[Brian Pfleuger]

Reloading is not that difficult... and yet there are people who don't understand that "gun powder" isn't all the same or that you don't just fill the case with it and cram a bullet on there.

I have no doubt that I could have safely and successfully started reloading on a progressive press. Most avid and successful reloaders are the type of people who learn quickly, understand concepts, seek to learn when they do not understand and can easily visualize concepts. Such people will invariably figure out how to use pretty much anything you put in front of them.

The problem I see is that starting on a progressive has one real upside, speed, and a number of potential problems. For "you", maybe not, for "me", maybe not, but for John Q Public, who doesn't know powder has to be measured, doesn't know rifle bullets come in different diameters and finds "The ABCs of Reloading" to be akin to reading a PhD thesis paper, well, they should probably start slow.

In context with this forum, that is why I think it's hazardous to recommend that a new reloader starts with a progressive. We have no idea if the guy is Joe Nosepicker and doesn't realize that "7mm" is not enough to know about a cartridge or if he's a PhD mechanical engineer.... and if he is a PhD, he still may not know that 7mm does not define a cartridge.