Some of the truth about the 'good' brands, are not exactly so true anymore. I bought a RCBS scale in the early 90s, never had any problems with it, the balance beam got lost during a move, they wont sell you one, has to be calibrated. So I bought a new one, was a world of difference between the old one and the new one, the housing was way lighter and thinner, not always bad, just shows they are cutting corners to keep the price point. And that Ohaus no longer makes stuff for RCBS. The new one was way off out of the box, yea your supposed to 'calibrate it' by taking shot out of the pan, so much for the beam being calibrated. Its a step that SHOULD have been done by RCBS. The reviews on their newer scales arent all that great.
And some of RCBS stuff is just ridiculous on price. Lee sells a set of dies for the 577/450 martini, $85. RCBS is $468, I really doubt they are that much better, and as usual you still have to buy the shell holder for another $18. A spare Lee is $4, is the RCBS 4x better at holding the shell in place?
You go looking at some of the stuff RCBS does sell like 7.62x25 tokarev forming dies, what do you even need them for, I just jam cut to length 223s thru the FL sizing die, your just forming a slight shoulder. Never had a problem, to justify $243 for the dies.
Is all of lees stuff good, no. Somebody gave me one of their auto primes for a press, dont see it lasting long with the flimsy parts, been mad if I had bought it. I have broken their presses, by exceeding their capacity. Those little cheap c clamp style do have their uses, way more room to seat bullets or powder charge with, but a bit much to ask to try to size a 223 in it. Buts its real convenient to screw down to a chuck of wood and clamp to a table to size pistol cases, their $25 it wears out Ill buy another one, first one lasted 15yrs, so got my moneys worth.
OP dont jump in feet first with a progressive. Get your self a single stage kit to start out with, whatever brand you feel like paying for. The Lee is a good place to start, has most of what you need, the money saved vs say RCBS you can buy a better scale, case trimmer, and tumbler. You can always upgrade later, if you feel the need. I started casting with Lymans basic kit a pot, dipper, book, ingot mold. There is better stuff to buy, but I still use that lyman pot to melt down the scrap vs nastying up my bottom pour pot. So wasnt wasted money.