Setting up for the least movement and in order makes a big difference. Then getting to the memory run point.

[sharps4590]

I'm one of those who bottom pours revolver bullets and ladle pours rifle bullets. When everything is up to temp I can pretty much ladle pour within 1 grain weight of any size and weight bullet with around a 3%-5% loss. I have never been able to do that bottom pouring. For short range, 100 yards and closer, I don't believe handgun bullets need to be as close as rifle bullets shot to much farther distances. When my son and I were shooting SA revolvers out to 500 yards and more I ladle poured those bullets and weighed them as well. These days a course of 50 bullets, weighed and sorted, is about all I do as I have zero need for thousands of bullets in any caliber.

As has been mentioned, we all find what works for us.

[El Bibliotecario]

Browsing through this thread made me realize casting is similar to life in general, in that decisions made early on for better or for worse shape one's future.

I would speculate that many bottom-pouring casters began with ladles and one or two cavity molds, so they have experience of both worlds. I upgraded from a Lyman pot over a Coleman camp stove to a basic Saeco pot, from which I ladled. Four decades later I am still trying to wear out that pot, which has made me a de facto ladler, which in turn has influenced me to buy two cavity molds. Someone just beginning casting might be wise to byyte the boolit and pay the premium for higher capacity molds and a big bottom pour pot, in that it might save countless hours of labor.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Personally I avoid 2 cavity molds whenever possible and seldom !!! use the ones I do have. Even my 465gr Wide Flat Nose bullet mold for my 45/70 is a 4 cavity mold.

They are also aluminum.

All molds ordered in recent years are at least 4 cavity (have one 5 cavity from Accurate molds) and then there are the lee 6 cavity molds.

The lee molds are a clear step down in quality, but I buy them to use for rapid production for what I call "banger bullets", bullets for handgun shooting where the distance is close and the shooting pace RAPID. Maximum rate of production at minimal cost. 3 hours with 3 - .40 caliber six cavity molds does indeed product a big pile of bullets.

With the exception of when casting for my 45/70 where a different alloy is used, I cast with 2 - 3 molds at a time, cycling between them and able to cast 40 +/- lbs. of bullets before the old Coleman stove runs out of fuel, somewhere about 3 hours. By the time I have cast for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, I've had enough for one session but have many bullets to show for my efforts.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Mike W1]

My wife says I like gadgets (and she's right). When you get right down to it you're just pouring hot metal thru a hole into a hole and sooner or later if you stay at it you'll probably figure out some method that works for you.

Mine's evolved over the years mostly from tips from other casters and have adopted to my own needs. I may not NEED a PID but wouldn't be without anymore. Have built 4 units that control 2 pots, a hot plate and my RCBS LAM2. Could have gotten by with fewer but had fun building them so that was worth something I guess.

Shelves, racks for spoons, etc and handy places to dump bullets, a cooling fan and shelf to set the mould on. It allows me to flip a few switches and everything's there in a concentrated area and at the right temperature. I've measured mould temperatures, weighed bullets and made notes of what works and am at the point of just being out of things to try. Last thing I added were the Puck lites which were worthwhile. But I can easily make all the bullets I need for the year in my little winter sessions with my DC moulds with very little effort. Makes it pretty much a fun endeavor not a chore.

I remember using the ladle back in '76 with a pot fired by a plumber furnace. I wouldn't any more go back to that then a ladle caster would go bottom pour. Like it's been said go with what works.
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[kevin c]

I like your two pot set up there, Mike W1. I'm thinking of doing something like that with my Lee 4-20 and the old US made ProMelt I'm fixing up.