Vernier calipers? Holy fuck I want to see a picture of that.
Are you sure there not dial calipers?

I'm with Soly and MadPick. For pistol, get a progressive press from the get go. You can always process a single cartridge at a time through the stations till you get a good feel for what's going on.

I also have a Hornady LnL AP and am pretty happy with it. It is finicky with primer seating and takes some practice to acquire a 'feel' for when a primer is seating properly or not. The other recommendation I would make is to get a RCBS Powder Cop die. This can avoid squib charges and double charges, both dangerous conditions.

Trust me. I had to beat a lodged bullet out of the barrel of a brand new Smith PC627 because I inadvertently loaded a primed round with no powder charge. The primer was enough to push the bullet into the forcing cone. Very dangerous indeed if you launch another round after that. A properly adjusted powder cop die basically prevents this condition from ever happening.

A Dillon 550 or 650 would be the other logical choice but definitely more expensive. I don't have any experience with Dillon presses but there are several forum members that own them and they do appear in the Reloading classifieds fairly often.

Here's my take on the matter. For beginner's, I don't believe in starting on a progressive. Start with a single stage, learn how to reload, don't rely on a machine to just churn out ammo. Learn the fundamentals, pay attention to each action, each round. In addition to learning the fundamentals on a single stage, you won't have so much invested in it that if you decide reloading is not for you, you won't be out much (in comparison). If you absolutely have to go progressive right out of the gate, buy a Dillon 550. They hold their value, are fairly simplistic and if you have an oops moment, they are very easy to back up on. Marcus or SageWa are the best two guys for reloading help. Equipment, components and advice. You won't go wrong with either. Good luck, be safe

This is the way I went years ago. I started with a RCBS Rockchucker for both pistol and rifle for the basic. Then for Pistol, I graduated to a Dillon 550. For my precision rifle shooting ( Not 223/5.56 ), I continue to use the Rockchucker. Balance Scale.