The myriad of products is whats generally scaring me away. I tend to go a bit overboard and buy things I dont need, which looks like its super easy to do. I was just in security equipment recently and the selection of powders alone is quite daunting.
I'm going to do a bit of research though and start with 44mag/44spl and maybe 357mag/38spl. Do these semi-interchangeable cartridges have similar tooling or do I need separate dies for each? Is it even worth doing the special rounds or can I just give the magnum cases a lower powder charge? I have a ton more magnum brass than special brass, but sometimes its fun to shoot soft loads out of giant revolvers.
Also, what has been all of your experiences sourcing powder and bullets being here in Hawaii?
It's daunting at first, but pretty simple regarding the mix of products.
Buy powder and primers here. Bullets and brass cheaper online or once fired. Use reviews to guide your purchases.
Depending on your firearm, you can likely load "mild to wild". You can do things like upload a sp to double the standard charge or download a mag round to ultra light levels. At first, follow the recommended loads. Even so, if you have a stout revolver like a ruger, its unlikely you'll be able to blow it up by overloading the brass. Those guns are built STOUT.
44sp 38sp you can use and shpuld just buy the mag dies. This is one advantage of using guns that take both. You can just use the mag brass for all your loads low to high if you choose. That is the beauty of reloading
Get a reloading manual, any of the loadputs should be ok to use, people choose different powders on personal preference. You can research that online. Start with lower loadputs and work your way up. Honestly you cannlearn by just watching a YouTube video tutorial for a similar cartridge.