Cool thread. I don't need any more lead, myself, and I'm sure someone else can use it much more than I could, but I'll add my story anyway.
I was almost completely self taught when it comes to guns and reloading, really didn't have a mentor. My dad had a couple guns around the farm, but he doesn't personally like guns. I had a grandfather and uncle who had guns and hunted, but didn't hunt much by the time I was old enough, and while they had guns, they weren't particularly "into" them. My dad bought me my first .22 rifle when I was 14 or 15, then my uncle gave me one, then my grandfather gave me one. I shot a lot of .22 ammo. Then I talked my dad into buying an old 30-06 that was in the want adds in the paper. I bought exactly one box of factory ammo. This was all in the mid to late '80s. For a short time I scrounged around buying whatever cheap surplus ammo I could find, and saved the brass because I'd heard you could refill them. I still have that first 30-06, except now it has a .270 Winchester barrel, because the corrosive primed surplus ammo rusted out the original barrel.
After a while I found another ad in the paper, for a reloading setup, and excitedly talked my folks into taking me to buy it. I think I paid $75 for a Herters Super 3 press, Herters scale and dies, a bunch of brass in oak loading blocks, a bunch of ancient primers, boxes full of .30 cal bullets, and an old oil tin with 20 pounds of surplus H4831 inside. I C-clamped that press to an old board on a couple cement blocks in my bedroom, and promptly loaded my very first round! I went on to load an awful lot of 30-06 ammo with that old powder.
I think the next round I loaded for was .44 magnum. My dad bought a Marlin .44 mag rifle. I really wanted to shoot it, but for some reason didn't have any ammo, don't remember why. I had a brand new set of dies, but hadn't been to town to buy the appropriate powder yet. I got the bright idea to use H4831, in a .44 Magnum! I was young and dumb, but deduced that it was way too slow to be optimal, and would be underpowered at best. I figured what the heck, packed a couple cases full and seated a bullet on top! Believe it or not, they shot fine. I have no idea what the velocity was...
I see most of you all talk about your fathers and other mentors who gave you your start, and I admit I get a little jealous.
I would have loved to had someone who was really into guns and reloading show me the ropes. My dad tolerated my interest, but was definitely not interested himself.