Reloading...
Oxmix:
That's affirmative. Ammunition costs in Hawaii is a bit expensive and again, that is probably due to the shipping. I think considering everything, the local dealers here try their best to keep costs down.
IMHO, I think most "new" firearm owner's (rifles) purchase AR-15 variants and AK style variants that use ammo that is already fairly inexpensive and usually easy to get. But even with .223 and 7.62x39 ammo, I have not seen too much mil. surp. stuff around. The AR and AK variants seem to be popular.
Many of the veteran shooters (old timers), usually have a wider array and collection of firearms and in usually a variety of calibers. Most of the people that I know reload, usually due to cost and availability.
I own a couple of Dillons and they normally will take care of my ammo needs. But, occasionally, I like to just go out and blast and not have to reload. That's when mil. surp. comes in handy. I also use the mil. surp. as a baseline to evaluate and measure the performance of my "ball type" reloads. I try to use Federal GM Match as my baseline for my match loads. So far, I have my match loads close to commercial but have not been able to get better performance yet. I am still experimenting with different combinations.
As a convenience for my rifle ammo, I try to stay in the area of .308, .243 and .30-06 so that I do not have to change the shell plate and just snap in the correct die assembly when reloading. As for my AR (yeah,

I got one of those to), I already have lots of military and commerical ammo to last me a while, so no reloading there.
For .308 and .30-06, I normally order GI brass (new if possible) from GIBrassman, Jeff Bartlett. My powders is mainly IMR 4895 and 4064. And I use mil spec primers on military rounds, BR primers for match loads and standard CCI for plinking stuff. I use a variety of bullets, but mostly Sierra Matchkings and Nosler J4 .30 cal heads. My match heads are Sierra Matchkings 168 gr. HPBT.
My other Dillon is setup for .45 ammo for my 1911's. That is all it does and it does it very well. IMHO, Dillon makes a great mouse trap.
My .45 load uses Bullseye powder, with CCI primers in Federal cases (new for match and once fired for practice). 200 gr. SWC lead heads only! So far, that combo has won me some matches.
I will stop here or Hawk is likely to send me to the Reload section... Anyway, I hope I answered your questions.
Aloha and Best Wishes,
Tom O.