". . . you just always gotta have another . . . :-D"Oh great...another "addiction" to look forward to!
We've actually been saving our brass for the past two years and have 2 forty-lb. kitty litter buckets full of both .45 and 9mm. I guess those two are a good place to start.
Along with collecting the dies comes collecting the guns to go with them.....I'm seeing $$$ signs floating in front of my eyes! ;-)
I would start with the .45. It's a very sturdy case, it doesn't taper and creates enough friction on the bullet to hold it with minimum roll crimp on the case mouth (if any), and as long as you keep your cases trimmed to tolerance (yeah, ya gotta buy a case trimmer too . . . they nickel and dime ya to death!) headspace is not a problem. The cartridge tolerates a wide range of powders and loads, as does the 1911A1. Other .45 pistols may be more picky, although we haven't noticed a problem with the Sigs. With the faster burning powders you DO have to be careful of a doublecharge. But placing all your primed and powdered cases in a shell holder and visually scanning the case mouths will catch double or no charges. Downside is that the bullets are large and heavy and hence rather expensive, although you can usually get a deal with some shopping around.
The 9mm is finicky to reload because the case tapers and the tapering and crimp DO affect the headspacing of the round. The taper also makes it difficult to get consistent bullet depth and solid seating.
We have really enjoyed reloading - it enables you to customize your loads for target practice, metallic silhouette, plinking, etc. But it's very much a detail hobby, if you tend towards the meticulous it's fun (think crossword puzzles, embroidery, fine carpentry) but if you don't like painstaking double-checking work it's probably not for you.