RE: shot gun shells
I used to do a lot of shotgun shooting, and my dad still shoots a bunch of trap, skeet and sporting clays - about 200-300 rounds a week. For 12ga, he uses a PW loader. For all the other gauges, he has a MEC 9000G for each gauge. I used a 9000G for 12ga and a SizeMaster for 20ga. For the money, MEC loaders are hard to beat. They have their quirks, for sure, but they are capable of making really nice ammo.
As you probably alreadly know, .410 shells are the most picky to load. There is quite a bit of difference in cases from different manufacturers, and the wads do not have a "cushion" like other gauges. This makes component selection critical since there is little room for variation. Once you find a shell, powder, wad combination that produces nice looking reloads, stick with them. Don't substitute components.