Lee Casting Pot - 10 pound or 20 pound

[jonblack]

I want to order a Lee casting pot with the bottom pour feature. Yes, I know they leak. My question is: should I order the 10# or 20# version? I am new to casting and I would like to cast .380, 9mm, 40, and 38, and .30 cal projectiles, as well as 12 and 20 gauge slugs. So far I only have a 12 gauge slug mold.

Eventually, I would probably add a 10 pound pot to feed my main pot. So, maybe I can get a 10 pound pot now, and a 20 pound later, should I need the additional capacity.

What do you guys think?

jonblack

[Cowboy T]

I have the 20# version, and I'm glad I bought it. I cast with several Lee 6-cavity moulds, and that lead goes mighty fast. The 10# pots work fine, don't get me wrong. But the 20# is, in my experience, worth the extra money. It also has a more powerful heating element, so the same quantity of lead will melt faster.

BTW, the leaking thing isn't nearly as bad as what you might've heard. Mine leaks a little, but it's no biggie. For the price, the Lee pots are great.

[BCB]

I started with a 10 and now I have a 20...

If you need a 10 to feed a 20, you are doing some major casting!

Good-luck...BCB

[fryboy]

the 20 ....if i'm running one lil 22 cal mold it may take a bit to empty it but it's surely nice not to cast 50-100 boolits and have to reload my old 10# when i'm casting the bigger slugs , i started with a cast iron pot then graduated to a lee production pot ( #10 ) then to the production pot 4 and it was no problem to keep them both running for hours , then i bought the 20 ....gee wish i had two of'em lolz ( wish they made a 40 !!! )

[Packy]

I started with the 10, then got 20. I think it is easier to control temp with the 20. I just got done pouring some 90 grain bullets for the 380 with a rcbs 2 cavity. 20 pounds of lead last a long time. At the same time i was making some 120 grainers with a lee six cavity and it goes faster but still last a long time. Now when I am making 420 grain bullets for the 45-70 with a six banger 20 pounds of lead go fast. So I guess it comes down to what you are going to cast which pot you get. But having used them both I like the 20 ponder most.

[jonblack]

I started with a 10 and now I have a 20...

If you need a 10 to feed a 20, you are doing some major casting!

Good-luck...BCB

Hmm...I don't plan to do major casting, just a few hundred of anything at a time, save for slugs. I thought a 10# feeding the 20# would be a good place to put the sprue cut offs without reducing my casting melt temp.

Based on the recommendations so far, I think I will go for the 20# first. It is only a little more than the 10# and I may find it is all I will ever need.

Anybody got a vote for the 10# pot?

Thanks everyone
jonblack

[BCB]

jonblack,

Never gave that a thought about the sprues. That would help to keep the temp in the 20 pounder consistant...

I cut the sprue into a cardboard box and dump them into the 20 pounder once-in-awhile. But towards the end, it will effect the temp of the main melt as the volume gets smaller and the cold alloy cools the melted alloy...

So, guess you have a good point...

Still, the 20 pounder might be a good bet. Fill it full and if you don't cast it all, it will be ready the next time...

Good-luck...BCB

[RobS]

Started with the 10#............worked alright...............later went to the 20# and it is a breath of fresh air. If I plan on casting a large run I still use the 10# to fill the 20#.

[NuJudge]

I cast from a 20-pound and use a 10-pound as a melter. The 20-pound does not hold 10 pounds of Lead: as near as I can tell it's about 18 pound.

If you are going to cast pistol bullets, sooner or later you will buy 4- or 6-cavity molds, and especially in larger diameters, they suck a 10-pound furnace dry awfully quick. They even suck a 20-pound dry fairly quickly.

CDD

[mooman76]

Go for the 20. It's easier to keep at an even temp. I add the prues while still hot and it keeps the pot filled longer a a more even temp. Also when you add cold lead ingots beings it has twice as much melt as a ten, it also keeps things more even.

[462]

I bought a 10-pounder and it works fine for 2-cavity moulds, but a 4-cavity drains it right quick. Go with the 20-pound.

