Using 4 cavity Lyman mold with Lee Pro 20 furnace?

[Veldy]

I am using a Lee Pro 20# furnace with bottom pour. Up until this point [which hasn't been long], I have been casting with Lyman 2-cavity molds and using a ladle. No problem except the volume per hour is rather low (probably about 75 bullets per hour with an occasional break for fluxing, bathroom, etc). I would like to buy 4-cavity molds for my most used bullets and use them. However, Lyman are IRON molds and get heavy after awhile (I get tired of casting in about 3 hours), so I can only imagine a 4-cavity being worse. I haven't used the bottom pour on my furnace for anything but ingots. I know a lot of people cast their bullets exclusively using the bottom pour and never use a ladle. How well does this work with the Lee Pro 20? It seems to me that one may be constantly adjusting flow rate, missing the mold and making a mess and of course I could still end up holding the weight of the four cavity mold while doing this.

Does anybody else out there use Lyman 4-cavity molds and the Lee furnace using the bottom pour spout? Is there a method to the madness? It seems that a Lyman Mag furnace would be a great alternative being it has guides to push the mold through. However, that thing isn't exactly priced to move and there isn't anything wrong with my Lee furnace [although I could just use it for ingots if the best path is to replace the furnace].

Thoughts? Should I ladle 4-cavity molds? Use the bottom pour? If so, what is the best method with the Lee furnace?

This might seem like a no-brain question to somebody who is already casting that way, but I don't want to invest in several 4 cavity molds to find them unwieldy to use over any length of time. I know the option to use cast aluminum Lee molds is out there too ... but I am not too up on the tumble lube (messy, stinks and takes unnecessary time as well as covers the entire bullet, also unnecessary) and most of their other molds don't really match Lyman or RCBS top punches for my Lyman 4500 sizer.

[Einthoven's Triangle]

Might find some information here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

[DeanC]

The RCBS furnace I have used has a nice bar that you rest the mold on while you fill it. My guru uses exclusively H&G molds, mostly six cavity and I have never gotten fatigued. He also uses some 10 cavity molds.

Maybe you could build up a wooden block or something that gets you to the right height.

[Veldy]

Might find some information here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

A lot of good information at that site and i have bookmarked it. But the answer to my question wasn't really answered, although I think the general idea was addressed. I think piling up some blocks of metal or even wood to the proper height and setting them at the proper position to push the molds across should deal with the problem nicely. I guess I was hoping for some kind of simple "add-on" adapter or some such to make the job easy

No problems, I will make it work

[Veldy]

Might find some information here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

A lot of good information at that site and i have bookmarked it. But the answer to my question wasn't really answered, although I think the general idea was addressed. I think piling up some blocks of metal or even wood to the proper height and setting them at the proper position to push the molds across should deal with the problem nicely. I guess I was hoping for some kind of simple "add-on" adapter or some such to make the job easy

No problems, I will make it work

BTW ... I was able to use ladle without any trouble. The 4-cavity molds are heavy, but you just grip the handles higher right before you pour. So, I never even used the bottom pour more than once [it wastes too much lead without having some sort of guide like the Lyman furnace offers].

I have given up on this darn Lee Furnace. I have no idea why, but as the lead cools, it lifts the handle slightly and it all drains out the bottom. It has happened two out of three times now!!! So, I am getting a Lyman Mag-20 and will use the Lee for backup or for pouring ready to use ingots [i.e. melting wheel weights, mixing in linotype or tin solder]. It is going to be a pain in the a$$ to get the 20 pound volcano off the base of the Lee.

I have a Lee Classic Turret press, and I have had to go off press for loading powder to the exact load that I need (the disc system is simply stupid for developing a load) and I have to go off press to load primers, unless I want 1/2 of them on the floor (actually, I had OK luck with large pistol primers, but small pistol primers hit the floor almost 1/2 the time). Cheap .... you get what you pay for. So, I understand RCBS makes a good shell activated powder measure than can be fit to the Lee press. I am probably still stuck off press with the primers.

[Rem700]

I use the Lee Pro 20 with six cavity Lee molds and after a couple of pours to get the molds up to temp I dont have any problems. I usually run two melts and call it a day.

[DeanC]

One thing you can do with that Lee furnace is set it up and piggy back it on your new furnace so you can melt ingots in it and make it pour directly into your new furnace.

[Veldy]

I use the Lee Pro 20 with six cavity Lee molds and after a couple of pours to get the molds up to temp I dont have any problems. I usually run two melts and call it a day.

Yours doesn't leak volcanoes of lead when it cools off!

It has happened to me three times now, two of the last three times I have used it. Further, lately, I have been keeping the pot totally full when cooling it as John at Gunstop recommended it to help avoid it from rusting [which makes sense to me].

[Rem700]

Nope no leaks while cooling either, I also try to have it full while cooling for storage.
Isnt there anything in the instructions about this seems something about having the valve opening to large or something.

[Veldy]

Nope no leaks while cooling either, I also try to have it full while cooling for storage.
Isnt there anything in the instructions about this seems something about having the valve opening to large or something.

The only thing in the instructions is for stopping the drip (and I have utilized that as the thing dripped like crazy when I first fired it up). Clearly there is some other mechanism at work that is causing the drain to open when it cools. Either way, it is not exactly refundable and it simply pisses me off, so I replaced it with a a Mag-20 (far stretch in price!). In general, I have not been too impressed with Lee products [i.e. the auto-indexing for the Classic Turret setup is a small fragile plastic square .... total crap among a few other things I have mentioned previously! I have long since moved to manual indexing]. I would prefer your Dillon setups of course, but I don't have the space and better uses for my spare cash [at this time]. Eventually, a Dillon progressive is going to fly into radar range My Brother, my Wife and a good friend of mine all shoot my reloads when they are with me, so I tend to burn 200-400 rounds at any given range session. My Brother uses a Colt 45 (and recently a nice Kimber Ultra Carry 2) and I will always test a couple of rounds through the gun before giving free reign to my ammunition.

[SIGP240]

Go with LEE 6-cavity moulds and put those iron Dinosaurs away, oiled to beat hell. Lee's are light and you will find that they go better with bigger furnace. I cast so fast with the little Lee production pot, that I have to have two furnaces on and a second set of moulds for a different cal. plus a wet Goodwill towell to quench the moulds back down to temp. One short session in the garage yields me over a thousand bullets.