your shell holders will come with the dies when you buy them. lee for sure and i believe rcbs, too.
i like the hogdgon manuel, and the speer manuel. both are excellent books with a wide variety of loads with different powders.
other things you NEED to start
1. a micrometer midway sells several nice ones, whether dial or digital, your choice, but you need one of these.
2. you are also going to need a quality scale. there are several good ones availible, again... hard to go wrong with rcbs.
3. an ink pad without the ink, and bullet lube (i use rcbs) used for lubing your brass.
4. dies. i suggest you start with loading a straight walled pistol cartridge. bottlenecked cartridges are a little more tricky, so i think it is best to start with the straight walled pistol first. build your knowlege and confidence, then move up to the bottlenecks. i use lee, rcbs, and dillon. for pistol, get the carbide dies, and use a bit of lube (even though you dont have to) and they will slide in and out nice and easy.
so now i am drawing a blank...which means either i hit it all (unlikely) or that i have started a list for you. the bad news is that it is going to cost you a few bucks, but nothing major. the good news is that christmas is right around the corner. make up a wish list, then hand it over with a midway (or other supply catalog) to whomever might be buying you presents.
remember- it is really easy to get caught up in getting the wiz-bang type slick tools for reloading. this isnt necessary. solid tools, following procedure, and paying close attention is what makes quality ammo.
welcome to reloading, glad to have yet another member in our ranks!
