Desert Eagle .50 AE Load Data

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Homesteader Hodges

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Looking for some good load data on the .50 AE. Bullet being used would be a 350 grain Sierra JHP. Everything else is to be determined pending information received.

If there is a reloading book out there for the 50 specifically, I would be interested in buying that.
 
Demi-human said:
Ditto...:)
The most well known “obscure” cartridge.

What powder have you got?
Click to expand...
Haha... I know right?!
I have some old green dot 2400, but am willing to switch to whatever to make it work.
Most of the loads that I see are calling for H110 or H4227.
I'm hoping that there is somebody out there listening that has worked with this to give us a starting point.
 
I have not branched out in to powders much, as H-110 is wonderful in my Bushmaster, Blackout and Desert Eagle. But I am full tilt with those. They’re my race cars!

I have to check my record book, I am at the Doc’s now... hello nurse! Ahem! Yes, books! I’ll PM you with my personal load data tonight, after I get my finger cut up. And hopefully get a number!:evil:

“Dimmest ink, is brighter than brightest memory.” ~ Confucius

Ha! I must have been too distracted to hit “post” at the Doc’s.;)

And Welcome to the Forum!
 
I guess one nice thing about published .50AE load data is that it is pretty much all developed specifically for the Desert Eagle. I have found much less variation between manuals for this cartridge vs. most others.

I like H110 and AA#9 for powders. I’ve never been a fan of 4227. It doesn’t meter as well and it throws unburned chunks everywhere.
 
GarrettJ said:
I guess one nice thing about published .50AE load data is that it is pretty much all developed specifically for the Desert Eagle. I have found much less variation between manuals for this cartridge vs. most others.

I like H110 and AA#9 for powders. I’ve never been a fan of 4227. It doesn’t meter as well and it throws unburned chunks everywhere.
Click to expand...
I agree, there is not much variation. Seems to be enough information out there to at least get me to a starting point.
I have leaned more towards the H110. Do have any wisdom on Alliant 2400? From what I can tell, these 2400 loads are using less grains than the H110.
 
FWIW, I've never had any luck with 2400 accuracy at all in either my 6 or 10 inch .50.
My notes go back quite a few years on the .50, and re-reading some it brought back my shock on the poor results
that 2400 gave me. At the time (and still today) it was one of my absolute favorites in heavy revolver loads.

Both of my .50s will shoot plated bullets with no issues - no failure of the plating in water testing and in
examination of the gas port area.
One of my early (.357) DEs with cut rifling will not take plated at all.
Just re-read your post OP! You have the dough to shoot jacketed!

My .50 powder is, hands down, 4227 with bullets from 275 grs. (which was THE most accurate
.50 bullet I ever shot - discontinued years ago) through the 335 gr.
I will agree with GarrettJ that H110 burns a little cleaner (I use a separate taper crimp die for loading - firm crimp)
but I prefer to work with the slightly dirtier 4227 because it is just as accurate for me (albeit a tad slower) and it does not throw brass my way.
4227 puts the brass over my right shoulder by two feet and in a nice pile behind me.
Another big plus of 4227 is the lack of muzzle flash, especially in the 10 inch barrel.

H110 brings the cases over the top of the slide toward me if there is any
let up in my hold, and I do like shooting the DEs from field positions.
It also has quite a bit of muzzle flash in the 6 inch guns.

I have no data on 350gr. bullets.
Googled a picture of the 350. Sure looks like that will be seating RIGHT to the ogive
just as I have to do with the 335 grainers.
Can only say if you gave me a box of them, I'd try 28 grs. of 4227 and work up as needed.
I shoot 31 grs. with the 335s and 32 with 300s and 325s.

JT
 
Homesteader Hodges said:
I agree, there is not much variation. Seems to be enough information out there to at least get me to a starting point.
I have leaned more towards the H110. Do have any wisdom on Alliant 2400? From what I can tell, these 2400 loads are using less grains than the H110.
Click to expand...

I checked Alliant and Hodgdon and they have absolutely no data for the 50 AE to my surprise. I checked my Speer, Lee, and Hornady manuals and could only find data for 300's and 325's. I looked to see if Loadbooks USA puts out a 50 AE book which would have Sierra data and again to my surprise they don't. Looks like you may have to buy a Sierra manual or switch to a different bullet unfortunately.

