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Lee pots

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kbbgood

32 Cal.
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
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Which pot do you guys like the best? The 10 or 20 lb pot. I need it for fishing sinkers and bullets.
 
20 # pot..NO question.
10# capacity (of lead) isn't all that much when you remember that you don't want to fill it to the brim, nor do you want to drain it totally when making bullets.
 
When I was shooting the modern bullseye course of fire I'd be casting 5000+ of 200 gr heads in a weekend and using two 40 pound cast iron plumber pots with a #20 plumbers propane tank. This gave me a constant source of hot lead and allowed me to get my large dipper in and out of the pot easily.
Now that I only cast small batches of balls or bullets I use the #20 pound Lee dip pot which does a fine job for me :wink: :v
 
Been using a 10lb bottom pour for 40 years....When it dies I'll buy another just like it.
If you want to pour thousands of whatever at time get the 20lb....if only hundreds, a 10lb will serve you just fine.

If you want simplicity use a regular pot (electric or external heat)and a dipper....If you want speed get a bottom pour pot.

If you want to play around with different alloys for modern guns, you'll want a smaller pot for mixing and testing, but a larger pot once you find the alloy you want.

If you're salvaging range scrap or other recycled lead you will need a large pot for melting and cleaning separate from your casting pot.

Lead that goes into bottom pour pots must be clean to begin with.

If you use a bottom pour pot you need a pan that will hold as much lead as the pot holds to fit under the pour spout, otherwise you risk the same accident as Rifleman1776. This is more difficult to do with the 20lb bottom pour pot.

For sinkers, I would use scrap lead...I wouldn't waste good alloy or pure lead on sinkers. The exception would be pure lead for small split-shots.
 
I've been using a Hot Pot 2 and a Lee Precision Melter for years. Both hold 4 pounds each. I replaced the element in the Hot Pot 2 twice now. Other than that both have been perfect for my needs.
 
I have a 3 burner propane coleman stove and had it burning for 3 hours and it never got hot enough. But my turkey fryer works fast. I still want a lee.

I just wish to know about the lever to make it pour. Which do you guys like best?
 
I have an old Coleman three burn stove and it gets nowhere near as hot with the small propane bottles as it does with white gas. Never attempted to hook up a larger 20 pound propane tank to see if that made a difference or was even possible.
 
SDSmlf said:
Never attempted to hook up a larger 20 pound propane tank to see if that made a difference or was even possible.

It won't make any difference. The pressure is regulated to less than 12 psi and around 5000 btu .....Turkey burners run as high as 30psi and 300,000 btu depending on the type of burner and regulator you have. My biggest burner for my biggest pot runs at around 100 psi I can only imagine the btu output.

I also have used a white gas coleman stove to melt lead.....If you are having trouble, reduce the pot size and amount of lead....use a windscreen. The problem might also be your generator or burner plates....

A small campfire works too...but you must build a bed of coals first. once melted you can move it to the edge of the fire....
 
I have a Lee 10# bottom pour. I found leaving lead in it to cool prevents the start-up drips and premature pours. Keeps the internals from rusting and the crud on top.

I have an old cast-iron plumber's pot I heat on a Coleman (old liquid fuel stove) and premelt my filthy scrap lead and then flux/skim and pour ingots to keep most of the crud out of the electric.

It gets hot enough that the weight and heat distorted the grill that the pot rests on.
 
I've been looking foe my balls.....45 cal I had a tin full somewhere....Forgot I shot them up last fall....All this talk about melting pots made me think I should check mine. So I did yesterday and it was looking a little cruddy, (been sitting for a year in the shed) So I fired it up and thought I'd pour some balls.....I my 45 mold was sitting next to it covered with a bath towel. (I dump my balls onto a bath towel when dropping from the mold.) When I unfolded the towel there was a whole bunch of nice shiny 45s I cast last fall and forgot about.... :doh:

Anyway, by now the pot was up to temp and I began cleaning and fluxing...The I decided to pour some and make sure everything was operational....(I have other calibers I need to pour for) I went to run out some lead and all it would do is drip when I opened the value... YEP! the valve was plugged. No big deal....Removed one side of the lift arm so I could get the plug rod out....Cleaned it up on the wire brush wheel, then took a piece of wire and bent it in an L shape and poked it up through the pour hole using a needle nose pliers....Problem solved......My pot is ready to go for the next casting session.

I'm trying something new to prevent rust forming on the exposed inside and top surfaces of the pot
As the pot cools I rubbed it with beeswax....This should protect it and flux the pot upon next start-up.
 
I've owned a couple of the Lee 10# bottom pour pots, a 20# Lee, and a 20# Lyman. Since I cast with an old Lyman ladle, I have a preference to either of the 20# pots over the 10#, but still use it. Oh, and the 10# is plugged and can only be used as a ladle casting pot just like I did the Lyman.

I shot BPCRS for years and discovered that the bullets were much more consistent when ladle cast than bottom poured, so have done so ever since. I still cast for modern rifle and handgun rounds, and all of them are cast with a ladle.
 
CC:

I have a Lee 10 pound bottom pour and was plagued with the thing dripping.

When the thing starts to drip, get a screw driver and turn the rod a turn or two. It works well with me and stopped the dripping instantly.

I have little use for Lee equipment but that little 10 pound pot has worked quite well for thirty plus years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Scipio
 
I use an old cast iron dutch oven for smelting old lead and revovering range diggings. Once clean and fluxed, it gets dipped into 1# Lee and Lyman molds. There it sits until I cast bullets or sinkers. I use a 10# Lee bottom dumper for that. Since I usually cast at a steady rate, every time I see the level drop a bit, I add another 1# ingot. The Lee pot almost instantly melts it. I do not pause or slow down on my rate of casting. It is in all aspects, a bottomless pot. I have a 2 burner GE hot plate sitting on the table. It has flat burner tops with a smooth surface, I sit my molds on the burners when I set up to cast, and the molds reach the perfect temp by the time the pot is ready. It is rare that I have rejects on first cast. As I cut sprues and drop the casts, I use a pair of needlenose to pick up the sprue and drop back in the pot before filling the next cast. Once you work out a tempo, this can be kept up as long as you want to keep casting. At least for me, casting is very enjoyable and relaxing. It quiets the mind.
 
Scipio said:
CC:

I have a Lee 10 pound bottom pour and was plagued with the thing dripping.

When the thing starts to drip, get a screw driver and turn the rod a turn or two. It works well with me and stopped the dripping instantly.


Scipio

Yep!, I've had that happen too....I guess I wasn't clear on my explanation....Mine was dripping with the valve wide open...Which equals a plugged spout. When it drips with the valve closed it's usually a dirty rod or rod seat.
Both are easy fixes if you know how.

Flux and clean often...
:wink:
 
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