Which is better? Why?

And while on the subject of dies (for those of you using a Dillon press, esp the 550), what dies do you prefer to use? Dillon dies seem to work great, and I like the "pull the clip and clean your die" concept that does not lose calibration yet allows one to clean a sticky die.

Just wanted some of your opinions, thanks!

F6

I buy the Dillon dies for my 550B because they work & work well.

Since I don't have ANY dillon dies, I don't know how they work. BUT I do know how the lee FCD works. I suspect the difference is that the lee FCD has the carbide ring in it's base. That irons out any bulges that could be caused by seating the bullet or over crimping the mouth. I have them in every handgun round that I load, installed in the 650 die head. Never had a sigle brass caused malfunction!

I like the wide-mouthed radiused opening of the Dillon. It makes for smooth sailing on a progressive press.
Never used any Lee pistol dies.

I've used both dies and I like them both. I prefer the Lee Factory Crimp Die though. It really does a better job.

My first pistol die set was Lee. The sizer worked fine. The expander was horrid. The seater so so....the seating stem doesn't fit some bullets very well. I like the FCD because it gives a good consistent crimp and I like the idea of the post sizing.

What I buy now is a Lyman die set because the two step expander gives way straighter seating than the Lee and because of the two seating stems. I finish the set off with a Lee FCD. Since I switched to Lyman dies there are a lot less bulges for the FCD post sizer to deal with.

I've never tried Dillon dies.

I use and like Lee collet dies but haven`t tried the FC dies. The bulge in handgun ammo is usually caused by the bullet as it`s seated expanding the case. (The case ID is smaller then the bullets OD) The FC die swages the case back down to a uniform size and I feel it must be swaging the bullet also. I don`t feel this is the best treatment for bullets that you want to go where you point. More notably jacketed ones.

I don`t know if this is the case or not but just my thoughts.........Ohh, I use Lyman and RCBS for my handguns ammo.