lead pot replacement

[Coffinmaker]

 

[Delmonico]

I keep stick type, "strike anywhere" Kitchen Matches handy.  Ah, Whatz a Butane Lighter for??

Coffinmaker

Lucifers, we call them lucifers.   

Here, better than charcoal, A lot of Osage Orange (naturally aspirated) checked it with and iron rod, running about 2100-2200F in the center.  Not the bottom of the vents starting to glow, fire ring is 1/2 steel.   

[Cliff Fendley]

Midway has been running the RCBS on sale off and on for a few months now. Santa got me one for Christmas. Haven't had the chance to use it yet but I'm hoping it is much better than the Lee drip o matic.

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[Bunk Stagnerg]

Thanks for all the pointers gang, when I get the thing up and running there will be a report.

Since I have a large quality of Cabala's points and the Buda store is only about an hour from my home, I am going to go for the RCBS pot for two reasons.
1. I have never had a lemon of any kind from RCBS
2. I will walk out with the pot under my arm at a total cost of $0.00 so why not go first class? 
I have been building up points for 3 years for something I hoped would be a gun, but I need to feed the ones I got so why not?
Yr' Obt' Svt'
Bunk

[Navy Six]

Well, not so good. The RCBS pot arrived today and during the assembly I hit a snag. Following directions, two cap screws were to be unscrewed to attach small parts like the handle. First one OK but when I unscrewed the second I heard something fall out of the inside of the pot and onto the floor. It was a small threaded tab from inside the pot so now the capscrew has nothing to screw into. It appears the tab was glued(?) into place and since the pot is pop riveted together, I can't get inside to replace it. I contacted Midway and they instructed me to return it so I hope my luck is better with their return policy and the new pot.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Well, rats.  That's a bummer.  Of course Midway and/or RCBS will take care of you, but I hate it when there are issues that lead to delays.  No doubt the next one will be better!

CC Griff

[longinosoap]

Guess I was lucky. My 9 year old Lee 20 lb pot doesn't drip and still gets the job done. For about $70 I've poured 1000's of little lead pills. Will get another when this one goes belly up.

[Cliff Fendley]

Santa brought me an RCBS pot for Christmas. After reading Navy's post I thought I'd better get it put together to see if there are any issues with it. It went right together this evening. My new mold for the 32-20 just came in from Accurate so I guess I'm ready to make more bullets.

[Bunk Stagnerg]

Friends
First thanks for the comments they gave me some direction on which way to go on the pot replacement. A not insignificant purchase.
After an interesting 90+ mile round trip drive to the Cabela’s in Buda Texas I was surprised to find they don’t carry much in RCBS tools or parts. Especially they do not stock the casting pot.

After what amounted to an almost all day long adventure we went away with a couple of loading data books that I needed and an 1851 (Pietta) Navy Colt that I did not need, but who can pass up a bargain? Considering that I paid with store credit I am way yonder ahead on this gun (for a change).

When I got home I put in the order to Larry who thanks me for my business.

The thing that really aggravates me is we were supposed to have a few cool days and I could get in some casting. As this works out I will get the pot next week with an 80°+ weather forecast working in a big metal building. But I guess I can’t complain too much since we are not hip deep in snow living in a deep freeze.
Yr’ Obt’ Svt’
Bunk

[Bunk Stagnerg]

The big brown freight wagon just delivered the brand spankin’ new lead pot. It will be unwrapped in the AM and perhaps turn out 10# or so of .454 ball to feed my hungry 1860 army guns.

Next project is to get my fancy fluted cylinder third model Dragoon with the barrel mounted rear sigh sighted it.

For fun shooting and showing off what would be the recommendation for a zero range? That is taking into consideration my elderly eye sight.
Yr’ Obt’ Svt’
Bunk

[Bunk Stagnerg]

The new RCBS pot came in Thursday night and unpacked and assembled Friday morning It was easy and if I had read the instructions it would have gone faster, I just got ahead of myself.

