Desert Eagle 50 AE

[Edward429451]

So 3 MP's were at the range last Sunday and one of them had a DE 50.
That thing was a single shot. Boom, tap it into battary, Boom tap, Boom tap. The slide locked back in the middle of the mag frequently also.

He let me put a mag through it and slide locked back first shot. I seen this before with my G21, thumb rides up in recoil and engages slide stop. Locked down the stonghand thumb with my support hand and boomboomboomboomboom, just not that fast!

That was my only malf that first one. I concluded that they were limp wristing the gun. They were blaming the mag. Its hard for a skinney guy to tell a strapping young MP that he was limp wristing it, but he was politely not hearing it. I'm very used to heavy 44 mag loads and I highly suspect he was used to shooting 9's!

Shooting heavy loads is more about proper form than it is brute strength, am I right?

Whaddaya DE owners think? Is limp wristing the pistol a big problem or are they just real tight when new and need broken in? I don't see how a bad mag would keep it from going into battary...

I'd be interested in hearing about any problems you all may have experianced with your DE's.

Overall, it was much more than I expected. I expected something compareable to a heavy 44 mag, seeing as how its more powerful but in a bigger heavier gas gun. I was wrong. Recoil's significantly more! I could feel it in my wrist after just 6 shots. I see no practical use for the gun that a smaller properly stoked 44 mag couldn't do. Not to mention the cost of ammo.! But it was a Blast to shoot 6 Times!!

 

[Nightcrawler]

It's EASY to limp wrist a DE .50, from what I'm told.

Funny story: Friend of mine rented one at Impact Guns in Ogden, UT when we were there in June. A case ejected straight back with such force that the lip (it had flipped around so that the headstamp was facing away from him) literally cut his nose, and it literally bled...

It's quite a thump. I was two lanes over and I could feel the heat from the thing.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Shooting heavy loads is more about proper form than it is brute strength, am I right?

You're absolutely right. The .50 A.E. is quite a little bit more cartridge than my arthritis is comfortable with, but the few times I've shot it, I've hung onto the gun firmly: you end up with better accuracy and less residual pain that way.

 

[Kamicosmos]

I'm always snagging the safety on my friend's 50.

Also, on my Mark I .357, the saftey is pretty loose, and will swing down on it's own. I put some of the 'not-so lock tite' on there to keep it in position.

Also also, the oval shapped piece that holds the two spring guides goes in a certain way, and if it's in upside down, it can be very difficult to work the slide by hand, and it can bind up and lock the slide halfway open as well.

 

[Edward429451]

A case ejected straight back with such force that the lip (it had flipped around so that the headstamp was facing away from him) literally cut his nose, and it literally bled...

Uhh, yeah. Failed to mention that but that thing put every single case into my face! All the other guys too. One of the guys put a real nice 1/4 moon right in front of his eye on his new safety glasses. Puts all the brass at your feet so to speak.

I held that baby out there in a locked arm weaver hold and refused it to come back, forced it up (I had been watchin them shoot it!) Lotsa muzzle rise. I did pretty good with it too at 50 yds, on the paper. Cept for the two times I flinched. :banghead:

It would take some gettin used to...

(How can a military man go prone with an AR and demonstrate such fine trigger control and then jump right up and start jerking the pea outta the trigger on the DE so much? Tsk Tsk. I wanted to say something but felt it wouldn't be well received so refrained. )

 

[C.R.Sam]

Shooting heavy loads is more about proper form than it is brute strength, am I right?

Yup.

Sam

 

[uglymofo]

Shooting heavy loads is more about proper form than it is brute strength, am I right?

If that weren't true, really big novice shooters (football lineman-types) would be able to outshoot experienced littler guys, and that just ain't true.

 

[Edward429451]

Isn't it great how mother nature evens out the playing field for us?

Ghengis Kahn wouldn't last long in todays world.

If that weren't true, really big novice shooters (football lineman-types) would be able to outshoot experienced littler guys, and that just ain't true.

(Specially if the bigger guy jerks the trigger. )

A real hoot to shoot though. They shot a watermelon with it and the resulting explosion was bigger than some rifle rounds do to them when I've shot them!

 

[raz-0]

you sir have hit the nail on the head.

#1 cause of DE problems.

not reading the last page of the manual.. which tells you the proper technique to shoot it.


#2 cause of DE problems

not cleaning it porperly/thoroughly

#3 cause of problems feeding it ammo it doesn't like.

From your description of the MPs problems, it was either all technique, or he is getting close to needing a thorough cleaning and it was exagerating problems cause by poor, but not awful technique.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

The indoor range where I shoot has a modest shooting area -- about 50' long by 50' wide. Automated lanes, etc.

