I've used both Lee progressives, The Dillon 550 and 650, the Hornady Pro-Jector and a Star Universal among others. For My Money, the Dillon machines are the best bang for the buck, if you'll pardon the pun.
The Lee units both had serious issues with priming operations. Large primers were better than small, but the failure rate with either was unacceptable for my standards. Some people get the Lee machines to work well enough for them, but the priming issues are a common theme among users. I traded my last lee progressive for an Antique rifle earlier this year. Please understand, I'm not generally apposed to using Lee reloading equipment, I've just found their progressive presses to be problematic. Others have had differing experience with them.
The Dillon 550 is slower than many of the other progressives, and doesn't have as many bells and whistles, It manually indexes, and doesn't come with a case feeder (though they are now available as accessories). The manual indexing increases the likelihood of a squib or a double charge, all other things being equal, and so I don't recommend it as a beginners progressive.
The Dillon 650 is my personal favorite of the 'consumer' grade progressive presses that are currently available. It's more money than most of the others, but I liken the purchase to that of an MG; It costs a lot up front, but the long term benefits are well worth the expense to me. Once properly set up, the Dillon 650 is both simple to use and fast. It produces quality ammo, and does so with a low failure rate.
The Hornady Pro-Jector seemed in many ways as good as the Dillon 650, but lacks the ease of caliber change-over as well as the aftermarket support the 650 enjoys. If I was limited on budget and only planned to load one or two calibers progressively, I would consider the Pro-Jector.
The Star Universal is an excellent press, and was the inspiration for all of the Dillon progressive presses. It's draw-backs are the lack of customer support, limited part availability and caliber options, and rather high expense. If looking for a Star reloading press, be aware that there are the universal presses, and the dedicated presses. The universal presses can change calibers with the proper parts, the dedicated presses cannot (at least, not without substantial machine work). All of the Star presses use proprietary dies. As a result of the various draw-backs, I would't recommend the Star presses, in-spite of their high quality and long record of service.
Whatever you decide on, I suggest buying a press that is currently being manufactured, and buying whatever the recommended spare parts are for the press to have them on hand.
For bullet casting on a budget, I would go directly for the Lee products, in particular, their pro 4-20 melting pot and 6 cavity bullet molds. If planning to go that route, check out the forum over at castboolits.gunloads.com for more knowledge than any single person could ever absorb. The simple advice is, smelt (melt the lead to clean it of impurities) in a different pot than what you use to cast the bullets, clean the mold thoroughly before casting, and pre-heat the mold before starting to cast. There's obviously a lot more to it, but starting with that you're more likely than not to succeed with your efforts.
