You've already heard a bunch of opinions. People will also tell you that Savage or Thompson rifles suck. YMMV. Here's my opinion.
There's the philosophy, buy once, cry once. You'll hear it when getting into reloading, but reloading is one of those things you'll discover you either love or can do without, so my suggestion is to start out on a budget minded set of components. Reloading gear is one of those things that, if you sell, you get back most of what you put into it.
The notion of reloading to save money is pure hooey. If you reload and love it, your ammo will cost you 1/3 of what you pay retail, but you'll shoot 6-10x more. Then you get the added benefit of tuning your ammo for what works in your rifle. From personal experience, I would have never thought of pistol ammo behaving differently in my EDC, then started testing different recipes of powder and bullets. Whoa, my groups tightened up significantly with the right mix. With rifle ammo, you can take something that is a MOA shooter at best and get 1/2 MOA with a good load. Of course, this presumes you are doing your part. Reloading ensures you get to do a lot more practice at doing your part. Bonus!
As far as components and gear:
- Nothing wrong with Lee Precision stuff. Yes, some of it is made more cheaply than others. As far as a single stage, I think their aluminum one (Challenger?) is undesirable, but their Classic Cast (iron) one is bolted to my table, along with a Forster Co-ax. It is a rock solid press.
- If there are gun boards / communities local to you, look for a RCBS Jr press. Typically they're old and can be had for $50. They turn out great ammo.
- Dies can be found on sale, as well as used. As long as they're not rusted or gauered up with filthy brass (running sandy brass into your press, for example), they will work fine.
- You can find dies from Lee, Hornady, Forster, Redding, Lyman, RCBS, CH4, Whidden and several custom manufacturers. Hornady has their "Get Loaded" rebates, which combined with the free bullets you will get, almost make the dies free. Personally, I'm not the greatest fan of Hornady dies, but they work and I have eight or nine sets. My favorites are Redding, Forster, and for custom, CH4. I'm sure Whidden are awesome too, I just haven't popped for any yet.
- Bare arse minimum set up parts you will need:
- Your press and a solid bench/table to mount it on. Yes, I used the kitchen table for a few years. Not a wise choice if you like keeping wifey happy.
- A good reloading book. Recommend Lyman. I think any of them are great too. Be sure to study the safety section of the book first.
- You MUST have a good scale. You can get a 10-10 beam scale for $50. Well worth it. You can also get digital scales. They're easier and faster to use. I have a bunch of scales. The notion of using a powder dipper, while it's what I did when starting out, is ridiculous. The point of tuning your ammo requires you to vary powder charges. You need a scale for that.
- You do NOT need a powder measure or trickler, but they do make the job easier.
- You MUST have a set of calipers. The Harbor Freight digital ones will do just fine. I've also found accurate, inexpensive ones at places like O'Reilly Auto Parts. I started out with cheap, vernier calipers ages ago. My first digitals were the auto parts store ones. Over time, I have upgraded as good deals come available and now run all Mitutoyo gear. They're worth it.
- Though not necessary, I recommend you get some case prep gear. I have found this Lyman tool indispensable.
- Dies for the calibers you shoot.
- If your press doesn't have a primer attachment, you'll need a primer tool. I find the RCBS one to be very good. Couldn't stand the Lee hand primer, and my Hornady one works well also.
- No, you don't need a tumbler or anything. You can wash your brass by hand or just wipe it down with 4/0 steel wool or a fine scotch brite pad. I got rid of my vibratory tumbler and now use an ultrasonic bath, a stainless pin wet tumbler (Frankford Arsenal or Harbor Freight Rock Polish drum), or do it by hand with 4/0 steel wool.
- After so many firings, your brass will stretch to the point it will no longer fit your chamber. When this happens, you'll need a brass trimmer or just expect to get a maximum number of uses out of each case.
- As far as chronograph, you do NOT need one until you get into long range precision. Then your reloading gear needs will change significantly.
- The only time I used new, virgin brass is when I couldn't find 1x fired stuff or wanted a specific quality like Petersen brass.
So there you have it. Others will add more, since we all started somewhere. Not everyone was born with a big blue press bolted to their bench, though they are sweet.
Recommend, once you get your gear together, watch and learn from a reloader -- someone who you consider to be blessed with common sense.
Once you start reloading, the best advice I can give you is to follow published load data. After you become seasoned, you can start to experiment.
