I'll throw in my experience and 2 cents. Haven't read everyone's input so I'm probably repeating several things.
Started out on a Lee Classic Turret loading .45 ACP. Got to where I'd avoid shooting too much because I dreaded having to replace it and would spend hours working on trying to stay ahead. Always had to tinker with it to make things work. Loaded about 6k rounds on it and had enough and went to the 650. Best purchase I've ever made. Thousands of .45 ACP, 9mm, and .223 loaded on it to date. It's an investment, but worth it, especially if you enjoy reloading as a hobby. I don't feel guilty about burning up 500 rounds of 9mm at a time because I can replace it in an hour on the 650 rather than probably 5 to 6 hours with breaks on the LCT. If you don't shoot that much and have plenty of time, the LCT will make plenty good enough ammo.
Started out using an ultrasonic to clean, but I can do a lot more at a time in a wet tumbler. The pins are unnecessary and I only use them sparingly with some .223 cases.
There are some headstamps to avoid in pistol brass so doing an initial sort of your stock is a good thing. If you find NATO cases, that's a good time to go ahead and decrimp them. Shooting mixed headstamps still yields single digit SD for me in pistol calibers. I sort rifle for particular headstamps I separate for accuracy loads and leave the rest for plinking.
I've only used CCI primers in the 650, but I do have some Federals I'll eventually use. CCIs can take a beating in my experience, but having no experience with Federals, I plan on being very cautious and will use eye and ear pro.
On picking up range brass, if there's a pile with all the same headstamp that looks new, has the correct color primer to the best of my knowledge, and usually there's a corresponding box in the trashcan...I'll definitely grab those. If the brass looks rough or I perceive it to be a reload, it stays. If there's a pile of clean brass but all mixed headstamps, it stays. Likely someone's mixed reloads. Could be fine, but I don't need brass that bad.
Edited to add: oh yeah, buy a chronograph. You can get away with not having one, but you'll never know the full story of your reloads in your particular guns without one.