[zuke]

Get'em both! When you start to use the 6 cavity mold's, they WILL drain a 20lb. pot fast.
The 10 lb.will pre melt your alloy when the 20lb. get's low.
It let's you keep a more consistant heat in your pot and not have to wait for the pot to come up to temp.
Also a more consistant alloy meld.

[dale2242]

Buy the 20# pot. My old 10# pot does not have flow control. I don`t know if the new one do or not....dale

[Mk42gunner]

I started with a cast iron sauce pan on a coleman stove, then went to a Lee 4-20. I couldn't believe how much easier it is to cast with an electric pot. I bought a Lee 10 pounder for 10 dollars at a pawnshop to use casting pure lead so I don't have to drain the big one.

Even though I have the bottom pour capability, I still ladle cast most of my boolits; You will find that the 4-20 is more convenient to use a ladle from than the 10 pound Lee.


Robert

[Echo]

Go with the 20. I doubt if you can outrun it, even w/6-banger 250-gr boolits. You will *** out first Let's see, 28 250-grainers per pound, time 20 - 560 boolits. Or you can throw the sprues back in as you cut them (won't hurt the temp much) and preheat new ingots on the lip of the pot, or on a hot plate, and develop Popeye arms.

[Duckiller]

Recommend the 20 # Lee. I believe it has better flow control and is less likely to drip as much. 20# is about $20.00 more than 10# I think it is worth it, You may get tired of twisting the stopper in the 10# to control the leaks.
























































































































3

[fourdollarbill]

Ergonomics is a big factor between the 10 and 20 lb pot.

I like the 10 lb because the nozzle is close to the front and you can line up the mold easier without bending over. Also you can see inside the pot while your casting to keep an eye on things. (you can see in the pot and see the nozzle in one position)

The 20lb pot you have to make it high enough to see under it because the nozzle is in so far and then you cannot see inside the pot without getting up. What a pain in the butt. (you cannot see the pot and the nozzle in one position)

I bought a 4/20 and hate it.

[Cowboy T]

Hey fourdollarbill, if you want to get rid of your 4/20, PM me. I could use a second one if the price is right.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

No question, get the 20#'er. Any kind of volume casting and you'll be forever waiting for the pot to get back up to temp each time you add lead.

[smith52]

I run two 20# Lee pots at a time. Pour from one pot til it gets low, refill, and pour from the other pot while the first comes back up to temp, then repeat the process. No waiting after you start casting this way.

[chrisx1]

another vote for the 20

[fredj338]

I like the ergonomics of the 10# but the 20# is really the way to go. I started w/ the 10# & when you satart casting larger bullets or 4-6cav molds, you can't keep the alloy hot enough, you are always adding. I now use the 10# for LHP casting only & the 20# for everything else.

[Doby45]

I love my 20#. Just got it and it is awesome, none of the dreaded drips and I can cast until I just get tired of putting lead in the pot and taking it out with a mold. Prior to that I was over a gas flame and that just sucks unless your in a SHTF situation.

[Changeling]

Amazing, how many bullets some of you guys pour! I just can't imagine needing more than 10 lbs at a time. However I know you guys know what you are doing, so I just wonder what "I'll" be saying this time next year, LOL!

[Jim_Fleming]

Interesting is correct, amazing too, but first stop and think...

You might be interested in some sort of training regimen...

Let's see... .40 S&W cartridge, average weight of cast boolit = 175 grs....

You might shoot a puny 100 rounds a week considering the flamin' high cost of primers...

100 rds x 52 weeks... = 5,200 boolits x 175 grains... = 910,000 grains of boolits

910,000 / 7,000 (grains per pound) = about 130 pounds of boolits...

130 lbs = about 13 - 14 10 lb. pots of lead... about a good weeks worth of casting in my 10 lb. pot...

Not all that much when you think about it... No wonder we casters are interested in recovering and scrounging up so much lead...

:hijack: Personally I built a bullet trap, everyone uses it... and I get the lead, lol! but that's in another thread. :hijack:

Don't worry Changeling, you'll get the addiction same as the rest of us... it's called Blue Pill Fever!



Amazing, how many bullets some of you guys pour! I just can't imagine needing more than 10 lbs at a time. However I know you guys know what you are doing, so I just wonder what "I'll" be saying this time next year, LOL!

