Fix or replace?

[Kermit]

My Lee Production pot seems too have finally developed an "issue" after 35 years and who knows how many pounds of lead. The nozzle seems too be partially plugged. It drops about 2 drops a second. After 7 perfect .495 balls, it packed up. I poured the lead into an ingot mold and took a look into its bowels. No apparent problem. Then I pulled the base off and looked up from the bottom. Nothing apparent there.

How far should I go with this thing? About as far as the garbage can? If that's the case, what should I replace it with? This one's been quite faithful, but I'm wondering about the "Professional" 20lb version. A few bucks more and a different looking shutoff and it says an adjustable and replaceable spout.

I'm not about to spend hundreds for one of those other brands. I'm probably not going to live that long.

[David R. Watson]

I had a Lyman get "sick" and it was just scum that had built up over the years. I went in there with a round file and it worked just fine. Did the same with a Saco pot  and it is still doing just fine.
I think the biggest issue would be to make sure that you don't scar the spout or your plunger won't fit and it will leak.
As I think of it maybe you had better wait to see if you will get better advise from the more experienced people out there as I might have just been lucky.
I did the repair while the pot had melted lead to make sure that I was only removing crud rather than spout material. This makes it dicey and you want to have a pot to catch the sudden rush of Pb...told you it would be better to wait:)..

[Don Getz]

I have a brand new Lee pot and the first thing I did to it was found a tap for a screw that was close to the hole size, then
tapped the hole and inserted a screw to plug the hole.  I now use a ladle which I think is the way to go.   You will get more uniform balls by casting them this way...........Don

[SCLoyalist]

You might try running a small drill bit (held with pliers) up the spout from the outside.  I had one of the 10 lb Lees that gave me sporadic problems, and usually could get it working again with the drill bit or a small finishing nail.   And once I emptied the pot (dip by dip with a ladle), removed the metal rod and cleaned it up a bit.   Eventually, though, I removed the pouring control entirely and put a screw up the spout, and just started using it with a casting ladle as a melter.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I've had two bottom pour pots over the years, the first being a 10 pound Lee pot.  It plugged up pretty quickly, so I ran a screw into the orifice and used a ladle.  Now I have a 20 pound Lyman pot and every now and then, I run an "L" shaped piece of 1/16" welding rod up the spout to clear the oxides that accumulate there.  If I can keep it working this well, I prefer the bottom pour.

[smylee grouch]

I'm with Don on casting from a ladle, I never had any luck with those bottom pour pots and have used a cast pot on a small propane single burner stove for many years now and dont regret it one bit.  I get more uniform weights this way.   Smylee  

[smokinbuck]

Kermit,
I've had a Lee production pot for almost as long as you and experience ocansional problems. I, like Taylor, keep a small "L" shaped wire with a sharp point nearby and when she acts up give it a poke from the bottom. Usually just crud.
Mark

[BrownBear]

Kermit,
I've had a Lee production pot for almost as long as you and experience ocansional problems. I, like Taylor, keep a small "L" shaped wire with a sharp point nearby and when she acts up give it a poke from the bottom. Usually just crud.
Mark

Ayup.  

A straightened paper clip is just the right diameter and stiffness.  When the pot is good and hot, just poke it up into the orifice and wiggle it around a bit.  I keep a paperclip hooked to the leg of my pot so I don't have to search when it clogs.

[Daryl]

Like Don - I plugged my 20 pound Lee pot many years ago and dip with an old style Lyman ladle - without the huge casting flanges the RCBS ladles have on them - pain in the butt.

My current 20 pound is my third Lee pot - wore out 2 ten pounders and one used heavy 20 pound Saeco pot (simlar to Lyman) and now have been running this Lee 20 pounder for about 10 - years - .45 &.50 slugs plus all my round balls since just before my back operation. I don't cast and shoot as much as I used to, due to not shooting ipsc any more.

I'm finding more uniform results especially in bullets, from dipping - pretty much always have. For a time, I defended bottom pours, but with bullets & round balls weighing 400 to 600gr., the dip is the only way to have just about every bullet or ball cast in a session, perfect by weight and measure. I've gotten to the point, I don't even weigh or measure than any more.

[Gene Carrell]

I have found that ladeling is the  only way to get the  uniformity required for 550gr .451dia long range bullets. I would expect that transposes to roundballs as well. Not as fast, but greater quality for me.

[camerl2009]

i have the 10 lb pot and i just use a paper clip to clear it when it clogs up (oh and watch out for zinc that get in there its a real pain dont ask  ) now i only use my bottom pour for smokeless pistol and rifle bullets and buckshot/slugs using wheel weight alloy

for every thing else i ladle with a small camp stove and a few pots for different alloys as i use it for round ball,BPCR,and my hunting bullets for my smokless rifles as i use 2 different alloys in my hunting bullets a pure lead nose and a lino type or wheel weight alloy for the base (if i use WW i drop them in water this hardens the base only and leaves the nose soft)

i like the bottom pour for mass production for target shooting and plinking but the ladle is best for consistency

[hanshi]

I have two I've used for decades with one being factory rebuilt 25 or 30 years ago.  The paper clip application BrownBear spoke of is what I've been using for many years and works just fine.  Another thing I did on one of my pots (both Lee) is to take a drill bit just a tad larger than the spout hole and drill it out from the outside.  No more headaches with it after that.  A paper clip keeps the other open.

[David R. Watson]

I do agree with the thought that the bottom pour is not the ticket for molds like the Lyman 577611, 457122 or 451112, but for RB between .32 and .54 I could not see any difference at the target in OH competition, but I never shot chunks nor bench. The Saeco seemed to be a little "hotter" than the Lyman, but then it could have just been the unit.
The only way I could cast the slugs accurately is to use a Coleman Stove and get the lead so hot that a yellow(?) film developed and the slug took a while to solidify. I would cast a hundred or so and weight them to a tenth of a grain. It didn't take long to realize that the weight could vary quite a bit more than that before anything - if anything - would show up a 100 meters, but I figured that the mental side is everything once you learn to shoot and KNOWING that the projectiles were perfect was one less thing to clutter your mind after flying half way around the world to compete...the same with weighing the powder rather than throwing it. Two less excuses to fall back on when the pressure starts to mount.

[Daryl]

The larger the bullet & closer the range, the more defects you can get away with. At 1,000 yards, weight variations or air pockets show impact displacement more than at 100 yards.

[BrownBear]

I do agree with the thought that the bottom pour is not the ticket for molds like the Lyman 577611, 457122 or 451112, but for RB between .32 and .54 I could not see any difference....

It's so variable I keep both on hand and use them depending on prior experience with a mold.  The single best purchase I've ever made was a Lyman lead thermometer, especially for use with the good ole Coleman stove.

I have to watch temp and metal choice because I cast everything 40 grain 22 cal to 600 grain 50 cal centerfire bullets, muzzleloading conicals and round balls from 30 cal to 75 cal.  Come to think of it I also cast a goodly # of round balls ranging from 2 oz to 32 oz (14,000 grains!), but they have a little ringy thingy on them and we call them halibut weights.   

Lead temp is the deal, along with mold temp and technique. 

[George Sutton]

I use a large paper clip and a set of vise grips to clean the spout on my pot.

Centershot