Bottom pour lead furnace. Lyman or RCBS?

[Cpt Flint]

I have a Lee, RCBS, Lyman and a Waage.

I converted all of the bottom pours to ladle pours by removing the mechanisms.

The Waage is the best pot I have personally ever used, it is big with a large opening for the ladle and holds temperature exactly where you set it for very little weight variation in the finished product. I only use it with certified 20:1 alloy for BIG bullets.

It's not cheap but I think it is worth it.

Guess that is where I stand.

 

[59sharps]

I'm ready to retire my Lee furnace and looking for opinions. Thanks, James

I’ve been bottom pouring for 35 years. I cast from 357 58 cal mini all the way up to 72 cal round ball no problem tried ladle once nope not for me. I’ll stick w the bottom pour. I have a RCBS and the Lee 20lb pot both do me well. Never had a Lyman can’t say how they are. If I had to replace my pot . I’d go w a Lee just because of the money difference.

 

[Cpt Flint]

“Well, what’s good for the weak minded ain’t
necessarily good for the rest of us.” Gus.

 

[Howard Pippin]

My last casting session, I cast 400 round balls and 200 45 caliber conicals.
I used one of my bottom pour Lee pots.
I had ZERO rejects, dropping 6 at a time from the round ball mold and 4 at a time from the conical mold.
People who have a lot of clogs and leaks have those issues because they use dirty lead and don't take care of their equipment.
I'm not being rude - just telling it like it really is.
You put crap in your pot - you get crap out out of your pot - it's really simple.
Clean material and proper maintenance does not clog pots up.
If your lead is clean then there is noting to block the piston tip and cause leaks and block free flow.
You get good flow so getting molds to fill quickly is not an issue. Molds that fill quickly do not have issues - even casting hollow points.
Every adamant dipper I know casts low volume, and for them using wheel weights or other scrap it works fine.
I get aggravated at dippers who pound the sand and tell everyone else that bottom pours are bad and evil and don't work right.
I have 30 plus years using bottom pours and can run circles around anyone here with production and I will maintain top quality of end product.
They only say things like that and run off at the mouth because they have not taken the time to learn how to use one correctly.
If you want to dip - then dip - I don't denigrate anyone's choice to do so, so why run off at the mouth and demean those who find success with bottom pour?
Insecurity?

Hi Griz. compared to what I pour, you are a professional. I almost bought one of those six hole molds, but I'm not a big-time shooter and I enjoy the time I spend casting so I guess my old two holer's are going to have to keep up. I used a ladle for years, out of either a small plumbers lead pot or a cast-iron frying pan. Then I got the urge and bought a Lee bottom pour, and I like it just fine. A lot of my lead is waterpipe lead, but I melt most of what I use a second time in a cast-iron frying pan so that I can stir it up good, skim off the impurities, and then pour it into my lee pot. That seems to keep the junk out and I did drill out the hole in the bottom for faster filling. Didn't seem to make much difference, but it is definitely faster than using a ladle, at least for me.
I imagine you do quite a bit of club shooting, I'm a member of the only club in the area, it's 40 miles away and they have three muzzleloader shoots a year. One of them is a two day event so you can do quite a bit of shooting those days if you would like to. I do have a small range 2 miles from where I live and I am a member, but is generally just used by myself, when I do go out there. There's only two other muzzleloader shooters in my hometown. I do some hunting with muzzleloaders. I just found it fascinating that a person could cast so many at one time. That's a heck of a lot of balls.
Squint

 

[J. Paul]

I have 3 Lyman bottom pour electric pots. Started with 1 then over the years so I didn't need to empty for pure lead pour or if I was doing wheel weights or some other alloy. I just mark the outside of pot to identify

 

[French Colonial]

If Mr. Beardsley hasn't decided which pot to get after three pages he probably won't after seven....
Now how about that stuck ball

 

[Griz44Mag]

Hi Griz. compared to what I pour, you are a professional. I almost bought one of those six hole molds, but I'm not a big-time shooter and I enjoy the time I spend casting so I guess my old two holer's are going to have to keep up. I used a ladle for years, out of either a small plumbers lead pot or a cast-iron frying pan. Then I got the urge and bought a Lee bottom pour, and I like it just fine. A lot of my lead is waterpipe lead, but I melt most of what I use a second time in a cast-iron frying pan so that I can stir it up good, skim off the impurities, and then pour it into my lee pot. That seems to keep the junk out and I did drill out the hole in the bottom for faster filling. Didn't seem to make much difference, but it is definitely faster than using a ladle, at least for me.
I imagine you do quite a bit of club shooting, I'm a member of the only club in the area, it's 40 miles away and they have three muzzleloader shoots a year. One of them is a two day event so you can do quite a bit of shooting those days if you would like to. I do have a small range 2 miles from where I live and I am a member, but is generally just used by myself, when I do go out there. There's only two other muzzleloader shooters in my hometown. I do some hunting with muzzleloaders. I just found it fascinating that a person could cast so many at one time. That's a heck of a lot of balls.
Squint

Absolutely nothing wrong with using the 2 hole molds and even the single cavity for those massive big caliber rounds. I have a number of them myself - for oddball calibers I can't get 6 hole molds for. I have also come to greatly appreciate the aluminum molds as opposed to the heavy brass and steel. When I know I am going to sit and cast 300 or more in a session, the aluminum molds are great! Old wrists with the Arthur-Right-Us syndrome are thankful for Richard Lee and his forward thinking vision.
The private club I belonged to when I was in Austin was great. Electric gate and a proximity card. Come and go as you please, guests always welcome at no charge too!
But a couple of years ago we moved to get closer to grandkids and family, we are reaching an age where family support is more important.
The facility I frequent here has "membership" levels but it is also open to the public. Not ideal, but it's OK. It's just where we are now.
Last month I cast 2800 projectiles for muzzleloaders and another 500 for (that other kind of shooting). Most of those were sold here on the forum. A few hundred of them were consumed by me.
Casting is something that I very much enjoy doing. I have dedicated 2- 8' long work tables in the garage for this part of my retired entertainment.
@hrt4me came by here a few weeks ago as he too is venturing into casting - and I enjoy sharing and spending time with like minded folks.

 

[hanshi]

I've never minded bullet casting and actually kinda like doing it. My first few years of casting was with pot and ladle and worked out fine. But when I bought my first Lee bottom pour I really started piling up ball. I did drill out the pour spout on one furnace and that stopped the clogging plus gave a larger pour of lead.

I have a few 4-cavity (iron) molds but most are double cavity and aluminum. Got a whole bunch of Lyman, RCBS and others that are single cavity; but they are iron and don't get used all that much. My Lee bottom pour seriously needs to be reconditioned by Lee. I'll scrape up a few bucks and ship it to them, I suppose.

 

[James Beardsley]

I've ordered the Lyman. Thanks for all the input.

 

[Woody Morgan]

I've ordered the Lyman. Thanks for all the input.

Phht. If you think that's going to stop the argument, think again. This could go on for another three pages.

wm

 

[Historian]

Use what works for you and if you are satisfied then so be it

 

[James Beardsley]

Phht. If you think that's going to stop the argument, think again. This could go on for another three pages.

wm

Thanks Woody. I'm on enough forums to know that but at least these folks are polite.