casting equipment recommendations?

[Capnball]

I've always just gotten by with borrowed equipment for what little casting I've done, which has been in some volume, especially with roundballs and minies. I would like to get myself some basic, cheap casting equipment, and wondered what was recommended by you skirmishers. I'm going to be casting almost exclusively blackpowder bullets, including minies, round balls, and occasionally sharps or spencer bullets, if I am ever again fortunate enough to posess either arm. What are y'all's favorite casting methods, and what would be the best simple equipment for the money?

[ms3635v]

Capnball, I use a propane fueled plumber's pot and a ladle. I have been using this method for the past 35 years and is the method I prefer. However, having said that, many shooters like the bottom pour electric pots....so, I guess the answer is, whatever method works best for you should help you decide.

[John Holland]

I'm "old school", been casting bullets for 50+ years on an old Griswold two burner natural gas fired hot plate, which was already quite old when I began using it. I use an open cast iron pot and hand pour. It worked then....it works now.

[CJM]

Absolutely. You don't have to buy expensive equipment to cast quality bullets. That is a good thing for the financially challenged like me especially. For musket minnies I prefer a gas turkey fryer burner with a cast iron bowl set in top of it. I pour with a bottom pour ladle. I find it is easier to achieve my desired temperature in the pot and keep the mould hot with this method for the larger bullet. I also have a bottom pour lee pot that I use for smaller bullets but it is problematic. Leaks allot and have trouble fluxing / scraping the dross with all of the valve apparatus in the way. For me I prefer to practice the KISS method - Keep It Simple Stupid


Sounds like you have cast before but a couple of safety observations never hurt.

I wear safety glasses at least, if you have a face shield even better
When casting I am sitting as most probably are, I prefer long pants to at least give me a thin barrier between my flesh and 650 degree molten metal
I prefer to wear welding gloves around the pot. Some others may not but my preference
Keep any water away from the pot. water & molten lead - no good can come from this!
Make sure you have good ventilation, If possible do it outside

[Maillemaker]

I've only ever used my Lee Pro 4 20 110V pot:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/645810/lee-pro-4-20-lb-furnace-110-volt

It is bottom pour.

The things I like about it:


Thermostatic control for consistent lead pour temperatures.
Bottom pour so you only get clean lead poured into your mold - the dross stays on top.
Electric so you never run out of fuel in the middle of casting.


Things I don't like about it:


The spout often drips.


Steve

[Rich Foster]

I use propane burner and a cast iron sauce pan with handle with lead ladle. Sauce pan holds about 20 pounds of lead. You can find cast iron sauce pans at antique stores fairly cheap. If you find one get a pot that has straight sides instead of tapered sides. Straight side pot heats quicker and holds temp better. I have both one for musket and one for carbine and found this out. I use tapered for carbine which is a solid base bullet since consistant heat range is more important for a hollow base bullet. I think I paid $10 been using it for 25 years. I use a Lee 20lb production pot for smoothbore and Henry bullets. Rich

[Rich Foster]

Lee lead pot Steve recommends is a very good pot. I have one just like it for 12 years and no problem just never master the high volume moulds like minieballs. I stick to ladling and make them right every time for musket and carbine. Rich

[Rebel Dave]

I use a very old Lyman bottom pour. I couldn't stop it from leaking so I plugged the whole up. I have used it this way for years, with a good hi volume ladel. I have a lee 20 lb dipper pot for back up, and solid bullets. I don't get many voids in my minnies. I cast the lyman wadcutter, and the RCBS .578 Skirmish Minnie, with a larger base pin, and .50 cal for my Spencer carbine. Works for me.

Rebel Dave

[Muley Gil]

Like Harry Gaul, I started out with a Coleman stove and a ladle. I still use them. Works just fine. The only difference is I now use a propane converter instead of the white gas to power the Coleman.

[Hickok]

Started out about 40 years ago on a Coleman stove and a laddle. Bought a Lee bottom pour melting pot, but I like the Coleman stove and the laddle better, so that is what I use most. Only upgrade I have made over the years is to convert the Coleman stove to propane.

[Rob FreemanWBR]

"best simple equipment for the money"

I use/recommend a Lee Magnum lead pot. Holds 20 lbs of lead, no moving parts, unlike those that have a lower spout for pouring molten lead. Simply plug her in, and add lead... Costs around $60, but you can find better values, esp. if you hunt around, and use sites such as Ebay.

Hope this helps!

