bottom pour or ladle is a is a ford/vrs chevy thing that at times reached near religion like discussion levels.
some guys swear by the one or the other, and then swear at the other one.  some insist that "their" method casts better bullets.   
Either will work. 
I suspect that the pot and ladle is more "traditional" if that is of concern to you.

IMHO there are SO DAMN MANY variables that I doubt it really makes any difference in the long run

I try bottom pouring vs. ladle pouring with any new mould I get.  So far, using a Lyman Mag 20 pot, I have better consistency on weights and appearance with use of the ladle with all of my moulds...Lyman, RCBS, Redding/Saeco, and the custom moulds I own.  Must be the way I hold my mouth when casting!

David

    When useing a bottom pour pot, the vent lines fill up. That happens with any size mould I use, so I plugged it up by screwing the top plate down & sold the mould rest for 5 bucks at a gun show.        ...MIKE...

Guess there is no reason that a bottom pour pot will not work with a ladle, so that might be the wiser choice. Am thinking the Lyman ladle with its larger/heavier end might hold the heat more uniformly than the Lee. What ladle do folks recommend?

I use a ladle, heavy cast iron pot, and gas fueled  furnace.  No substitute for mass  keeping temperatures consistent. Monitor with a seperate thermometer you can adjust to keep things just right winter or summer.

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However starting from scratch it would be difficult to put a outfit like mine together. Most of this stuff was accumulated over many years. I have used a little Lee bottom pour pot for years. Mostly when I need to cast up just a few bullets without rolling the big outfit outside.  It does just fine if you pay attention to pace and don't work too fast.  Don't try to use one to alloy up scrap, the pour spout is sensitive to clean material and pot capacity is too small.  Use one with pre alloyed metal like Bill Ferguson sells it's a useful outfit and won't break the bank to buy.

Meanwhile if you can find a good furnace and pot jump on it.  Burners and valves are not important they can easily be replaced. Look for heavy cast iron, add a good dipper later.  Lot of guys like the RCBS ladle  I use a Lyman for small capacity molds.  Large is good but not so important for 32 single cavity molds. Ferguson sells a copy of the Rowell ladle.  He's on the web 

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Boats

I use a spoon to skim, big old war surplus government spoon.  Some flux is required  too, Keep the pot well fluxed and skimmed. Mine is so old can't say what kind it is.  Washtubs under the bench are full of odd tools mostly pick up junk tools that are handy to have around. Extra regulator for the propane bottle. Regulator has a volume adjustment knob that's nice even though the furnace has 3 adjustable burners.

 Few square sticks to separate bullets as they come out of the mold and pin them on the bench as they hit the towel. Knocker to hit the sprue plate with. I use a Hickory Belaying pin surplus from a run of them I made on the lathe long ago. Pair of hot stuff gloves too.

Another handy thing is an old postage scale and couple of aluminum cake pans.  Tare weight marked on the bottom so I can see how many bullets I have without counting 32/40's are 3 dozen to the pound 38/55's 2 dozen more or less.

I like firebricks to keep the heat off my hand in the summertime or heat in wind away on cold winter days. Between the two wash tubs bottom shelf is a folded wind break.  Summer ambient temp 95 degrees no wind winter 25 degrees lots of wind makes a real difference in how the lead pours.   This makes the most important part of the outfit a good lead thermometer.  If you want to alloy your own lead best do it separate in a plumbers pot, dirty job, I keep it away from casting bullets, if alloying ingot mold is nice to have.  

No way to buy all this stuff new at one time.

Boats

I have two 10# Lee's and a 10# lyman. I don't like the Lyman a will sell it a get a 20# Lee for my Breeched bullets.

Frank