PA, I have been reloading for about 2 years now and you don't need a whole lot of stuff to get started. Take a look at stuff made by LEE Precision. I started with their stuff and it is great! Very inexpensive and darn good equipment. You can get started with everything you need (Lee sells a kit + dies) for under $250.00 including components for 1 caliber. The basic breakdown of equipment would be a press, powder measure, priming tool, case length gage, cutter and lockstud, and champfer tool. All of this is included in the Lee Anniversary kit. You also need dies(lee dies include shellholder)and a caliper. This and components(bullets, cases, powder and primers) will get you started reloading. You will only need to buy dies for each additional caliber you wish to load.

As far a safety, as long as you are careful and follow all the safety precautions there really isn't a whole lot of danger. Yes it can be time consuming but it is also addictive so you really don't mind the time. It's also a lot cheaper than factory ammo.

When I think of a "really nice scope" I think of Leupold, Swarovski, Zeiss, and some of the higher end Nikons, Burris, etc. If this is what you're talking about you can put a little less "nice" scope on your .300 and still start reloading. I don't think you will regret it.