My first reload was in 1982. Rifle ammo. I picked once fired .30-06 brass out of the trash barrel at the range.
Cleaned the necks w/0000 steel wool and wiped them off w/Windex. (I've also graduated to vibrator cleaners long ago.)
For rifle cartridges:
Take your brass to a shop that sells dies and say, "This is what I want to reload." A 2 die set for a bottle-necked case is sufficient. The 2 die set will size and decap the brass and at this stage you can prime the case. Sometime after decapping, the cases may also be cleaned - vibratory cleaner or sonic.)
The next die is a seating die, which seats a bullet to your desired depth and crimp if needed. You are choosing the seating depth! Yes, you have to determine at what depth to seat. A basic way is to seat bullet in a sized, but empty case(w/o the primer), color the bullet with black magic marker can chamber it. A bullet with rifling/lands marks on it, is too long. Turn down your seating die and try again.
An alternative is to pickup a Hornady comparitor and measure the "jam" dimension of each bullet for that caliber. I like Redding dies, but also have RCBS.
Remember the seating depth is for your rifle and a specific bullet.
Next: Cases should be lubed prior to inserting into sizing die. I use a spray lube. Got rid of the dirty green pad 25 years ago. Lay cases down on a piece of clean newspaper and spray toward the case mouth, but do not spray into the case mouth. Roll cases over and spray again. You can do 50-100 cases at one time. Cases should feel slightly greasy. Do not spray into the primer pockets.
(Not enough lube means a stuck case. Buy a stuck case remover. We learn by doing.)
Next: Brass - size all brass and trim to the correct "trim to length" as shown in the manual. Chamfer case mouths. ( Note: I like Forster trimmer and pilots for each caliber. You will need a Vernier caliper to check case lengths. Buy a stainless steel one with an dial gauge. I avoid the batteries for obvious reasons. Lyman sells inside and outside chamfering tools.)
Brass prep can extend to primer pocket reaming, and flash hole deburring, so it depends on how far you want to go.
Next: powder dispenser, powder scale, powder tickler, and powder funnel. On the powder thrower, adjust it on the light side and trickle to top it off, while on the scale. Use a bullet tray to assemble the cases, before dropping powder. Start at the middle to lower end of the powder range. Charge the case and seat a bullet, and check with a the comparitor. Adjust seating die as required.
Crimping: your choice. I have never crimped a bottle necked rifle cases - .30-06, .270, .25-06, .243,
.22-250, or .223 have never gotten crimped.
All off the above have been done on a Pacific press bought in 1982.
Primers - stick to one brand. A rifle group will shift by only changing out a primer.
I like Federal SR or LR, because they feed will in my press due to finish. Do not use pistol primers in rifle cases. Primer seating should produce a primer slightly below the base of the case - meaning no high primers are allowed.
Record what you are doing - a spiral notebook works. Keep your targets. Even the crappy ones - let's not repeat the crappy loads. Keep track of wind and other shooting conditions when you shoot. I use a 2" black square with a 1" white square as my 100yd target. All my targets go in a file folder - one is "good" the other is "crappy". It keeps me from repeating history.
Pistol case reloading: Usually 3 die sets, go for a Dillon 550 if you do a lot of shooting. Bolt the Dillon to a board and C-clamp it to a work bench when you want to reload. You will need to crimp pistol rounds.
