one of my pots took a ####

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got two lyman 20lb bottom pours and one took a crap today. Theyve both been back to lyman before for a rebuild. this ones been there twice. Last time they were there it was 75 bucks to totaly rebuild it but im sure its more now. Im thinking of burying it with honors and trying a new rcbs pot. Id really like a magma but at over 500 bucks since they raised there prices i dont know if its worth the cost. Wish i knew how many bullets this one has casted. It was my first bottom pour pot and i bought it used about 15 years ago.

[Bigjohn]

We will honour it's passing with a 3 gun, cast boolit volley at the range on Sunday. :(

Most of those brands are fairly expensive here down under and almost impossible to get repaired.

John

[ovendoctor]

Ive been running lee pots

other than the drip they work ok

looking to build a gas fired bottom pour pot for doing the large slugs

Doc.:drinks:

[buck1]

The Lees are not a bad pot for the $, But the RCBS pot is a one time expence. They fix em for free, send you parts if you rather, easy to get along with. I love my RCBS the best out of all of mine. I have a RCBS,SAECO,LYMN,and a LEE.
If you get a rcbs, you will hate it for the first week, untill you forget how much it costs, then love it for the rest of your life...MY $.02...Buck

[madcaster]

Lloyd,
You really need to get that RCBS!

[dromia]

Yes indeed Lloyd, you do need that RCBS pot.

I've no real experience of the Lyman but have the RCBS and the Lee 17lb pot. The RCBS is well worth the extra dosh unless you have that Lee tinkering fetish. :wink:

[Lloyd Smale]

thats kind of my thoughts two. Like you said at least if it (and it will) fails the repair is free. My thoughts are going toward bucking up and buying two new ones and leaving the one good lyman for a backup and the other for parts. I can almost buy two rcbs pots for the price of one magma. im going to have to wait a couple months though as money is a little tight right now.

[Bass Ackward]

Price an item not in dollars, but in boxes of bullets using today's costs. Then look at how many boxes before you are molding, sizing, shooting bullets for free.

In the end, price is all relative. When I bought my RCBS pot, I cried because it was $90 or 12 boxes of bullets in that day. It was free within a year. Now I could double my money on an otherwise free item. Same with my lubricisors and a lot of my other stuff too.

I understand the cheap mentality if it is to get you started. But if you are young enough and think that this is more than a passing fad, then buying quality, assuming that you will treat it properly, just makes good sense.

If you know your personality is to trash stuff, then stick to the economical.

[AnthonyB]

Lloyd, I have the Magma 90lb pot and it is a pleasure to use, but I haven't fired it up in over three years. I have used an older Lyman 20lb pot off and on while waiting to find a used RCBS at a good price, but never found one. I did find a like new Lyman and a Saeco two weeks ago for $15 each and couldn't get there fast enough! Waiting can be a good thing as long as you don't need the new pot right away. Tony

[leftiye]

I've got two of the old style 10 pounders. One's thermostat doesn't tell correct temp, but does maintain temp (that's why ya use a thermometer). Both have been running since Metheusalah was in diapers. They can be picked up cheaply on Evil Bey, and with a feeder pot going I don't experience any work slowdowns. Put yer sprues and new ingots into the feeder pot, flux before adding to main pot.

[cabezaverde]

I picked up an RCBS at a gun show once for $50. Turned around and sold it here for $100, feeling like I made $50 and gave someone a deal (I already had one).

Kicking myself now, I should have kept it, as I find I am now using different alloys for different projects.

[Lloyd Smale]

you just reminded me that i have an old 10lb lyman somewhere out in the barn. Those were made back when they made things right. I have had absoulutely zero problems with that pot. Ill have to drag it out and use it along with the other 20 lb lyman until i can afford to buy a couple new ones.
I've got two of the old style 10 pounders. One's thermostat doesn't tell correct temp, but does maintain temp (that's why ya use a thermometer). Both have been running since Metheusalah was in diapers. They can be picked up cheaply on Evil Bey, and with a feeder pot going I don't experience any work slowdowns. Put yer sprues and new ingots into the feeder pot, flux before adding to main pot.

[AZ-Stew]

I used a 10lb Lee for 30-some-odd years with few complaints, other than the drip. Still have it and may build a device to use it as a replenishment pot for the RCBS I'm running right now. I bought a new 20lb Lee to use in my new shop (new shop=new tools, right?) and used it a bit, but had two instances in one casting session where stirring the pot resulted in a stuck-open bottom pour valve. I bumped the valve stem with the stirring spoon and opened it, lifting the valve rod up and onto the bottom of the pot, and to finish the debacle, the Lee design has the spout swaged into the bottom of the pot resulting in a ridge around the spout, making it nearly impossible to get the valve stem back into the spout at the bottom of the pot. Not the most eloquent description, but the end result was a mad scramble to get my ingot moulds out of the storage drawers in the loading bench and get them into place catching the molten alloy that was gushing from the bottom of the pot at max flow rate before it ended up on the floor, or worse, while the valve remained stuck open.

My new RCBS pot is, I believe, immune from that problem. Yeah, it cost a bundle, but it works well (still an occasional drip) and is, I believe, safer than the Lee. I hated to throw $300+ bucks at it (Midsouth Shooter's Supply), but as has been mentioned, if you want a lifetime tool, it is always good economy to buy the best you can afford.

My $0.02.

Regards,

Stew

[Just Duke]

Lloyd, I have the Magma 90lb pot and it is a pleasure to use, but I haven't fired it up in over three years. I have used an older Lyman 20lb pot off and on while waiting to find a used RCBS at a good price, but never found one. I did find a like new Lyman and a Saeco two weeks ago for $15 each and couldn't get there fast enough! Waiting can be a good thing as long as you don't need the new pot right away. Tony

Would interested in the Magma sir :bigsmyl2:

[AnthonyB]

Duke, the only reason the Magma isn't seeing use is the lack of 220v in the current garage. Gotta get that fixed....
Tony

[Just Duke]

I here that. My box is on the other side of the house and I would have to drag it across the entire attic.