.... molten lead is corrosive to copper?
About 8 years ago I made the side pour ladle shown in the pics below from a 1" copper end cap and a piece of steel flat stock for the handle. A few hours ago I was happily casting some dead soft round ball for my cap and ball pistols for an upcoming cowboy action match. And I noticed that the level in the cup was dropping faster than it used to do.... Like it was pouring without me even tipping the ladle.
I knocked it clean and looked it over only to see the holes you see in the second pic showing light through at me.
I suppose 8 years and probably 3000 round ball isn't a bad life span for this quickly home made ladle....