Desert Eagle 44 mag Range Report

[zombie44]

I have owned and shot only revolvers up to this point. The 44 mag was my favorite shooter by far, I just love the muzzle blast and the recoil that it produces! I can't get enough of that cartridge, I must have close to 1500 pieces of 44 mag brass waiting to be tumbled and deprimed. But anyway I wanted a similar experience in a semiauto so I thought maybe a 10mm would be a good start. Of course this meant investing in new dies, brass and bullets. But then I spotted, tucked away in the bottom shelf of my local shop, a rather large box with a picture of a semiauto and the words '44 Magnum Semi-Auto Pistol' on it!!

It was crowded that day and with people all around the counter, opening the box elicted quite a few ohhs and ahhs but also some eye rolling and looks of disgust But once I held the gun in my hand and verified it indeed took the very same rounds I shoot out of my revolver, I bought it on the spot

It appears to be an early model, Mark I Desert Eagle 44 mag, my guess from around the late 80's. It seems well maintained, shot little and came complete with box, papers and assorted tools. My initial reloads didn't work out too well and a few times I had to pound out a squib from the barrel. I thought maybe there might've be an issue with the Wolf primers though I've had no problems at all shooting them through my revolvers. Then I recall while cycling dummy rounds through the DE I noticed sometimes the slide wouldn't slam home tight entirely and perhaps this slightly out of battery condition might have been the cause of my squibs as well. Considering it's age I thought maybe the recoil springs needed to be changed out but in the meantime I peformed a more thorough cleaning with some extra application of lube. For my lube of choice I used what I had laying around which happened to be some Synthetic Brake Caliper Grease It's high temp and thick enough to stay put.

I also polished up a bit the feed ramp and magazine lip

Experimented with a few different loads initially

And settled on 18.0g of AA#9

So with the extra lube job, polishing and a watchful eye on any possible out of battery condition, I managed to fire off all 100 rounds from my new batch of reloads without a single issue

It's definitely my new fun gun now Also 18.0g is a starting load according to my Lyman manual so you don't necessarily have to run the hottest loads for the Desert Eagle to function well.

 

[ratt_finkel]

They are wonderfully fun guns to shoot. Push that target back to 25 yards. I think you will be amazed with the accuracy.

 

[788Ham]

Looks like you did alright with the new piece! I have the old tried and true S&W 629 6", really a shooter also. You use whatever you like on your piece, if you want to give a try, get some Gun Butter, about $10 -$12 for a small bottle, give this a try, worked wonders on a little Beretta .32 I bought a couple months ago. Good luck and congratulations!

 

[CHEVELLE427]

you do know not to shoot lead in it?

i have the mk 19 50/44, loves them on the hot side

mine likes 2400 and h110

 

[husker]

Nice . I want one in 357 mag

 

[MTMilitiaman]

The Desert Eagle gets a bad rap in some crowds, and I've never understood why.

There are plenty of people on board with massive revolvers firing digit-sized cartridges, you'd think more people would like the idea of an auto with the same power.

My dad and my grandpa both having earlier Mk VII .44 Mag Desert Eagles, and my bro has a Mk XIX .50 AE. The .44s are rail gun accurate in the right hands, and seem to favor the hot loads my dad feeds them. He's never had any interest in cast loads, so he's never had much of an issue with reliability. You do have to manhandle them, as they can be prone to limpwrist malfunctions, which do induce a shortstroking or out-of-battery condition, but the .44 Mag Desert Eagle is among the softest shooting .44s I've ever handled. I think this is largely attributed to its heft and gas operation. I've seen my dad rattle off six or more hits out of a mag, supported offhand, on a hanging steel tie plate at 100 yards with his, so the pistol is more than up to the task if you want to get good and take it into the field as a hunting piece.

