Advice for a beginner

[Froogal]

I have pretty much gone with LEE for all of my reloading and casting equipment. I did a little research and the LEE products seemed to be the least costly. Since I was not totally convinced at the time that reloading was a hobby I was going to stay with, the LEE just seemed to be the way to go. I've never been sorry that I went that way, and I've been doing it for several years now.

[Rich/WIS]

Have used 10# pots by Lyman, SAECO and Lee and 20# by Lyman and Lee. Pot I use now is the Lee 20# modified to use a Lyman mold guide. Works well and have not had any significant issue with it. Have used double cavity molds by Lee, Lyman and RCBS, all worked well and cast good bullets. As noted found that a double cavity is fine if you don't do a lot of shooting but needed a bigger mold for a lot of shooting. Have a bunch of Lee 6 cavity molds for handguns and four of the NOE 5 cavity molds for rifle. NOE is definitely better than the Lee but both brands produce good bullets. Have used Lyman 450's, a RCBS LAM II and a Saeco lube/sizer, all worked well and still have several 450's and the RCBS. One thing not mentioned was a hotplate to preheat your molds. Mine was the solid top type from Walmart and was about $20. Also invest in a good lead thermometer to know what temp your alloy is at, my experience is that the settings on pots are not precise, if they even have a scale (Lee does not). It will also be useful smelting to keep temps low enough to reduce loss of tin and antimony.

Smelting is a different game and the advice often given is to not smelt in your good pot. This is advice worth following. Super fancy equipment is not needed unless you are doing large quantities, for small batches an old cast iron soup pot, stainless steel pots, or even an old cast iron frying pan will work. Biggest issue is your heat source and there are a lot of posts on what people are using. Pot size and heat source go hand in had, the better the heat source the bigger pot it will take. Muffin pans make excellent ingot mold and can be had cheaply at thrift shops and yard sales, just be sure they are one piece, not the type with the muffin cups pressed into the flat sheet.

Good luck on your journey into new territory.