RE: How much of an investment to start reloading??
You don' t HAVE to have one, they are just really nice.
1. You can feel how the primer is seated.
2. Much faster/easier.
3. Less chance of crushing the primer.
4. Kind of fun to do it this way.
To be honest I think I have only used the chucker to load 1-2 primers before I went out and bought a hand-primer. That was enough to show me why it is almost a necessity. Borrow one sometime from a buddy and you' ll see.