@SDGator before regurgitating a list, I'd ask you the following:
Rifle or Pistol? You said both
What volume of ammo?
How often do you intend to reload?
How much spare time can you dedicate to reloading?
What level of accuracy are you expecting out of your ammo?
Do you want to swap between calibers quickly?
Do you want to leave your dies in a preset position so you don't have to adjust every time you go to load?
These questions all drive the more appropriate solution which in some cases may not be this or that but both. Of course depending on your accuracy requirements and availability, it may be cheaper in the long run to just buy ammo, especially if you count your time invested as a cost.
Let's assume you expect top notch match ammo, in this case, Berger 6.5 Creedmoor ammo is $30 a box/20 =$1.5 round. Reloading components, Berger Bullets $0.45 per bullet, Lapua brass $0.85, CCI BR Primers $0.06, 43gr H4350 $0.19 = $1.54. Then someone is going to spout off but I don't shoot Berger ammo. Ok then Hornady 140 ELD loaded $26/20. Hdy 140 ELD $0.34, HDY brass $0.38, Pri $0.06, Pow, $0.19 = $0.97. Granted I'm assuming you bought a case of ammo and got free shipping. The reloading doesn't include the hazmat, the shipping, or the gas and time spent to track down the components locally. Yeah but what if I reuse my brass? I'm assuming, this is a case where someone insists on shooting factory new brass in a match. If you're plinking, obviously you get to amortize the brass cost, but if you spend 3 hours and make $15 an hour that's another $45 you legitimately have to count in addition to the hazmat and shipping, not to mention, you are amortizing the cost of the reloading gear too.
If you still have the reloading bug then here's a bare bones list most of which can be had in several combo kits.:
Press with priming capability
Dies
Calipers
Powder Scale
Tumbler & media
Case Trimmer & collets / holders as required by caliber
Chamfer tool
Lubricating spray or tray
Powder scoop
Powder funnel
Reloading book(s) relative to bullets you plan to shoot (of course you can get this data from powder mfg websites as well)
Chrono
Bullet puller (for you screw ups)
If you are looking to do volume pistol or rifle reloading then a Dillon would be a good fit because their price is only going up. So buy now or pay later because their warranty, quality and customer service is worth the investment. If you're only burning 50-100 pistol rounds and same for rifle once a month then a single stage might do just as well. If you want speed a progressive is going to be fastest followed by a turret followed by a single stage.
No matter the route there is always a compromise. Factory ammo, you can't find what you need because of the hoarders, components price went up, out of stock or it's been backordered for a year. Then there is the time and cost invested, the piles of parts to manage or more correctly state you lose or misplace etc....
The 550 is a good choice as mentioned but you're not necessarily going to be cheaper than a Forster with s jaws. Forster "normal going rate" you might as well say is $350 brand new when you find them. The Dillon BL 550 $299, Cal conversion kit, $53 or the plate alone is $39 but you still need locator pins if you don't go kit. When you do go progressive you still need the powder funnel / expander if you didn't get the kit. Unless everything you reload has same case head dimension, you need a plate for every caliber, plus the funnel & locator pins. Now counter that mess with what you spend on parts, you will definitely make up for in the less time spent using the 550 vs the Forster.
You said your budget is $1500 if you don't want to jump knee deep, buy a kit and add the extras or find a used kit. A Rock Chucker kit is approx $400. You still need a tumbler, trimmer, calipers and dies. The rest could go on , bullets brass and bang supplies. You you can load more than enough accurate ammo to shoot better than average groups on many of the single stage kits, not to mention the Dillon as well if you go that route since they too have starter kits.
@spife7980 makes the best point so far. The key to reloading in bulk is efficiency and the most tedious tasks are trimming and powder throwing. Automating those two saves time and a lot of aches and pain from repetitive motion. Here again depending on your expectations, a progressive can eliminate the need for the automated trickler. You still need a scale though to set the progressive powder measure unless you throw with a trickler and dump your powder on the fly.
If I started from scratch with a high end budget,
Precision rifle
Autotrickler v3 with AD Scale
Forster Press or Redding Turret
Redding full length bushing dies w/ bushing
Giraraud Trimmer
Lab Radar or Magnetto Speed
RCBS Auto Prime
Pistol
Dillon 750
RCBS or Redding Caride dies
As for measuring tools, you can drive yourself crazy trying to sort and group components. The variances are there, and the question is are you going to see a difference in group size that matters to you vs the time spent sorting and measuring? The Hornady station is nice but I think it's way over priced and I don't believe you can do neck thickness measurements on it. Why they left that out is beyond me. . The Bullet Comparator OAL and the Headspace gauges are worth the cost. Of course Sinclair makes some nice tool as well.
Annealing I've debated but just haven't pulled the trigger because I'm not that obsessed with my SDs and ironically even with the list above, I don't feel like dropping a grand on an AMP.