I could give you data for 2400 or H110 if you have some speer(300 or 325) or hornady(300). Hornady makes a 350 but they only have data for the 500 mag... Amazed their isn't more data out there for .50 AE.

Best of luck!
 
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I just checked all of my manuals, and could also only find data for 300 and 325 gr. bullets.

Craig28 said:
Looks like you may have to buy a Sierra manual or switch to a different bullet unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I just checked my Sierra 5th Ed. manual, and they don't list anything for .50AE. There is a 6th Ed out there now. But looking online, they do not appear to have a .50AE listing in that one either. You can download the cartridge list for that manual at https://www.sierrabullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/6th-ed-cartridge-list.pdf

I'm guessing Sierra's .50 cal bullet is intended for the .500 S&W.

I found Sierra also has an app that you can install on a tablet or phone. I assume it has the same set of data as in their print manual. They give you a handful of cartridge data, but you have to subscribe to get all of the data. It's only $5 per year. I didn't really care for the layout or how to navigate the app. Maybe I'm just old fasioned, but I still prefer a printed manual anyway.

I did try loading some 350 gr. XTP a while back. I want to say I just used the starting load for the 325 gr. bullet. 29.0 gr. of H110 gave me 1250 fps from my 6" barrel.

Best of luck. Let us know if you come up with anything that we might have missed.
 
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GarrettJ said:
I just checked all of my manuals, and could also only find data for 300 and 325 gr. bullets.


I just checked my Sierra 5th Ed. manual, and they don't list anything for .50AE. There is a 6th Ed out there now. But looking online, they do not appear to have a .50AE listing in that one either. You can download the cartridge list for that manual at https://www.sierrabullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/6th-ed-cartridge-list.pdf

I'm guessing Sierra's .50 cal bullet is intended for the .500 S&W.
Click to expand...

If that's the case, then I'd suggest looking into another bullet where data can easily be found for the powder he wants to use.

I get data off the internet sometimes, but I like my manuals. I have yet to use any apps for reloading data.
 
JT-AR-MG42 said:
FWIW, I've never had any luck with 2400 accuracy at all in either my 6 or 10 inch .50.
My notes go back quite a few years on the .50, and re-reading some it brought back my shock on the poor results
that 2400 gave me. At the time (and still today) it was one of my absolute favorites in heavy revolver loads.

Both of my .50s will shoot plated bullets with no issues - no failure of the plating in water testing and in
examination of the gas port area.
One of my early (.357) DEs with cut rifling will not take plated at all.
Just re-read your post OP! You have the dough to shoot jacketed!

My .50 powder is, hands down, 4227 with bullets from 275 grs. (which was THE most accurate
.50 bullet I ever shot - discontinued years ago) through the 335 gr.
I will agree with GarrettJ that H110 burns a little cleaner (I use a separate taper crimp die for loading - firm crimp)
but I prefer to work with the slightly dirtier 4227 because it is just as accurate for me (albeit a tad slower) and it does not throw brass my way.
4227 puts the brass over my right shoulder by two feet and in a nice pile behind me.
Another big plus of 4227 is the lack of muzzle flash, especially in the 10 inch barrel.

H110 brings the cases over the top of the slide toward me if there is any
let up in my hold, and I do like shooting the DEs from field positions.
It also has quite a bit of muzzle flash in the 6 inch guns.

I have no data on 350gr. bullets.
Googled a picture of the 350. Sure looks like that will be seating RIGHT to the ogive
just as I have to do with the 335 grainers.
Can only say if you gave me a box of them, I'd try 28 grs. of 4227 and work up as needed.
I shoot 31 grs. with the 335s and 32 with 300s and 325s.

JT
Click to expand...
It does appear that either the 4227 and H110 are the powders of choice for any of these loads. I have used the 2400 with the 300's and 325's with decent success in the past, but nothing to jump up and down about. Still hoping to find a nice combo for the gun. That is why the jump in bullet weight and more than likely a change in powder. I do like the sound of the 4227 not throwing the brass my way. The 2400 has always thrown the brass all over the place.

If I cannot find anymore information than I have on this bullet, then I will probably do as I would have done in the beginning and as you and others have suggested, start with 28 or so grains and work my way up.

Thank you for the information. It was a help to me.
 
Craig28 said:
I checked Alliant and Hodgdon and they have absolutely no data for the 50 AE to my surprise. I checked my Speer, Lee, and Hornady manuals and could only find data for 300's and 325's. I looked to see if Loadbooks USA puts out a 50 AE book which would have Sierra data and again to my surprise they don't. Looks like you may have to buy a Sierra manual or switch to a different bullet unfortunately.

