Lee Loader

When I started casting my own bullets, I needed something to melt the dirty lead down into clean ingots. My first try was with an old Coleman camp stove. It worked, kinda, but was very slow. I watched a few internet videos and it seemed like a turkey fryer was the way to go, everyone was using them. I bought one and it seemed like an incredible waste of propane and I wasn't sure how much I would save in casting my own bullets. My third try was to build a small forge. I already had a bunch of stoker coal I bought from local coal mine for .10 per pound.

I had built a forge a few years ago to heat metal to bend but it's the wrong shape for the cast iron dutch oven I use to melt lead. I was talking to the mechanic at a local school bus garage he had just changed out a disk brake rotor on one of the buses. It was the perfect size for a small forge. I took it home and welded some scrap metal I had laying around and added a fan from a used up microwave for the blower. It heats up fast works great! The main drawback is that it does smoke a lot when you first fire it up. It's best to use it out in the country or when the wind is blowing towards a neighbor you don't like.

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Cool, just not to sure how well your gonna be able to control the temp??

larryw wrote:Cool, just not to sure how well your gonna be able to control the temp??

And people gripe at my turkey fryer saying the same thing.

larryw wrote:Cool, just not to sure how well your gonna be able to control the temp??

I can add more coal to make it hotter or more lead to cool it down if I have to. I could also put a small piece of cardboard over the air intake on the fan if I had to, I guess. I'd hate to because that little fan works hard enough as it is (I probably need to find another worn out microwave to get a spare). I don't worry a about the temp as it's pure lead and I cast ingots with it. The bullets are cast from a Lee 4-20.

The mechanic is supposed to save me the rotor from a rear wheel. They're a little deeper and can hold more coal, longer casting sessions between emptying it out. Not that it matters, I probably have a lifetime supply of ingots. Especially with primers as hard to find as they are.

GasGuzzler wrote:

larryw wrote:Cool, just not to sure how well your gonna be able to control the temp??

And people gripe at my turkey fryer saying the same thing.

Never had a problem with my turkey fryer Gas, simple adjustable regulator in the gas line does great.