Reloading is not too difficult for people with normal intelligence and reasonable mechanical skills. I got started for around $200.00
I love shooting but buying new ammo can be expensive. If you save your brass from the range you can reload expended shells fairly easily.
I bought a Lee three hole turret press, a set of .45 cal dies, 1000 primers, a lb. of Alliant "Unique" powder, 1000 bullets and a auto disk powder measure. After a few sessions of reloading I bought an autoprimer and a vibrating shell cleaner. Later I bought extra turrets and dies.
The first step is to set up your dies. The instructions tell you how. Just follow them.
Next inspect your brass. Do not use bent or cracked casings. Just a note, I've never found a shell I couldn't use unless it was stepped on.
Next you may want to clean your brass. Personally I don't for target shooting purposes because I have not noticed any difference between clean brass and dirty brass. I have a vibrating cleaner where I put in corn cob grit and my brass and turn it on. A day later the brass is nice and clean inside and out. You can reload now or polish the brass and make it look brand new. Do this by replacing the corn cob grit with walnut shells mixed with rouge (it is sold this way) and run them through for another day.
Then you want to deprime your brass. Set your press for the deprimer die and run all your brass through. It's kinda like plugging quaters into a slot machine and once you get going you can do this pretty fast. I set a flat box under my press to catch the primers because I think they are made of brass and can be sold for scrap or traded in a post TEOTWAKI world.
After you've deprimed the brass, it is time to insert the primers. The way it is done on the press is slow and cumbersome, that is why I bought the autoprimer. This is a hand-held device where you fil the tray with primers, insert a brass and squeeze. The primer is shoved up into the brass and when the handle is released a new primer moves into the chamber. Remove the brass, insert another and squeeze. Goes much faster than using the press.
Next you check the tables to see how much powder to use. You cross reference the type of powder by brand name, the caliber of the shell, and the weight of the bullet. Most charts will tell you which auto disk to use. It has been recommended to me that the first time you do this to use 10% less than the chart.
Next you check to make sure your autodisk powder measure is correct. Fill a shelll and weigh the powder that was loaded into the shell. (The scale comes with the kit) If correct it is time to roll.
Fill a shell, turn the turret, put a bullet on top, pull the lever one final time, and repat the process for all your shells.
Some safety advice. Sometimes you get going and forget whether or not you put in powder. There is a special "hammer" for removing bullets. Remove the bullet and double check. I've done this hundreds of times and actually never found one that I did forget to put in the powder. But safety first, if you are unsure, check it!
If you do forget the powder and shoot the round, you will get what is known as a squib. It will fire but sound like a cap gun.
DO NOT FIRE ANOTHER ROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Check your barrel to make sure the bullet cleared the barrel or you will have sudden disassembly of your weapon (KB)
and possible physical harm to yourself and others.
Another possible outcome is "No Bang". This occurs because the primer did not go off.
DO NOT FIRE ANOTHER ROUND!!!!!!!! Keep the gun pointed downrange for 30 seconds before ejecting the shell or in a revolver firing again.
Many times a round that has done this will fire the second time it is tried. The cause for this is in the priming stage. If you do not push the primer all the way in the firing pin seats it the rest of the way when it is struck. The second time the firing pin strikes it, it is now properly seated and will go off. I've never had one that didn't.
NEVER OVERLOAD A SHELL WITH MORE POWDER THAN RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!
As with all advice about reloading, do it at your own risk. Anything I say is not expert advice and I am not reponsible if your gun suddenly disassembles.