Lee bottom pour pot

[ssb73q]

Hi, today was the first time I used a new Lee bottom pour lead pot. I am very impressed with the result. Lead balls 0.454" were cast with excellent results. As soon as the mold heated up, every pour produced two perfect lead balls in the 0.454" Lee mold. I cast 300 balls in one hour. What was especially nice was that the melt needed to fluxed only once at the end of my hour of casting. Using the old ladle pot required fluxing a number of times to get clean lead balls. There was zero leakage from the bottom pour pot. My only regret was to not buy the bottom pour pot much sooner than I did. IMO there is also a safety issue in that much less lead oxide is released in the air from the bottom pour pot compared to the ladle pot. The Lee bottom pour pot is highly recommended. 

Regards,
Richard

[mike116]

Thanks for the info Richard,  it's just what I wanted to hear.  I've been contemplating which melting pot to purchase.   The lee 10# bottom pour pot is the one I thought I would put my money into.   You just confirmed my inclinations.

[Captainkirk]

I too have been considering an upgrade; the RCBS furnace is too rich for my blood for the little casting I do. Thanks for  the thumbs-up, Richard.

[ssb73q]

Hi Mike, I forgot to mention that the Lee bottom pour pot I used is the 10lb one. IMO the 20lb pot would be overkill, more expensive, longer to start production, etc.. I cast 300rds of .454 balls without adding any lead. Only at the end of casting did I reload the lead reservoir.

Tomorrow I will cast shotgun slugs for my cannon. That will use much more lead per projectile and will be a good test of the 10lb unit.

Regards,
Richard

[mike116]

Thanks Richard,   The 10# pot is the one I'm looking at.    I agree that for me the 20# model would be overkill.

[Hawg]

It's not leaking now but it will.

[StrawHat]

I used to cast a lot of bullets, enough to compete in PPC and practice daily.  I ran the Lee 10 pound pot, two of them.  One was heating up while I was casting with the other one.  I wish I had gone to the 20 pound, but it was either not available or more $$ than I wanted to spend.  Probably, not available.  Yes, they will leak, but that is an easily remedied problem.  In the meantime, keep an aluminum pie plate handi to catch the drip.  Sometimes, the "drip" can empty the pot pretty quick!  They do produce a good pour but they are not perfect.  I still have them and use them.

For the money, the are good melters.  Remember, use this pot only for casting.  If you need to smelt lead and remove impurities, get a separate pot, like a dutch oven, so that all the crap left behind from smelting does not mess up the pour spout.

Enjoy it, you have started on a new hobby, one I find every bit as much enjoyable as shooting.

Kevin

[ssb73q]

It's not leaking now but it will.

Hi Hawg, at some point so will I.   
Another good reason to buy the smaller bottom pour pot?

The question is on how long that takes, the production realized, and ease of repair. As StrawHat suggested, I keep an aluminum pie pan under the pot. That pan catches mold overflow and someday will catch a valve failure. Worst case, the bottom pour pot fails. As a backup, I kept the Lee ladle pot that served me for decades.

Regards,
Richard

[Hawg]

I would get the bigger one. I have two of the small ones but one big one would be better.

[mike116]

Still haven't ordered it yet.  The price difference between the 10# pot and 20# pot is only $10.00.   I'm going to see if I think The bigger pot will take up too much room on the bench. 
So far I can't find a good source for lead.  Probably will end up ordering online.

[ssb73q]

Hi, wouldn't you know it? Right after Hawg tells me that my pot will leak, it did!! This morning I set up to pour some 12ga 1oz slugs and fired up the pot. Before the top of the lead column melted, the valve began to leak where I couldn't put enough pressure on the valve plunger to shut it off. Turning the screw slot at the top of the plunger finally stopped lead leakage. As soon as the lead near the top melted the leak ended.

What I surmise is that thermal expansion causes the valve plunger to lift off the valve opening when the top of the lead column is still solid. The heating element is at the bottom of the lead column so the bottom lead melts first. The solution to this is to not fill the lead pot at the end of a casting secession. Leave as little lead in the pot when finished casting.

Irrespective of the leakage problem, I cast 60 perfect slugs in 15 minutes.

There are two things I learned today. Don't fill the pot will lead when finished casting, and listen more carefully to Hawg. 

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, this is 15 minutes casting of the Lee 12ga 1oz slug:



These should work great in my Traditions Old Ironside 70 caliber cannon.

The data for the mold is here:
http://leeprecision.com/1-oz-slug-mold.html

Those slugs would have taken over an hour with my ladle pot. The 10lb pot could cast up to 160 slugs if fully charged. IMO unless you are a fishing sinker or toy soldier caster, or cast for profit, I don't see any benefit of anything larger than the 10lb pot.

Regards,
Richard

[Hawg]

Don't listen to me all the time or you'll get in trouble. One reason for it leaking is whatever is in lead when it melts will try to float to the top and that includes the steel rod that seals the spout. Another thing is trash from dirty lead will stop it from sealing off. You can add weight to the handle and I use a bent torch cleaning tip to clean out the spout when it starts to drip. Having said that tho I have one I need to tear down and try to lap the hole and rod together because it's gotten to where it leaks no matter what.

[Mad Dog Stafford]

Mine is leaking too. 

[ssb73q]

Hi Sam, I can see issues with the bottom pour pot using crap lead or wheelweights. There is little debris more dense than lead that would fall to the bottom of molten lead. IMO using good pure lead should minimize any leakage issue.

Productivity using the bottom pour pot is significantly greater than using a dipper pot. I especially like the environmental benefit.

Regards,
Richard