Which Lee Melting Pot To Buy

[Griz44Mag]

Yes it is. Especially if you ever go into casting the big bullets used in long range shooting. The built in PID is very good at keeping the temperature even from when you start at the top of the pot until you get that last ladle full from the bottom when ladle casting the big stuff, and the adjustable flow rate for the bottom pour makes for good fill out and even weights when casting the smaller stuff like pistol bullets and round balls.
For most small bottom pour projects like round balls etc, the lee 10 lb production pot works just fine.
I had a lee 20 lb pot with the bottom pour, until one day the pour spout fell out, and let a nearly full pot run out..

Sounds like you have an issue taking proper care of your equipment.

 

[mooman76]

Some people that have difficulty getting the drip or leak to stop plug the bottom pour pots and just use with a ladle. At least the pot is still usable rather than getting frustrated and throw them in the trash.

 

[Ranch 13]

Sounds like you have an issue taking proper care of your equipment.

Some what of an ignorant thing for you to say, but taking care of the equipment wasn't the problem.
Poor quality design on the pour spout, and sheer amount of use over the course of several years casting 200 + lbs of alloy every year..

 

[Carbon 6]

I destroyed a lee pot via corrosion,

Never let your pot sit empty.
When you turn the pot off, scrape the inside walls and bottom with a spoon before it cools and remove the dross.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Some what of an ignorant thing for you to say, but taking care of the equipment wasn't the problem.
Poor quality design on the pour spout, and sheer amount of use over the course of several years casting 200 + lbs of alloy every year..

Not ignorant, just experienced..... I KNOW what happened to your pot......

 

[Carbon 6]

I think a lot of us ruined our first Lee pot, I know I did.
# 2 is still going strong after 25 years.

 

[Whitworth]

I'm still using the same bottom pour Lee 10 pound pot after 34 years and hundreds of pounds of metal.

 

[Ranch 13]

Not ignorant, just experienced..... I KNOW what happened to your pot......

Sorry bud, but you having never met me, seen me etc, you don't have a clue as to what the problem was. As I said before it's not a particularly good design to begin with , and a little problem with the assembly and swaging of that spout into the bottom of the pot, or a defect in that metal, and it's a pot full of hot lead ready to run out on the bench.. Good thing I was there casting when it started trickling and then turned into a gusher, might of burnt the shop down.
I have a couple of the 10 lb production pots I've had for more years than I care to count, they work like a champ for casting round balls or pistol bullets. If I were to get another of the big 20 lb pots it would not be the bottom pour. But with the advance in the PID's built into the Lyman and now RCBS pots, if a person wants a big pot, and cares a whit about casting consistent weight bullets either of those 2 are the way to go.