[skeet1]

I have never owned a 10# but I do have the 20# and for the difference in price the 20 is the one I chose and it has been a very good choice.

Skeet1

[Seth Hawkins]

Get the 20# pot. I've got one and it works great. I did open up the hole a little to increase the flow rate, and polished the plunger tip to stop the leaking.

You always need more capacity than you think you'll need.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have two Lee 4-20's. The one on the top shelf is used for remelting sprues and new ingot. I have a piece of steel channel about 30" long which transports the hot alloy from the top pot to the one on the lower shelf.

Pot #2 is my casting pot. I keep it filled to a certain level with preheated alloy from Pot #1. The idea is that certain molds require a certain pressure of alloy during the pour. My monster Buffalo Arms 695 GR Creedmoore mold needs a 3-4 second full blast pour right at the edge of the sprue hole. For this one I keep the level somewhere between 2/3 full to full on the casting pot.

When casting .45 ACP's or .45 Colt 200 to 255 gr SWC's or whatever in a Lee six banger I need a more refined flow of alloy. Keeping the bottom pot at 1/3 to 2/3 or so is just the power and flow I need to make good boolits.

Now for the small boolits like .22's, .32's, .309 to .323's and the like and most of them are cast in two bangers I like a more controlled and even flow of alloy. Filling the bottom pot to about 1/2 full down to 1/4 full is about right there.

Buying a 10 lb Lee pot is like leaving two empty cases in your Ruger Six Shooter and loading up just the remaining 4 chambers. You no longer have a six gun....you got a 4 gun. Same size (footprint on reloading bench) but does less work for you. Buy the 20 lbs size and never look back.

[Jim_Fleming]

As I've stated, thus far I've limited, (keyword "limited") myself to a 10 lb. pot but you guys have pretty much convinced me that soon, I need to get a second pot, and you can betcha bottom dolla, it'll be a 20 pounder...

Thanks Guys,

[stephen perry]

I agree with your situation. I have a SAECO bottom pour that has the spicket towards the middle. Don't trust it with lead drop so I use it only for melt down wth whatever I can fit in it. I pour a couple hundred bars at a time, the SAECO works fine for that. I drop Cast out of a LEE 10 and dip out of a LEE 4. I recently bought a LEE 20 for dipping only, no bottom pour function.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[Shiloh]

GO with the bigger pot. A six banger LEE mold empties it in a hurry. You'll be glad you did.

Shiloh

[mustanggt]

I started with the 10 pouring WW lead. The drip was something I just lived with. I decided to go with the 20 for pouring Hardball lead. I wanted to keep it clean with a known alloy rather than mess with WW and other alloys mixing. Then I went and bought another for 20-1 and another for lino. I get no drip from the 20's but the 10 kept me messing with it all the time so I just leave it in the back of the cubbard. I like the 20's alot and think that for less than the real expensive furnaces like rcbs and lyman I have much more value and flexibility for the money.

[big dale]

I started with a 20 pound Lyman furnace in the mid 60's and everything went fine till mid 80's after I bought a H&G #68 4 cavity mold. Then I added a 22 pound RCBS furnace. That way one could be heating the lead up to casting temp while I was casting out of the other. With this set up I could cast about a HUNDRED POUNDS in an afternoon. I was doing a lot of 45 shooting at the time. This setup was also useful for my Lee 255 grain two cavity mold block for my 44 mag. Even thou it was only a two cavity block, you could quickly emoth a 20 pound pot of lead pretty quickly.

When you live in Texa, it helps to try to get your casting done before it gets to be 100 degrees. I always try to get a big pile of boolits cast before the end of March.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[yarro]

20#. When I used a ten I found that adding lead caused much more variation in the melt temp and it took longer to get back up to a steady temp.. Before you use it, take some valve grinding compound and lap the seat for the bottom pour and it won't leak. I have a Lyman and a Lee. The Lyman melts just a little fast I think. Never leaked, but it was a used garage sale find so it may have new. Lyman is maybe a little better made, but had to beat the price on the Lee.

-yarro