Do you think a kit like that is a good place to start? I see they still are selling them
I’d echo the advice to learn from a mentor. I’ve taught several people to reload and helped them find good equipment, I’m guessing they will be happy to help.
The kits are fine but you end up with quite a few things you don’t need. Plus I prefer vintage/older tools and equipment.
Feel free to PM me. My overall philosophy is that accuracy comes from 1) good barrels 2) good bullets that your barrel likes 3) the right powder. All the super fancy expensive presses and scales are completely unnecessary for 99% of hunter/reloader.
Here’s my list of tools and some thoughts:
Press: any old press. Literally, any. Don’t overthink this one. Need the appropriate sized shell holder (s) also.
Scale: I like the older RCBS 505, better yet a 10-10. Accurate, repeatable, tunable/fixable. Plenty of precision. Rcbs Chargemaster is an option if you want automatic charge but they are not without issues.
Trickler: whatever you can find cheap
Powder thrower: very helpful piece of equipment; with some powders you can literally just dump powder straight into the case without weighing and make great ammo. Lee makes a cheap and very effective one.
Case priming: most presses have an arm to prime with. It works but usually slower. I use a frankford hand primer and it does speed up the process quite a bit. Not mandatory.
Loading blocks: cheap, or can drill holes in a piece of scrap wood.
Micrometer and hornady comparators: helpful but not mandatory. I’ve been using $20 Amazon micrometers for years. There are ways around using these.
Die set: can make excellent ammo with any die set..nothing wrong with cheaper RCBS.
Case lube: I prefer hornady one shot. The lube pads work well too but more annoying to clean cases later.
Case cleaning: I have a tumbler and almost never use it. I use a shop rag and isopropyl alcohol to get the lube off of loaded rounds. You don’t want that lube getting in your chamber.
Case debur and trimming: depending on the brass you buy and the specific cartridges you shoot, it may be necessary to debur case mouths and you might have to trim brass after several firings. Lots of options here but not needed for just starting out.