Casting Furnace

I started with a LEE 10lb pot but when I started to use the 4,5, or 6 cavity mold's it couldn't keep up.And I got tired of the dipper.
I went with a LEE Pro 4 20.
Now I use the bigger pot to cast and when I get 1 1/2 inch's down I plug in the 10 lb pot to premelt some lead.
When it's time to fill up the 20lb pot I just pour the liquid lead from the 10lb pot into the 20.
That REALLY speed's up porduction.
 
For casting 444 bullets you really want a large pot, 20 lbs is definitely the way to go. I have a 10lb Lee and a 20lb Lyman that are about 24yrs old now. I was doing 320gr and 400gr .410 bullets last year, have a bunch to do again, the 20pounder is the way to go. Kinda strikes me as Wholesale in Calgary has all three brands there, didn't notice what they had on the shelf last time I was there though. Can check thru Dragon Lube also, I bought some stuff off him last year, good to deal with. Also got stuff out of Buffalo, no issues with shipping from them.
 
I just did this pile of 30 cal 170 FP GC NOE 5 cavity mold last Sunday, it took me about 4 hour's

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This pile took a little longer,NOE 4 cavity 330 GR GC HP

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And this pile is out of a LEE 6 cavity 230 TC TL

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stocker said:
Sleeper: The RCBS has a stainless steel pot liner. I don't know if the Lyman has or not. If you can find out, that would make a difference to me if it is not. My RCBS is like new after 15 years of service. I also have a simple Lee Magnum Melter which is only used to contain pure lead for tempering the alloy in the RCBS.
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Tried a lee bottom pour in 1982, POS. Bought an RCBS, threw the lee in the garbage. RCBS still going strong 30 years later.
 
I used a bottom pour Lee 10lb pot for years.
It leaked to ridiculous proportions. Never could improve it much. It failed on me totally this last fall.

I had planned on buying a RCBS Pro Melt (bottom pour). I couldnt afford to buy it for a while, so I purchased a 20 lb Lee pot. I picked up a ladel to pour my bullets. I was dreading pouring my bullets with a ladel! But it was all I could afford at the time.

As it turns out, I started casting with my ladel and Lee 20 lb. Pot. Production wasnt high at first, but my bullet quality went up noticably!

Since then, I have casted about 2-3000 bullets (311299's and 311644's).
My bullets group into 1-1.5MOA out to 300 yards. And I have shot 6-8" groups out to 600 yards.

Its not often when I choose the cheaper route to produce a product, but in this case, I will stick with this proceedure. I will save $450ish dollars, and have the bullets I need.
Wow! A "cheap" compromise!

Sometimes cheaper CAN be better!


For a bottom pour pot, RCBS all the way! A better,well thought out design.
 
To save a little cash, I looked around and ended up buying used equipment.RCBS pot, some H+G,Lyman,moulds, a whole basic setup for around $500.Shop around, buy good equipment,the best you can afford and you will cry only once.So now I'm in for around $1500 worth,but I can do buckshot, slugs, several pistol boolits, as well as rifle boolits.Just in rifle bullets,buckshot,.45 bullets and 12 ga. slugs I've made and used so far, I figure i have paid off 1/2 of the total cost of my casting equipment.I have been at it for 3 years.Not a bad return on equipment costs.

That RCBS furnace is worth every penny,the bottom pour I find is great with the 4 cavity moulds and for the long buckshot moulds.Ladle pouring out of it is not bad either.
 
I had a lee 4/20 bottom pour and had no end of trouble with drips. It would not pour fast enough to keep the mold the right temperature. Gave up sold it. Bought a regular lee 20 lb pour and I have been dipping ever since. Much better for large bullets.
 
I hadn't had much trouble with the Lee one up til last year. It always had a real slow drip. I walked away from it for bit whilst meltin some shot, that slow drip became wide open and dumped the whole pot as it got hot enough to flow. Was not fun trying to break up that lump of lead. Drill bit fixed it, but, it was a pain. And they are known for dripping, have to make sure the plunger can seat properly, drain and clean the bottom of the pot when finished.
 
Yeah, the Lee pots have a rep for dripping. Chucking it away seems a bit extreme though. Lots of guys tap the bottom hole for a screw and seal it up, others do what they must o get it to close up adequately. Mostly, that seems to be to take some care to get the valve rod to seat correctly, with enough pressure.

My Saeco pot leaked a great deal when I first tried it out. Found that the cleaner the metal and the pot, the better the seal. Adding some weight to the handle helped a great deal too. I clamped a small pair of locking pliers onto it. Some folks cast a weight onto the handle. Whatever.

For the time being, ladle pouring does not work for me. Been casting small bullets and trying to keep the mold warm is a challenge. Once the mold is warmed up, I get into my rhythm, and drop 6 to 7 bullets a minute. Never gonna do that with a ladle and a single cavity .22 mold.

Any y'all gonna chuck away a Lee pot, drop me a PM. I'll pay postage! :)

Cheers
Trev
 
I use a couple of the Lee 10 lb. pots and one 20 lb. I have used the one 10 lb. for melting WW and lino, as well as used it for casting. I couldn't begin to guess how much that poor pot has melted!

If a bit of care is taken to skim the crap off the top, after mixing a bit of (name escapes me) the sugary stuff in the melt, some mighty nice bullets can be poured. At times, I have been able to use the first bullets cast. Anyhow, the way I shoot, a wrinkle isn't going to affect things much!:p

I use all Lee molds, including Tumble Lube (my favorites), and everything else. Despite all the hacking that Lee molds get, I have used them for years with great success. Temperature is all-important. Bullet casting is partly science, partly art, and some good luck.

I haven't priced any new Lee pots for a while now. If mine start to leak out the needle, I can usually stop it with a few twists with a screwdriver. I think I actually broke down and cleaned the older pot once. I felt sorry for it.:)
 
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