The first mold I cast with I bought new at a local gun store. It was a Lyman 358432 that I bought to feed a Colt Officers Model 38. I bought my first press, an RCBS reloader special, about that same time and learned to reload metallic cartridges from a Speer manual. This was 1968 or 69 and the choices of loading equipment was limited where I lived. Lee didn't make loading stuff at the time. No one I knew reloaded or cast bullets so I was on my own. I think I probably made every mistake in the book.
I still have the mold and the Colt.