Now you are talking Onehorse! Try to seek out experienced reloaders and ask them to show you the basic steps they take in reloading. Don't take one persons advice, try to learn from several people. As has been said stay within the information contained in the manuals. Be very careful about using information taken on load data from a forum! Compare it to load data in a manual. Sometimes you have to make decisions and ask yourself does this make sense? In my experience reloading is super rewarding, but even though I followed all the recommendations, it wasn't until I bought a chronograph that it all came together. Finally I had a tool that told me exactly what the results of my reloading efforts were. There was no guessing anymore. Some of the results were quite surprising, but the chrono doesn't lie if used properly. I now have 3 of them and they all work quite well. Reloading is a serious hobby not to be taken lightly. One mistake can be catastrophic, but being able to custom tailor my loads and have a ready supply of lower cost ammunition is priceless. Good luck....
Rick H.