[jonk]

Again, it is a question of what works for you. I started with a propane torch and ladle for round balls when I was 14. I moved up to a Lee 5 pound dipping pot (electric) when I was 18 and ladle pouring. I moved up to a 10 pound Lee pot with bottom pour when I was about 25, and recently bought a 20 pound Lee bottom pour.

I absorbed all of what was said about casting minies, you should ladle pour, yada yada yada. Here's my thought. Pure lead you use for minies oxidizes BAD in a very quick way at high temperatures, which is needed for good lead fill out. First pretty colors appear, then a crystaline gold sludge that can't all be fluxed back into the mix. With a dipper, you have no choice but to dip through this sludge for every bullet, which quickly fouls the dipper up royally.

What causes oxidation? Exposure to air.

With a bottom pour pot, all the sludge stays on the top. To reduce things further, as soon as the lead turns molten, pour about an inch of kitty litter on top. This seals the lead from the air, helps hold in heat, and stops oxidation. Hold the bullet mold right against the spout to let the pressure of 10-20 pounds of lead force fill the minie. This assumes a mold with vent lines.

Ladle pouring I got about 50% rejects. Now when things are up to temp I get about 10% rejects with pure lead.

Now, with alloys like tin in the mix, this oxidation isn't an issue.

So: I keep the 20 pound pot with pure lead in it for minies, the 10 pound pot with wheelweights for smokeless bullets, and the 5 pound ladle pour pot for sharps and roundball bullets, cast of 3 parts pure lead to 1 part wheelweights.

I agree, Lee pots are drippy. And the nozzles can clog. I keep a screwdriver on the bench to turn the pour stopper to ream out the crud that accumulates in the spout, and a dental pick to jam up in there if things get stuck.

I've seen RCBS and Lyman furnaces. Very nice. But I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on one when the Lees work just fine with a little attention for 1/5 the price.

On the other hand, I know many, many shooters who swear that ladle dipping is the only way to go- some of whom have responded here. I have no doubt they get good results. Each person's technique, and each mold is unique; you just have to find what you like.

My advice is to get a Lee 5 pound electric and a Lee 10 pound electric both, which you can do for under $100 delivered. See what you prefer; having an extra on hand is good. Run both, when one gets low, you can top off and keep casting without having to re-fill the lead and wait for it to melt. Or sell/trade the one you decide you don't like.

Nice thing about the electrics in general is, you can run them indoors.

[tony 1st regt]

for all those who use a bottom pour pot and have problems with them dripping from crud getting into the hole. Get a piece of bicycle derailer cable about 12" long flux and tin the ends so that they do not unravel. When the spout starts to drip take a pair of needle nose pliers and grip the wire about 1" from the end. Push it up into the spout from the bottom and with a circular motion move around the spout, very little lead will flow out and after a turn or two the dripping will stop. Discovered this over 15 yrs ago.. ++ on the lee 20 pounder, good pot for a fair price

[Ron/The Old Reb]

The last thing you want to use to clean out the spout of a bottom pure pot is a dental pick or any type of steel wire. It can scratch the valve stem and cause it to leak. Then the only way to stop the leak is to replace it. You want to use a piece of brass or copper wire. My son used a paper clip to clean out the spout on my 20 pound Lyman pot and guess what, it leaked like a sieve. I had to drain the pot and replace the valve stem. It only takes a very fine scratch to make it leek.

[tony 1st regt]

the stainless steel wire alloy that is used for derailer cables may be softer than the spout material, as stated, 15 yrs of use without a problem, also there is little if any pressure exerted on the spout hole or plunger. try it if you care to.. I agree with not using dental pics or paper clips. If I could find some brass cable like the derailer cable I would switch to maybe avoid any problems, tried copper electrical wire but it wasn't stiff enough to do the job

[Maillemaker]

When I have had particularly bad dribbles what I do is chuck up a flat-bladed bit in my cordless drill and spin the valve stem for several seconds.

This seems to polish everything out and makes everything seal nicely again.

Steve

[Ron/The Old Reb]

I have been casting bullets with a bottom pore pot for at least 50 years. Still have the first Lyman furnace I bought that is a least 45 years old. I just used it about two weeks ago. I have all ways used a piece of, I think No. 12, copper wire without any problem. You can buy brass wire of different thickness at Ace Hardware stores. Flux the lead regularly use a stainless steel soup spoon to scrap the sides and bottom of the pot when you flux and clean off the dross. You will get a lot fewer drips.