I could give you data for 2400 or H110 if you have some speer(300 or 325) or hornady(300). Hornady makes a 350 but they only have data for the 500 mag... Amazed their isn't more data out there for .50 AE.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks for checking!
 
anyone ever have a .50 AE DE gas chamber plug because of lead bullets, i have a manufacturer that says his lead is 25 on the hardness scale, safe to use????
 
braumair said:
anyone ever have a .50 AE DE gas chamber plug because of lead bullets, i have a manufacturer that says his lead is 25 on the hardness scale, safe to use????
Click to expand...
It will be just fine... until it’s not. And then you will have a big manually operated pistol.

Or you can buy a lot of plated or jacketed bullets the cost of a barrel.

When Rainier was around, they had the most economical bullets to load the .50AE with. Now that they are gone, I believe Berry’s is the next best low-cost option. I wouldn’t use lead in any of my DE barrels, and I have my doubts about coated bullets as well.
 
braumair said:
anyone ever have a .50 AE DE gas chamber plug because of lead bullets?
Click to expand...
I’m not brave enough to try.
I really like the HyTek coated bullets, the coating is very tough. Yet it can still be scraped off. Since the gas port is in the area that the bullet is still obturating, they are very likely to be scraped by the gas port.
Then there is the gas cutting as the lead is vaporized by the gasses passing by it entering the port. Even hard lead melts.


The first barrel on my Desert Eagle was very rough in the bore. The violence of the shot would chew copper off the sides of jacketed ammunition and blow copper bits through the port. Coating the gas plug with a gold, then green patina. The rest of the rifling tore copper off and deposited a flare around the muzzle.

Even in the new, smooth as a babies backside barrel I’d not chance it.

I wonder if the barrel steel is harmed by the low heat of melting out the lead? I’ll never know…:D
 
GarrettJ said:
It will be just fine... until it’s not. And then you will have a big manually operated pistol.
Click to expand...

upload_2021-10-24_22-52-37.png

Second that...

The gas pathway for the Desert Eagle is a bizarre one.

I have a picture of a cutaway barrel somewhere, and it looks as weird as it is in the drawing...
 
Mark_Mark said:
DE .50 is on my top cool must have gun
Click to expand...
i just nabbed a used one , had 20 rounds of XTP 300gr to burn up, also loaded 20 XTP 350 gr and tried 28.2 gr of H110 and 29gr H110 respectively, my opinion is that it will operate much better with 300 or lower, i also got .44mag and .357 mag in same, i like operating the DE's but the loads i get good performance and accuracy from , are a lot slower than many ive seen on intranet, ill soon have 6 altogether, i like having a couple sitting on cleaning table while watching movies
 
The Glockodile said:
That’s the one...
Click to expand...
thanks for info
i just nabbed a used .50 cal , had 20 rounds of XTP 300gr to burn up, also loaded 20 XTP 350 gr and tried 28.2 gr of H110 and 29gr H110 respectively, my opinion is that it will operate much better with 300 or lower, i also got .44mag and .357 mag in same, i like operating the DE's but the loads i get good performance and accuracy from , are a lot slower than many ive seen on intranet, ill soon have 6 altogether, i like having a couple sitting on cleaning table while watching movies
 
Demi-human said:
I’m not brave enough to try.
I really like the HyTek coated bullets, the coating is very tough. Yet it can still be scraped off. Since the gas port is in the area that the bullet is still obturating, they are very likely to be scraped by the gas port.
Then there is the gas cutting as the lead is vaporized by the gasses passing by it entering the port. Even hard lead melts.


The first barrel on my Desert Eagle was very rough in the bore. The violence of the shot would chew copper off the sides of jacketed ammunition and blow copper bits through the port. Coating the gas plug with a gold, then green patina. The rest of the rifling tore copper off and deposited a flare around the muzzle.

Even in the new, smooth as a babies backside barrel I’d not chance it.

I wonder if the barrel steel is harmed by the low heat of melting out the lead? I’ll never know…:D
Click to expand...
 
well there is being just plain paranoid, if brass goes through gas port so should lead, could soak in lead dissolvent now and again? i have 6 DE's now, 2 .50, 2.44, 2 .357, really want to get a 10" barrel for a couple but hard to say up here in canada, when that available
 
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