Thanks guys. Manuals will be purchased. I used to scuba dive as a younger man, much younger... We had a saying, which I assume is still used: There are old divers, there are bold divers, but there are no old bold divers. I intend to apply the same reasoning to reloading. I'm going to be methodical and make sure I understand each step before proceeding to the next. I've already figured out you don't fill the shell to the top with powder (Just KIDDING!).
With ammo selling out and reloading components following closely behind, I was looking for some guidance on primers and powder so I could pick those up while they can be found. I do appreciate your guidance and suggestions.
The funny thing is, sometimes you
do end up filling the case up, or nearly so - at least to the point where seating the bullet compresses the powder. For pistol, especially light to moderate loads, this is not an issue at all. In fact, with .38 target loads using a powder like Bullseye, it is entirely possible to fit 4-5 times the correct load. My ancient Speer manual has a photo of a blown-up revolver whose owner had switched from a heavy load of slow-burning powder for stiff loads to Bullseye for a very light target load but failed to change his powder measure. Boom.
The thing about the calibers you specify is that it's kinda hard to assemble a "bad" load if your purpose is up-close blasting like IDPA- or USPSA-type shooting. For hardcore bullseye with .45 or .38, maybe load chasing an optimal load a la precision rifle is more a "thing." I never got that serious about paper-punching.
For the most part, I use powders that work for multiple calibers and shotgun gauges. For example, Hodgdon Universal Clays is suitable for moderate loads in all three of the calibers you specify, plus 12, 20, and 28-gauge shotgun. The ancient Alliant Unique is similarly versatile, albeit a very dirty powder.
For close-up pistol, I use whatever primers are cheap and available, typically Winchester and/or CCI. For my 6.5CM rifle, I have a few thousand Federal 210M match primers for my large-primer brass; I use CCI 450 small magnum primers for the SRP (small rifle primer) cases. Again, assembling pistol ammo is nowhere near as fussy as precision rifle. If it reliably goes bang and cycles autoloaders, it's good (well, assuming you're not overpressure).
It's easy to get pulled into the weeds with 9mm pistol bullets. For me, 115-125 grain bullets are my go-to choice; Montana Gold for jacketed and Blue Bullets polymer-coated for the great majority of up-close competition rounds. Polymer-coated bullets are significantly cheaper than jacketed or even FMJ bullets and are far, FAR less dirty and nasty than pure-lead bullets. Some competitors feel that heavy-for-caliber 147-grain bullets have a more favorable recoil impulse than standard-weight bullets. I've tried them and don't like them, not to mention they're more expensive because they simply contain more lead.
You have an awesome reloading press in the Dillon 650. Someone suggested running one cartridge at a time around it until you are familiar with the process - that's a great idea.
You are also going to need a scale, period. A beam scale and an inexpensive set of check weights is, in my opinion, preferable to cheap digital scales - I still use my 1979-vintage RCBS/Ohaus beam scale in conjunction with my A&D FX-120i lab balance.
If all your pistols are service guns like Glock or Sig, you can probably get by without a case gauge which allows you to insure your reloads are going to feed/fit properly. I learned the hard way that my full-dress Springfield 9mm 1911 and CZ Target Sport Orange pistols have FAR tighter chambers than my Glocks and Sigs which are designed to be, above all else, reliable.
Likewise, you can probably get by without a caliper by using a factory round to set your seating depth. But if you get one, I can tell you that spending $20 for a big-box digital caliper is going to be "disappointing." There's plenty of info on SH about calipers (and scales).
Have fun. Be careful.
