New Desert Eagle owner...

[westcliffe01]

Thanks to a tip by member M1A Springfield (http://www.migunowners.org/forum/member.php?u=6915) I will shortly be the "new" owner of a Desert Eagle in 44 Magnum. And he will no longer be tormented by seeing it an Genos... It is on its way to my FFL by snail mail, so it will be next week before I an handle it.

Back in my youth I had an uncle who 'concealed carried" a Ruger Redhawk in 44Mag with a 7" barrel on a daily basis and I got to shoot it once, so looking forward to carrying this while hunting.

[partdeux]

conceal carry a desert eagle?

[westcliffe01]

I have a cpl, but no, concealed carry was not the idea.. Looking for a nice western style holster to carry it on the hip when in bear country..

[..DETROIT..]

Congrats on the .44 mag Desert Eagle. It is definitely a show stopper. There are however a few things about the Eagle that have plagued my friend about his. Although he hasn't had any real issues with range rounds, it seems to be very picky about the types hollow points that are used. Jamming on some and not others. Secondly, after 50+ rounds at the range it becomes extremely "filthy" on the feed ramp and action and has a tendency to start sticking and jamming. Lastly, there was a malfunction at freezing temperature where the ejector wouldn't release the round, stayed forward and released the tension on the small plate that holds the firing pin and spring in. The plate fell out from the lack of tension and the spring and pin flew out. I believe the last issue might have been resolved by some "exta" oil, buy I really don't know. These may be isolated problems, but being that he always carries it, it has caused him to question it as to the reliability of using it as a carry. Please don't take this as downing the Eagle, just as an observation.

[JohnJak]

Congrats on the .44 mag Desert Eagle. It is definitely a show stopper. There are however a few things about the Eagle that have plagued my friend about his. Although he hasn't had any real issues with range rounds, it seems to be very picky about the types hollow points that are used. Jamming on some and not others. Secondly, after 50+ rounds at the range it becomes extremely "filthy" on the feed ramp and action and has a tendency to start sticking and jamming. Lastly, there was a malfunction at freezing temperature where the ejector wouldn't release the round, stayed forward and released the tension on the small plate that holds the firing pin and spring in. The plate fell out from the lack of tension and the spring and pin flew out. I believe the last issue might have been resolved by some "exta" oil, buy I really don't know. These may be isolated problems, but being that he always carries it, it has caused him to question it as to the reliability of using it as a carry. Please don't take this as downing the Eagle, just as an observation.
He should have bought a Glock.

[Wolvee]

I don't know about trusting a DE for bear country. They are not that reliable. At least none of the ones I've shot were reliable.

If you want a bear country pistol go with a .460 Smith, .454c Ruger or a Glock 20 10mm.

[jmilch]

I have a cpl, but no, concealed carry was not the idea.. Looking for a nice western style holster to carry it on the hip when in bear country..

I was going to ask for pics carrying :gobble: :pirate: :pirate:

[Trackman]

Put Several Thousand Rounds thru Mine and the Only Problems I have had is when I tried to use Non Jacketed Rounds. Book Clearly States to only use Jacketed Rounds But i thought what the Heck I only had a Few I wanted to get rid of. If you Don't use Jacketed Rounds then the Lead gets into the Gas Piston and Binds it up. This is not the Fault of the Firearm.

[..DETROIT..]

Lead? Who shoots lead out of a DE? I was refering to the powder and carbon build-up after firing 50+ rounds. Hell, the gun is filthy after the first mag. I have to agree with a previous response. The DE is NOT a firearm I would bet my life on.

[Buffman]

Lastly, there was a malfunction at freezing temperature where the ejector wouldn't release the round, stayed forward and released the tension on the small plate that holds the firing pin and spring in. The plate fell out from the lack of tension and the spring and pin flew out..

Not quite sure how that happended since the firing pin spring is always keeping tension on the retaining block. Was his a Mark VII or a MARK XIX?

[westcliffe01]

Detroit, what ammo were you shooting ? Factory or reloads ? I have found some factory ammo to be pretty dirty, but my reloads not ? I don't have a bunch of experience with this caliber, so I guess I will find out soon. My uncle shot championship silhouette contests with his Redhawk and Blackhawk. He won many awards and carried the Redhawk in a shoulder holster as his daily carry.

I guess we should be glad that the AR15 deposits all of its "junk" inside the action where one does not see it...


Lead? Who shoots lead out of a DE? I was refering to the powder and carbon build-up after firing 50+ rounds. Hell, the gun is filthy after the first mag. I have to agree with a previous response. The DE is NOT a firearm I would bet my life on.

[..DETROIT..]

The range rounds are reloads from a supplier (michigan ammo I believe) and the hollow points are new Remingtons. By function all firearms have unburnt powder and carbon residue deposited during operation. You really can't compare the DE with an AR in that aspect. They're not even remotely close. All I'm saying is the DE has a unique design, and it takes alot of powder to move that slide. The DE is a very nice looking gun and is super fun to shoot, just not really reliable. There usually are two sides to every story. There's the people who love 'em and the people who don't. After you get and shoot yours, you'll be one of the two.

[westcliffe01]

I'm looking to have the barrel Magnaported. They are recommended by Magnum research. It looks like a standard job is $95 but it may be a little extra because of the wall thickness of the barrel.

[Buffman]

IIRC they recommend the quad port, and I thought it was $125.. I can't remember. I emailed magnaport a few months ago asking them the price to do my .50

[westcliffe01]

I picked up the pistol today at my FFL. I was surprised that it was not nearly as heavy as I expected. Another bonus was that it came with a second magazine, which I had not been expecting. It does not look like it has been used much.

I got a black leather hip holster
http://www.tjgeneralstore.com/holst_leath_hip.jpg

as well as a cordura shoulder holster
http://www.tjgeneralstore.com/holst_cord_shoulder.jpg

Now I need some ammo (something with good brass) and get to know the beast. This weekend will be taken up with some last minute doe hunting, so it will have to wait a while...

[joepistol]

My reloading buddy back in San Diego had a DE in 44 mag that I shot on many occassions, (back in the early 80's).. If kept clean, it would function well for about 100 rounds, before residue would cause cycling problems. If you gave it a quick clean, it'd continue to function for about the same interval. We shot reloads almost exclusively (his loads) and learned it required 240 gr bullets (we used jacketed bullets) and near full power loads to cycle reliably. Lighter bullets would not cycle the action reliably. I recall he used Bluedot powder in his loads,.Most impressive to me was the mild recoil of those stout rounds when fired through the DE..and impressive accuracy. I recall literally tearing out the center of a target while shooting thru a magazine as quickly as I could. Fast sight recovery and follow up shots were possible due to an excellent gas system bleeding off pressure & minimizing recoil to a surprising degree.I have often considered adding a DE as a range toy, but high cost for limited use has kept one away. I still consider it, every time I see a used one...To think, I believed it to be "too expensive" at around $600.00, back then.. my :twocents:...Joepistol..:pistols: