Bottom Pour or Ladle Pour

[marshall623]

I was wondering how many shooters use bottom pour pots and how many use a dipper. Lets go the beginning , I got a lee drip o matic pot when I was 14 & a T/C 370 Maxi Ball mold to feed the 50 cal. Renegade in my closet, to present day I'm 44 so you know how old the little 10# pot is and it still works . Went to cast some 150 Lee FN's for the Herrett and my 308 but the little pot dripped worse than ever and would not stop at all . Aggravated I - plugged the spout with a nail removed the plunger ( stopper) and commenced the use the Lee dipper ( high tech spoon ) . It was rough at first but once we developed a routine I was impressed with the quality of bullets produced and the consistency . The lee dipper's most useful task is scraping the inside of the pot , but with a good dipper like a Lyman one can make some fine bullets and at the same pace as bottom pouring once the mold is hot ( waiting on the sprues to cool) . Well anyway a wide mouth furnace and a Lyman Dipper are on the need to have list .

[high standard 40]

I used to cast many years ago using the Lee production pot (bottom pour) and then drifted away from casting for a time. I got back into it about 6-7 years ago after somebody gave me a little 4 pound capacity Lee pot and a Lee ladle. I used it for a while and decided I would get back into casting in a bigger way and ordered a new Lee Pro20 bottom pour pot. It's a much better pot that either of the two Lee pots I had previously used but is still lacking in many regards. About 18 months ago I decided to get really serious and bought an RCBS Pro Melt bottom pour furnace. Comparing a Lee pot and Lee dipper to the RCBS pot is like comparing a bolona sandwich to a prime ribeye. So I have real life experience with 3 models of Lee pots and both bottom pour and Lee ladle. You can add to that experience with the Lyman ladle which I have also tried. The RCBS Pro Melt is my go-to choice for 99% of my casting needs. There is nothing wrong with ladle casting. In fact, it is what I prefer if I am pouring bullets of 300 grains or more. While we are on the subject of ladles, I think it is important to point out the advantages of using the Lyman or RCBS ladle as opposed to the Lee. The Lee ladle is little more than a HD spoon with a pouring lip. Any slag or oxidation floating on your melt will be the first thing to enter your mold when you pour. The Lyman and RCBS ladles hold a lot more melted alloy, and since they are larger and have more mass, they hold the temperature of the melted alloy better. Plus, the alloy entering the mold is drawn from the bottom of the ladle which helps assure you are pouring clean alloy as opposed to the Lee ladle. Now I do understand that some budgets do not allow for a top shelf furnace like the RCBS and I will admit that I was able to cast some fine bullets with the Lee Pro20 which is much cheaper. However, the Lyman or RCBS ladle is well worth the money if you need to continue down that path. And of course, one needs to consider just how serious you need to get with your casting. Your needs may be easily filled with the equipment you have. The main thing is enjoying yourself and producing ammo to fill your needs. Shoot often, shoot straight, and by all means have fun.

[marshall623]

Charlie , You hit the nail on the head ,the slag and junk floating on top of what was in the spoon is a real pain . I been thinking about casting with a dipper for a while , and that prod. pot dripping like that kind of kicked it up to the top of the list. I've looked at the pro20's , the RCBS's are some nice pots but they are out of my budget . I've been looking at the lyman set with the pot, dipper, ingot mold and the tube of blk. moly lube . I'm getting some opinions , thoughts , and other folks experience together and decide . I do enjoy casting so it will be a ladle or a better bottom pour pot. Thanks Tim

[Alvin]

I've been using a couple different bottom pour pots for many, many years. My main one is a 20lb RCBS for bullets and a smaller 10lb Lee for bullet cores(for jacketed bullets). I understand your frustration with the dripping spout...what I do is to keep a torch tip cleaner(it has many different sizes of rods) handy and to use it every once in a while on the bottom spout, just like you're cleaning a torch tip. Seems to work very well. Just poke the cleaning rod up thru the spout from the bottom. My Lee is the worst for dripping, but using this method will keep the dripping to a minumum. ;)

[Richard Pickering]

I guess I should add my experiences with using a Lyman iron pot over a Coleman stove and a dipper. I was ''military poor'' when I began casting in 1968. I bought the iron pot and a dipper. I disliked the heat traveling to the handle so I made a stop on the dipper shaft and it acts as a radiator. I'd hold the mould so the sprue opening is horizontal and mate the dipper to it, rotating the mould to vertical. I made bullets in this fashion until the mid 1980s.
I was given a Lyman 20lb bottom pour by some friends for whom I had cast. I learned to keep a drip pan under it to catch any drips and as a place to collect the sprues. Bottom furnaces are favored while using a gang mould. (If you are casting with a 4 or 6 cav don't fill all the cavities at once until it comes to temperature.)
I find the electric furnace easier to use but if all you have is an iron pot and dipper you will have no trouble in making excellent bullets. rp

[260 Striker]

The dipper/bottom pour issue started when the first bottom pour pot was invented. Excellent bullets can be cast using both methods. The small 10 pound Lee pot is garbage. The Pro 20 works well. I now have two Pro 20s and one Lyman bottom pour pot for my three different alloys. Each one has its own quirks and will produce great bullets. The dipper method may be a little slower but not by much. The dipper method does offer the advantage of keeping the allow stirred up more due to dipping to fill it each time.

[marshall623]

Thanks for the replies , I had just emptied the lee pot 2 casting sessions before and cleaned the pot & stopper rod real good . The first session after wasn't bad ( about normal dripping ) . This time was steady , after I was done I dumped it . Yesterday evening I cleaned it good and the flared pc. in the bottom was cracked so it would not seal at all . I tore it completely apart got out the TIG rig ( the pot is paper thin ) welded the spout shut and around the nipple and bottom of pot . Put it back together and I'll use it as back up ladle pot .

[marshall623]

It's been awhile but time for updates & results . I got my paws on a Lyman dipper it took a little practice but holding the mold horizontal and mating the dipper to it works very well , once everything is up to temp I get good fill out and the last batch I cast was Lyman 160 Sil's ( 287641 ) and they were the most consistent weights I've ever got with that mold . I had good results before but these were better. I one thing I noticed also that I have to work on is flashing , if I run a 1/2 dipper pour for each cavity stops it , slowing down the pouring pace stops it , cutting back on alloy temp. stops it. Toward the end of a casting session nothing stops it . I've checked the mold blocks and alignment pins and they are clean and kept with a touch of lube on them ( on the pins ). I've recently picked up a NOE 360-180- WFN so far so good & very accurate out of the 10" 357 mag tender. Mostly for hunting but may see some use for Big Bore standing

[260 Striker]

Great looking bullets!! NOE makes great moulds. I recently purchased a 30 cal. 150 grain spire point mould from them and found I need to run my Lyman bottom pour furnace pretty hot to get good bullets. I'm using straight linotype and they come out nice but not as shiny as your bullets. What ever you are doing is working for you. The old issue of ladle versus bottom pour pots will never be resolved so use what ever works for you. You are getting great bullet so I wouldn't change a thing.