I started back in the early 70's with a Lee loader, talk about a pain. But they do work.
I've used and have both single stage presses as well as a progressive. Never tried a turret. For beginning you can start out with a progressive but I personally think it is better to start with a single stage, or possibly a turret. Doing each stage separately helps with understanding what you are doing and at least for me is a lot easier to reload without errors, which can be serious. (Can you say double charges or a charge not dropping and going unnoticed. A primer getting stuck and dropping powder in an unprimed case isn't serious but a pain to clean up. Using a single state really isn't that slow unless you need to load quite a few boxes a week.
What do I usually use? My Hornady single stage. In fact since my move I haven't even set up my progressive as I only shoot a box or two a week since I no longer compete. My work flow for handgun cartridges is:
1st - deprime and resize all my cases then quickly inspect.
2nd - change to my case mouth expander die - again inspect, specially the case mouth area for cracks and or splits
3rd - prime. I use an RCBS hand primer for handgun cartridges, (The on press tool is used for rifle and done during the depriming/resizing step). Very quick and has excellent feel for seating the primers.
4th - drop powder. Even though I have an auto disk powder measure I drop powder from a Lyman 55. I put each case with powder in a loading tray. This prevents the knock a case over spilling powder problem and more importantly I can look at all the cases at once, comparing powder levels to assure I got consistent drops. Depending on powder type this can be a real problem with any powder measurer.
5th - change to my bullet seating die and seat all the bullets.
Without rushing I can do 2 boxes, (100 rounds), in about an hour and feel I have full control over the process. It isn't that much slower than using a progressive and MUCH easier to QA my work. Strictly my own preference, but when I load on a single stage I feel like I am reloading hand crafted ammo. A progressive makes me feel more like a machine operator. With the new presses with die adapters it takes seconds to change dies since you don't have to screw them in which reduces the advantage of a turret press.
As to brand, any will do. RCBS equipment is great. So are the other brands. I got a Hornady press when I started loading rifle cases. My old Lee O press was doing fine but seemed to have more spring than I liked. For pistols it worked fine.
Like many I enjoy reloading as much, or possibly more than, shooting. I find reloading on a single state somewhat relaxing while when using my progressive it is just plain work, much like the old Lee Loader was.
BTW, just like in choosing a carry gun, holster or most anything, it is unlikely you will end up with the perfect solution the first time. Reloading, like most hobbies, can be very addicting and if you are like most will be adding and changing as you grow. There is no getting around it.