I was shooting there one afternoon, when I looked over my shoulder, and saw a bunch of folks watching me from the glass viewing window. About that time something that felt like a sonic boom hit, waves of sound and vibrations rolled off the wall, etc., I jump back and looked around, only to see the folks at the window laughing so hard they were almost in tears.

At the other end of the range, one enthusiast had just touched off his DE in .50 AE

One of the folks laughing was the range owner.

A week or so ago, another shooter came into his range with a new S&W .500 and several different loads. The owner got to shoot it, with both light (-weight lead) and heavy loads.

He said it was a very painful experience.

The gun owner shot it 10 times, and his hands were visibly brusing before he finished the last round. The range owner shot several of the light loads and said no matter what he did, it was painful to shoot, but tolerable

But he shot only one of the heavy loads (480 Gr?); that was enough. His hand was still tender a week later.

As far as I'm concerned, you can have all of these guns. I want one that hurts the game or the bad guy, not me.

 

[raz-0]

well, I dunno about the .500 magnum, but I've never heard of anyone describing the .50AE as more than mildly unlpleasant to shoot. Certainly nobody fearing any actual bruising or damage from it.

The gas system and sheer mass mellows things quite a bit.

 

[Edward429451]

it was either all technique, or he is getting close to needing a thorough cleaning and it was exagerating problems cause by poor, but not awful technique.

I took a pretty hard look at it and it was very clean. Kind of dry, but clean. Whats the odds of all of them having the same malfs consisitently and then me not? I only shot the one mag so its feasible I guess that I got lucky, but not likely.

As far as I'm concerned, you can have all of these guns

I can't think of a practical use for it either, but the cool factor was off the scale. Not quite cool enough to buy one though.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

Re: cool factor

The guy I mentioned who had the S&W .500 plans to keep the gun, and pull it out once in a while. He'll probably get an unsuspecting (maybe soon to be ex-) friend to try it. It will be the source of much discussion over the years, I'm sure.

I think some of ammo costs $3+ a shot. Can you even get reloading dies for this round?!

 

[Edward429451]

They make dies for the 50 AE. About 45 bucks, not bad.

He said he got the cheapest ammo he could find and it was right at 20 bucks for 20 rounds. I bet the componants are expensive too. Not being able to load lead would be a drag.

If I hit the lotto I'd prolly buy one.

But I don't play the Lotto.

 

[raz-0]

I took a pretty hard look at it and it was very clean. Kind of dry, but clean. Whats the odds of all of them having the same malfs consisitently and then me not? I only shot the one mag so its feasible I guess that I got lucky, but not likely.

yeah well if they all teacupped it, it'll cause jams. Also trying to "roll it off" like a magnum revolver causes much hassles. Even just a spongey weaver stance can cause feeding issues.

The super paraphrased technique is that you need to basically lean into it. Kind of a weaver stance, but stiff arm it and absorb the recoil with the shoulder rather than the elbow.

The illustrative picture looks kind of like a good IPSC stance from the shoulders down. then the arms are modified weaver with the shooting arm sort of locked at the elbow.

Perhaps I will scan that last page of the manual and put it up for posterity.

 

[Gewehr98]

Lots of slide mass, and stiff recoil springs...

Yup, it can be limp-wristed. My 5'2", 110lb wife did that with my Mk1 Desert Eagle. Considering the fact that these big gas guns like full house loads, there's plenty of opportunity for a marginal factory load in the .357, .41, and .44 versions to barely cycle the action, and a less-than-solid hold would cause problems.

 

[Edward429451]

The super paraphrased technique is that you need to basically lean into it. Kind of a weaver stance, but stiff arm it and absorb the recoil with the shoulder rather than the elbow.

I think I've always just naturally leaned into it. Now that I think about it, seems like alot of people don't. Interesting. May be a correlation there regarding experiance?

there's plenty of opportunity for a marginal factory load in the .357, .41, and .44 versions to barely cycle the action, and a less-than-solid hold would cause problems.

I see your point but they sure didn't feel marginal!

 

[FB3]

I've never fired a .50, but I had a .44 mag with a 10" barrel which was completely reliable and very accurate. I real hoot to shoot. Put a Bushnell Holosight on it and it looked like something out of Robo Cop. Wish that I hadn't sold it.

 

[clubsoda22]

I dunno about you guys, but i want to see a 500 S&W snubbie. Nothing scarier looking than a small gun with a big bore and a muzzle flash that crispens your targets at 15 yards. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!