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I picked mine up piecemeal. Some is RCBS, some is LEE, some is Foster, some is Hornady and some is Huntington. I bought what I needed when I either found it or could afford it. The only thing I was really serious about being specialized was the press. I needed something I could load really long shells in since I had a double rifle at the time. So I got an RCBS press that could handle 50 BMG. More than needed for most reloaders but the brass alone for my double was 3 1/4 inches long and a loaded round was a little over 4 inches long. The average everyday press can't handle shells that long.

d80hunter

Start with a single stage press like a Lee. If you use bolt actions, lever actions, and revolvers a simple setup may be all you need. If you have guns with high capacity magazines and shoot hundreds and hundreds of rounds at the range frequently, it will be time consuming making all that plinking ammo on a single stage press.

emtrescue6

"reloadable barrel"...what the heck is that? I've reloaded for several Glocks over the years in a variety of calibers...Gen 1 though the current Gen 4's and have never had a problem...my early 21 probably has 5000 reloads through it without a single issues.

emtrescue6

I agree with what many others here have pointed out but I'd also like to point out, you won't likely see any real cost savings in reloading...but accuracy and performance will increase dramatically if you do it right.

- Make sure you buy a couple good reloading manuals and read them before buying any gear...Nosler, Hornady, Speer, Lee, Lyman, RCBS...they all produce really good manuals.
- Start out with easier calibers to reload...like the 308 (Belted Mags, Short Mags, and bottle neck cases like the 30-30 can be challenging for the beginner.
- Buy the best gear you can afford (buy once, cry once)...especially when buying your press, scale, powder thrower and dies...many companies make good equipment...mine is a mix match of the best of each...I prefer a single stage H press (I have used the same CH Magnum single stage press for over 20 years...my grandfather used it for 20 before I got it), Hard to beat Lyman scales and powder throwers...avoid electronic scales in my opinion. Redding, RCBS, Hornady...they all make great dies.
- Patience is the key...take your time, develop a routine and stick with it...by doing it the same way everytime you reduce the chance of error...it will only take a single round that doesn't get powder or gets double charged to ruin your day and your firearm and it happens all the time with new re-loaders.
- Set your bench up someone where where you have no distractions and have plenty of room to work and storage for all the "stuff" out of your way off your bench.
- Find someone local who already reloads and use them as a mentor ...I love reloading and have been doing so since I was about 10 with my grandfather and while I have never saved a dime over just buying ammo (equipment and components are spendy) I can't imagine shooting factory ammo...haven't done so in decades except for my rimfire stuff.