Bottom pour lead furnace. Lyman or RCBS?

[James Beardsley]

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

 

[Griz44Mag]

If you're going to throw away the Lee pot, I'll take it.
I have 2 that have been cooking galena for 30 years and are still going strong.
IMHO - it's a tool - and it works well for doing what it is designed to do.
I'll be happy to pay the freight bill.

 

[Crow-Feather]

I put a screw into the spout of my bottom pour lead pot. It leaked after a few years and half my time was trying to stop the leak.

 

[Woody Morgan]

I put a screw into the spout of my bottom pour lead pot. It leaked after a few years and half my time was trying to stop the leak.

Been using bottom pours for decades. The screw slot on the top of the stopper rod is for burnishing the stopper in the pour hole seat. A few quick twists with a screwdriver has always stopped leaks for me.

wm

 

[waarp8nt]

On the subject of bottom pouring. The Lyman pots were made out of steel and as a result I have seen one rust out. The RCBS pot was made from stainless and come highly recommended from friends of mine who cast a lot. I cannot say for sure about the modern solid state temperature controls as to which one is better.

As for me, I dip from a pot with a ladle and feel no remorse.

 

[pat i.]

If money is no object I'd lean towards the RCBS.

 

[EC121]

If my Lee pot drips, I put an ingot mold under the spout and keep going. Then when it builds up, I put the cooled off drips back in the pot with needle nose pliers. My new Lee pot(haven't used it yet) says to empty the pot to 1/4" each time to avoid a lot of rust. I wasn't doing that on the first pot, but it has lasted many years until the top part rusted out some. It still works. I just got tired of looking at it and replaced it...

 

[LongWalker]

I've been using an RCBS pot for ~25-30 years now. Part of that time I had a custom casting business. No problems in all that time.

 

[Travis186]

The new promelt 2 is the bee's knee's with built in PID... if you're wanting to spend coin, that's the direction I would go. Been using Lee pots for years but I'm ready to upgrade, at least for unmentionable projectiles.

 

[hanshi]

I had two Lee bottom pour pots for going on 50 years. One became the worst for wear so I sent it back to Lee for re-conditioning. It came back looking like a brand new one. One pot eventually gave up the ghost and was trashed but the other still works. I don't know how much life it has left but I'll use it until it dies; at that point I'll dip from my old Lyman iron pot.

 

[Woody Morgan]

I had two Lee bottom pour pots for going on 50 years. One became the worst for wear so I sent it back to Lee for re-conditioning. It came back looking like a brand new one. One pot eventually gave up the ghost and was trashed but the other still works. I don't know how much life it has left but I'll use it until it dies; at that point I'll dip from my old Lyman iron pot.

If you don't mind, what's the cost of a rebuild on the pot? Easy issue?

wm

 

[jsb30]

I bought a bottom pour pot but gave up on it and went back to a ladle. Works far better for me.

 

[pamtnman]

Now I just hand pour everything i shoot. Out of a cast iron pot. So much more quality control. Sinkers and jigs are best done on my bottom pour, because voids and flash are not an issue. If you have not tried a pot and ladle, may I suggest you at least try it before trying another electric melter. The Matthews book on casting top quality bullets is the best resource I’ve found. The Lyman “manual” is most useless book in the history of books.

 

[mushka]

Lee, rcbs, lyman, I don't think you can go too wrong with any of them. Just take your pick.

 

[TreeMan]

I only started casting a few years ago. I bought a bottom pour Lee pot. The frustration of dripping and clogging up almost made me give it up and start buying balls and bullets again. I bought a new ladle and an old cast iron pot at a junk shop and gave that a try. My minies never turned out this well with a bottom pour. With the bottom pour I had to throw half my minies back in the pot. I gave my Lee pot to my buddy. Not knocking the Lee pot but I just do much better using a ladle.

 

[Griz44Mag]

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?

 

[Griz44Mag]

If my Lee pot drips, I put an ingot mold under the spout and keep going. Then when it builds up, I put the cooled off drips back in the pot with needle nose pliers. My new Lee pot(haven't used it yet) says to empty the pot to 1/4" each time to avoid a lot of rust. I wasn't doing that on the first pot, but it has lasted many years until the top part rusted out some. It still works. I just got tired of looking at it and replaced it...

Where you store your equipment has a LOT to do with it rusting or not rusting, along with where you live. If I know I am not going to use a pot for an extended time, I give it a shot of PAM. That's a great protector and bare steel will not rust. It burns off quickly the next time you want to use the pot.
Using cleaner lead will greatly reduce the crap in the nozzle - which is what causes the leaks in the first place.

 

[pamtnman]

I did not know that electric bottom pouring vs ladle was an emotional or even a personal issue... I poured for many years with the bottom pour, and regardless of clean lead or dirty lead, I did not get the results I wanted on my high quality bullets. Almost all of which are paper patched. Griz is right, dirty lead will clog up a bottom pour and make everything that follows a miserable experience. I was intrigued at how carefully Paul Matthews documents the quality differences in his book Casting Premium Bullets (~), and then advocates for hand pouring with ladle and pot for the very best quality. At first I was skeptical, but after learning to hand dip properly, I could never go back to the electric bottom pour furnace. I still use the furnace for sinkers and jigs.

 

[TreeMan]

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?

Who was demeaning other than you? I just said I didn’t like the bottom pour. I’m happy you are successful with your bottom pour. I cleaned my lead in separate pots before pouring into my Lee pot. I have upwards of 500lbs of old lead water pipe. It’s disgustingly dirty with dirt embedded into the lead and extremely hard to get clean. No matter how many times I skimmed it once I put it into my bottom pour I got clogs. I found it just easier and less frustrating to just dip from the pot I was cleaning from. Not everyone has to agree with you but being an *** is unnecessary on your part. Thanks for showing others that people in this sport have jerks too.

 

[OldRust]

I've used a Lee pot for years with a Lyman bottom pour ladle. No problems. I can't speak of bottom pour pots. I cast out of the Lee pot and flux and blend into ingots out of a big old cast iron pot.

Thanks
O.R.