Shop around for brass hulls. Ballistic Products generally marks up stuff, sometime lots, over what you can get them for elsewhere. Graff and Sons is often importer for stuff BP sells -- I buy much of my reloading stuff from Graffs. Also check MidwayUSA.
Circle Fly Wads has best prices on fiber wads and also provides information about loading brass and plastic hulls with BP.
Getting brass hulls that use standard 209 size primers can make life simple, IF primer pockets are not too tight. I had to open primer pockets on some Rocky Mountain Cartridge brass hulls I bought many years ago. Some of the thin-walled brass hulls use large pistol or rifle primers.
Actually, plastic hulls can be loaded same way as brass hulls. Just skip crimping and glue in overshot card wad. I never bothered to fill brass hulls up to top, just did what 2-piper says.
Shotshells can be loaded with minimal tools. I started as a pre-teen kid with simple hand tools. Work just fine, so long as not much ammo is needed.
Many of us use cheap Lee Load-All plastic wonder shotshell loaders for all our shotshell loading. Produces excellent ammo, so long as load is properly dimensioned for hull and crimp. Some insist on bottom of line "all-metal" shotshell loaders. We don't shoot lots of trap, sporting clays, etc., so, we have never bought loaders that can produce lots of ammo fast.
Niklas
