Finally fixed my Lee 20lber

[Texas John Critter]

Last year I bought a 20 lb Lee pot off ebay.  Very happy with the price, less than half of new plus shipping, good deal or so I thought.  Turns out this pot, that looks exactly like the lead pot is meant for melting plastic for soft bodied fishing lures.  Well I was a bit put off, started tearing it apart, got frustrated and put it on a shelf.  Last week I came across it again while doing a bit of spring cleaning in the shop.  I finished tearing it apart and checked out all the parts.  Figured out that I needed a new element and a new thermostat.  I ordered parts from Lee Thursday night online and had them in the mailbox Monday when I got home from work.  Took a new heating element and thermostat to get it going but it works great now.  Turns out they use a 240 volt, 700 watt element with 110 power to keep the element from getting hot enough to burn the plastic.  The new one I got from Lee is a 110v 700w element.  I melted some old bullets I no longer needed and a bunch of range lead that I have been picking out of berms over the years after a good rain.  Works great, pours great, now I just need to buy some moulds!  Hmmm, wonder what I got in the shop for trading stock......?  I'm getting excited about making my own bullets again.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy, pard!

I highly recommend the BigLube (tm) boolit moulds as sold by Dick Dastardly.  http://www.biglube.com/ These carry plenty of lube fer yer BP shootin'.  Works as good as (or better than) advertised.

Adios!

[Dick Dastardly]

Congratulations on a great fix Texas John.

Please do this.  After you melt junk metal, skim off all the scabs and nasties you can, flux the batch and then pour the metal into ingots.  Set the ingots aside and mark them with a punch or something so you know what they are.  Then, when the pot is completely empty and cooled down for safe handling, clean out the inside of the pot and pay particular attention to the bottom pour valve.

Then, put in the clean ingots and re-melt them.  You will be more pleased with your bullets.  I never melt/smelt old metal in my bullet pouring pot because I don't like the scabs getting in there.  I was lucky and was given an old propane plumbers pot.  This is where all my smelting is done.  An old Coleman camp stove will also do well for you as a smelter, but it's not as fast as the pot.  Also, keep yer eye out for a propane turkey deep fryer at a garage or estate sale.

If I can be of more help, click on my banner below.  It will take you to my web site.

DD-DLoS

[Texas John Critter]

DD,
I usually don't melt dirty lead in my pouring pot but I had no clean ingots because I haven't cast in 5 years or so.  I parted with all my casting items after a friend got into commercial casting and I thought I would never have desire to cast again.  Well I was wrong!   So I'm starting pretty much from scratch again.  I have my old smelting pot but nothing to put fire under it.  I'll be pan lubing til I get enough scratch for a lubesizer.  I'm saving pennies and nickles for one of your .38 moulds as we speak.  Gona put some stuff out for sale at the shoot Saturday and see how much I come up with. 

Mr Bailey,
That is my plan exactly.   People speak so highly that I would be foolish not to try them.

[Dr. Bob]

TJC,

Mr. Bailey is Steel Horse Bailey's FATHER!   He ain't no MR. and is proud of it!!

His FRIEND,

Dr. Bob

[Dick Dastardly]

I found a lot of good Coleman stuff at garage and estate sales.  It usually goes cheep if you stick to the white gas stuff and pass on the propane stuff.  A Coleman gasoline fired stove melts lead pretty good.  Takes a while, but it does the trick.  Even the old Coleman stoves will run on unleaded gasoline.

I'm going to continue to haunt the sales till I get a turkey cooker.  They usually get used once or twice and then become excess cargo.  Also, I keep trolling for some of those cast iron corn muffin trays.  They make great shaped ingots.

DD-DLoS

[Steel Horse Bailey]

TJC,

Mr. Bailey is Steel Horse Bailey's FATHER!   He ain't no MR. and is proud of it!!

His FRIEND,

Dr. Bob

Thanks Dr. Bob!  I resemble that remark!

Tejas John, yep!  Ya won't be sorry.  One of these days, I'm gonna get that ceramic cleaning system that Dick (and Cabela's - and other places sell - for more ca$h) sells as well.  I may actually get the media before I get the rotary tumbler.  I'm sure the media will be MUCH more effective in a tumbler than it is in a vibratory cleaner.  The co$t of a Thumbler's Tumbler is about what you pay for about 4 Midway cleaners!  Someday ...

[Cuts Crooked]

  I'm saving pennies and nickles for one of your .38 moulds as we speak. 

I'm in the same boat! Been hoarding the change and taking pop bottle back to raise the funds I need!

I too plan to get one of the .38 Snakebite molds. I have used that bullet a lot, have a friend who has been letting me use his Snakebite mold, and I can attest to the fact that it is the best bullet I ever found fer shooting BP in my "38 Extra Long Colt" rounds!