RE: casting equiptment
I use a Lee Production Pot 4 for all my casting, still use a frying pan and a lead pot for producing ingots and cleaning bulk lead. I kind of lust after a Lyman or RCBS electric furnace, but they won't do anything the Lee wont do, and $50 vs $230 or so is a lot of differance. I'll probably buy a lee 20 lb. pot some time in the future, but the 10 lb. works for almost everything.
Molds? I have SAECO, RCBS, Lyman, and Lee. All have advantages and disadvantages. Many people HATE Lee molds, but I have always had good results with them. Their roundball molds are FAR superior to Lyman's, IME. Lyman molds leave a large sprue projecting from the ball, no matter how you adjust the sprue cutter. Lee's RB molds cut it flush.