It took about the time suggested in the instructions to get a little over 10# of lead melted and up to temp (I thought). I set it at about the same Lyman thermometer temp I used on the old pot.
Something must have been off because at that setting the metal started to solidify. A little chasing the controls up and down but finally got the sweet spot and ran a lot of 140 grain balls.

The mold support is very nice and can be adjusted without hitting any 700° parts.

All in all, I am very happy and should make use of it for a lot of years to come.

Yr’ Obt’ Svt’
Bunk

[Coal Creek Griff]

Thanks for the update!  I'm betting that you'll enjoy it.

CC Griff

[Navy Six]

 New replacement RCBS pot( to replace the one I returned)  arrived today. Everything went together as it should. Thank you Midway!!

[Yakima Red]

Lee 20# bottom pour. First thing you do is take it apart and lap in the spout. Use rubbing compound or the old fashioned valve lapping compound. Be gentle, a few turns and it will be ready to go. Clean and cast away!

[Bunk Stagnerg]

as I was assembling the pot i noticed the valve end is square not pointed. When I ran it there were no drips at all. The Lyman pot had a pointed valve and did drip on occasion.
My casting is caught up for the time being and the pot and tools are all in a big covered box under the bench and I am happy as a clam in wet sand (and about as bright)
Yr' Obt' Svt'
Bunk

[Navy Six]

With the weather breaking(and my car in the body shop) I finally got a chance to try out the new RCBS pot. Very happy with the performance as I spent about 4 hours each of the last couple days casting. Even though this thig is a little pricey, I feel it was money well spent if you are going to devote any amount of time to this.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Oddly enough, I noticed that RCBS is discontinuing the Pro-Melt in favor of a Pro-Melt 2.  There may be some great deals on the original Pro-Melts coming along as retailers dispose of their stock.  I would not be afraid at all to take advantage of those prices (along with any RCBS rebates) and buy the original model.  The new model does have some improvements, but I believe that the older Pro-Melts to be excellent as they are.

CC Griff

[Crow Choker]

For what it's worth, around 7-8 years ago my Lyman Mould Master XX 20# pot that I bought new in 1979 and had cast 1000's of lead projectiles with 'went cold'. The thermostat went bad, so I contacted Lyman about getting a new one. Since they no longer market that model, they advised they no longer have parts on hand. They gave me a phone number of a business in Missouri that they give out for replacement thermostats. I called and talked at some length with the owner who advised that the thermostat he sold was in fact better than the original Lyman ones, but required a little tinkering to make them work. The guy said the thermo he sells allows a user to control the temperature more accurately and is built better, advised he has sold quite a few for Lyman pots. For around $43.00 I got a new one, plus he sent me a diagram on how to hook it up. Nice guy, very helpful. 'Hooked' the new thermo up, all required was drilling several holes in the housing that you attach the thermo to and connecting the wires. Has worked 'as good as new' since, someday I'll have to replace it entirely, but for the present, I'm a happy caster. If anyone has a MM XX with a bad thermo and need to replace, PM me, I'll give ya the number. See that a used Lyman MM XX just sold on Ebay for around $110.
Note: Talked about this repair once before on the Darkside-can be currently found on page 34, towards the top.

[Bunk Stagnerg]

RCBS Pro melting pot report.2
Cooled off down to 70 this morning so I cast some .454 balls to feed  the hungry 1860 Armies. It took a while to get the pot up to temp followed by chasing the thermostat to keep the lead somewhere between way too hot (over 800)and semi solid. I like to run my lead between 650 and 700 (on my Lyman thermometer) to cast nice full balls. Using the scale on the pot 650 would jut barely start to melt and 750 would run my thermometer up to 800+ which is, I think, too hot. I finally found the spot just under the 750 graduation which seem to work and held an even constant temp. No drips at all and I left about 1/2" of lead in the pot to seal the valve off from air and corrosion.So far so good and I like it better that the old Lyman espscially the mold support set up. It should come in handy when I get my iron .545 ring tail bullet mold to feed the Sharps. An iron mold with a 515 grain bullet will be a tad heavier than the aluminum block Lee mold.
Yr' Obt' Svt'
Bunk