RE: casting equiptment
I think you have answered yourself. It takes quite a complement of tools to do a decent casting job. As a suggestion, try to attend a gun show in your area. You'll find people wo willl sell many of the cast bullets at a decent price. That is how they justify their cost of equipment.
I lucked up on a deal many years ago, someone with all of the eqipment made a swap with me; I got almost all of the reloading tools I needed, and it included a furnace, sizer (.357) and the molds. A hefty amount of lead came also with a couple hundred rounds of .38 brass.. I loaded for a local Sheriff's association when revolvers were the going service arm. I had to supply 1,000 rounds monthly. It was a hobby then, and I did not have any dreams of getting rich.
There has to be a desire to do the casting thing, and if you are worried about the cost, I'll be honest, you'll probably won't want to get into it.
Russ