I would imagine I am not alone in having problems casting small caliber hollowpoint bullets, and in particular skirted pellets.... particularly in regards to incomplete fillout…. I use a 10 lb. Lee Bottom Pour Pot (the drip-a-matic), and even running it way up at 900*F with 40:1 alloy (2.5% Tin) my reject rate is dismal.... I have been looking at the spectacular results that Wayne has been getting with a hooded dipper and pressure pouring, just a few rejects out of 500 skirted pellets.... …. and wondered if I could adapt my Lee for pressure pouring.... I had tried it stock, and the small rounded spout went so deep into the taper in the sprue plate, and sealed against it, so you couldn't tell when the cavity was full.... My solution was simple.... I got out a grinder, gathered up my courage, and ground the bottom of the spout off flat, just below where the taper on the spout transitioned into the rounded end.... I then filed a notch, facing forward, using the corner of a square file, to create a path for the lead to escape from the tapered hole in the sprue plate.... Here is a photo of the modified Lee spout....Bob
Most pots have a screw to adjust how far it opens when pouring. On my RCBS I adjust it as the lead goes down in the pot. If you don't the base of the bullet won't fill out perfect. If it's to much the bullets come out with fins on both sides from the lead being pushed out in the mold grooves. RCBS pot has a allen screw as a stop. I just leave a allen wrench in it. I bump it a quarter turn or so as needed.In my opinion a PID controller is one of the best things you can do to get consistent bullets. Lead temperature stays within 10 degrees. The lee pots are terrible for controlling heat. As the lead goes down the pot will get hotter. It's one of those things. You get what you pay for. I started with a lee pot. The dripping drove me crazy. I bought a RCBS not to long after. On my 92 gr 257 mold the bullets drop 91.7-91.9. Most of my molds drop within .5 gr.
I tried the lee 10 lb, 20lb and settled on the RCBS Pro-Melt. Sadly, the new RCBS, which has PID built in, is proving to be a lesser pot than the promelt. I do really enjoy the Pro-Melt al LOT!Mike
The new version, with the pid included, is having issues never seen with the original ProMelt. they moved the production to china, and it is having teething issues. Mike
I am using a Lyman Mag 25 and have been very happy with it. I also added a RCBS Easy Melt to pre-melt lead to feed the Lyman and not have to wait for temperature to come back up after charging the pot while casting.My setup.