My bro has the .50 AE. Ammo is harder to find and more expensive so we haven't shot it as much. My first couple mags made an impression on me though. While not painful, this pistol will move you if you don't grab ahold, and like the .44, but more so, the .50 loves to be manhandled. Watching it move unchopped wet fir rounds we had laying around waiting to be split into firewood, and the resulting chunks those 325 gr Speers blew out the backside of them, was rad, and in the late afternoon shade of my grandpa's wooded property, there was still plenty of muzzle flash to accompany that [voice of Marvin the Martin] "Earth-shattering ka-BOOM!"[/voice of Marvin the Martin]

With a Mini Aimpoint or Dr. Optic, I would imagine either of these pistols would be murder on a feral pig population, and can attest that they are more than adequate for deer and black bear as well.



Here's a .50 AE loaded with a 325 gr Speer next to a .44 Mag, probably loaded with either a 240 gr Speer or a Sierra of the same weight:

 

[CHEVELLE427]

they get a bad rap because some don't know how to shoot them, or it is too big for there little hands.

i have had 3 and loved each one, i have a package now that is a mk19 50ae with a 44 barrel in satin and brushed chrome, 15-16 mags 3 holsters, Bushnell trophy red dot with a b-sq mount on on the 50 and a 4x scope on the 44, have 500+ loaded rounds and 200 wanting to get reloaded. i bought mine to shoot not admire, like ford /chevy. some like them some don't, now days they are all about the same in cars as guns. not much junk out there, there is some cheep guns and high dollar ones as well. all serve their purpose in life.

I WANT A 460 INSTEAD OF A 500 i think the 460 is better all round and it shoots 460,454,45lc, what more do you need

READ MY SIG LINE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I THINK ABOUT GUN PRICES

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

One of the reasons is because of its reputation as a overly large, movie, video game gun.
Some people buy these for legitimate purposes while others because its cool. I've talked to some people that only own one gun and its a Desert Eagle in which that is just plain stupid in my opinion.

 

[Onmilo]

If my stupid state ever allows semi auto handguns for deer hunting, a 10" .44 Magnum Desert Eagle is on my short list!

 

[Rembrandt]

Love my DE .44......recoil is mild compared to the revolvers. Very few guns (ie: Luger's, 1911's, SAA's) have a distinctive profile recognition that identifies it as an original, not a copy of something else.

 

[Morgo]

Congrats mate, the Desert Eagles are great fun guns.

I have an XIX .357 in Brushed Chrome.

The triggers are good and they are quite accurate. I've used mine on 200 yard metallic silhouettes

 

[Harley Quinn]

Yes they are nice shooters once you get them dialed in, the 44 Mag. is very mild in them...

The one you have, I have a slide and barrel in 357 for it, that I bought years ago thinking I would get the Mdl 1, but did not...

Bought the Model 19 (XIX) instead, with numerous barrels to go with it, 44Mag was original one then bought the 50AE...I have the 440 Corbon barrel also, along with dies etc.. for reloading

I have found the slower burning powders, at full "max" in 10" barrels to be the way I like to go...

The DE is made, to eat hot!!! Fast burning powder is a no no imho...

Info on the 440 Corbon, if you have not read about that and the 50AE much...
http://zvis.com/dep/articles/aevscorb.shtml
Regards

 

[twofifty]

Two questions (please pardon my ignorance):

1. does the DE fire rimmed 44mag handgun cartridges?
2. picture seems to show a rotary locking breech & bolt - is that so?

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Two questions (please pardon my ignorance):

1. does the DE fire rimmed 44mag handgun cartridges?
2. picture seems to show a rotary locking breech & bolt - is that so?

1. Yes. .44 Remington Magnum.
2. Yes.

 

[cougar1717]

OP - please don't fire lead bullets in your DE. It's not like a revolver in that lead bullet shavings and lube will get caught in the gas tube that cycles the gun. It's tough to clean that junk out of a DE. Just want to try to save you some headache.

 

[Harley Quinn]

This is the website of DE in days of old explaining the ammo and cleaning of pistol...

http://www.magnumresearch.com/faq_deserteagle.asp

They have a new owner now, Kahr...

"Kahr Arms Purchases Magnum Research"

http://www.kahr.com/kahr-news.asp

Regards