Desert Eagle questions

[Cousin Mike]

Hello all. First post here @ THR, although I have visited many times before for information, and found this site very helpful. I have a question for anyone who owns any caliber of the Magnum Research Desert Eagle Mark XIX... I have only one gun at the moment for self defense (and fun at the range of course), an Auto Ordnance 1911A1 PKZ (my plain Jane .45), and am looking to expand my collection in the near future. Although there are many choices out there that are more practical for SD, I have found myself drawn to the Desert Eagle in .44 Mag. I basically would like to know 2 things about the pistol before I spend a small fortune on it.

First, I would like opinions on weather or not the gun is suitable / practical for self defense, as this is ALWAYS my first consideration when purchasing any firearm. I have heard people refer to them as being "only suitable for punching holes in paper targets" on more than one occasion, though I doubt the people making these remarks were actual DE owners.

And secondly, are they as well made as they should be for the price? Gun magazines always seem to give these things great reviews, but I am really leery of the whole 'paid gunwriter's opinion' thing.. I have heard here and there about problems with ejection concerning the Desert Eagle and Baby Eagle alike... Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Black Majik]

I've shot a DE in .44 before, and I was pleasantly surprised by the gun. I found the gun to be accurate, reliable and even very fun to shoot. BUT.... as a self defense gun, your 1911 would be much more suitable. The DE is HEAVY, its clunkly, and unless you got gorilla hands, wrapping your fingers around the grip is pretty difficult.

As a home defense gun, again, keep your 1911. The .45 ACP round is effective enough, it won't be nearly as loud as the .44, and you wont have to worry about overpenetration. Furthermore, you'll have much quicker follow-up shots with the 1911 than the DE. However, for a .44 magnum pistol, the DE doesn't recoil as much as a N frame revolver IMO.

Truthfully, to learn fundamentals, I honestly feel a DE as a 2nd gun would just lead to bad habits forming. I'd hold off on the DE, and get a smaller caliber with less recoil as the .45, such as a full size 9mm. Learn the basics of shooting, then move up to the .44. Yeah its no .500 S&W, .480 Ruger, or .50 AE, but the .44 is enough to get bad habits to start showin' up.

Good luck and welcome to THR. Stick around

 

[kingston_fisher]

They are very heavy, not very concealable, and just all around impractable for personal defense.

The weight of the gun makes me want to cup the bottom of the mag well with my off (left) hand. You can't do this with the DE because the mag must be allowed to float in the well. This forces me to hand over hand grip the gun, which to me just don't feel right.

I think that they are reliable, well built guns that are suited more for for hunting or range blasting. Mine stays in the back of the safe and it would be the last thing I would pull out if I felt I need to defend myself. On the other hand if you wanted to scare the living bejeezus out of someone, the muzzle flash and sound from one round of 50AE will defintely do the trick.

There isn't going to be much difference with the .44 as far as form and function are concerned.

 

[Cousin Mike]

Very good points...

...and thank you for the insight as well as the welcome. I can honestly say the one thing I never thought about was forming bad shooting habits as a result of adjusting to such a huge pistol.

As for my own shooting experience, I am by no means an expert. I have owned 4 guns before my .45 - 2 Beretta's (92FS and 81FS - the .32) a Hi Point .380 (please, don't ask) and a cheap .357 revolver given to me by my father (not sure of the brand on the revolver.. North Eastern or North American something or other)... All those were sold when I fell in love with the .45 I've also shot a few other pistols - had lots of fun with a friends Glock 21 on several occasions.

I can't produce any 2 inch groups at 75 yards, but from 35 feet or less I can produce such groups with my .45 - I realize this is no special achievement, although 35ft. is more than likely farther than I would ever have to deploy a weapon in self-defense as a civilian. I feel confident in my ability to defend my home, although I still practice as often as possible. The main reason I'm in the market for another pistol is my fiance wants once of her own, and to be honest, there really isnt another gift I would prefer this holiday season Thanks again Majik for the advice! Thoughts on the Baby Eagle would also be appreciated, as that's what the future Mrs. is considering.

 

[WarMachine]

As a hunting or range gun, the Desert Eagle is a blast. As a carry gun, it's about as practical as lugging around a Smith and Wesson X-frame. Not really worth the hassle if you ask me, as there are guns smaller and lighter that will serve a CCW purpose just as well.

As for the Baby Eagle, it's essetially a variant of the CZ-75. I haven't heard anything negative about them, but I would look to some of CZ's designs beforehand.

 

[mattjoe]

Honestly can't see the point of carrying one for self defense
But if you're stashing it in the house and using it as self defense against intruders, that would make sense. Otherwise, you're lugging around a lot more weight than you'd need to, and good luck drawing it real fast.
it's an excellent gun, they work great with the recommended factory loads, and with brand new brass loaded hot if you reload.
Use some brass loaded 3 or 4 times, i'll bet you'll have jams.
If you're strong enough to hold about 7 pounds out in front of you, then dont even give a second thought to the "it's too heavy" arguments.
The weight helps eat up a lot of the recoil, but it's certainly still there.

As for a fiance wanting a gift of a gun for her own, a desert eagle in 44 mag or up, is a very, very bad gift. (unless it's really for you) The felt recoil into the shooters palms will likely turn any smaller framed shooter off from shooting altogether.
We all know the jackasses who think they are soooo cool they can shoot a 44 mag, and want to hand one off to the little woman to try, and it hurts her, and makes her not want to shoot again. Yeah, real funny there sparky. Turn someone off from the sport. I'm not saying women can't handle them, but they aren't a gun to hand to a woman who has done very little shooting before, just like you wouldn't give a 16yr old a new corvette.

 

[Cousin Mike]

Honestly can't see the point of carrying one for self defense
But if you're stashing it in the house and using it as self defense against intruders, that would make sense.

Yep - only wanted for home defense, although I am a larger framed guy the 1911 is almost too big enough to carry comfortably.

As for a fiance wanting a gift of a gun for her own, a desert eagle in 44 mag or up, is a very, very bad gift. (unless it's really for you)

Yep.. it's for me... fiance started out shooting my 1911, and she handles it well - but the Baby Eagle in .45 is what she is considering for herself Thanks for the opinions and the feedback guys - I'll keep looking back for opinions, etc. For now, I'll be polite and stay out of my own thread for a few more posts.. lol

 

[GregGry]

I have shot off both the .44 mag, and the .50ae desert eagle pistols. I want the .50ae (and .44 mag barrel) for a fun mines bigger then yours range gun, but it sure wouldn't be my first pick if the SHTF at my house. For me the weight is not an issue, the size is just about right (a little bit fatter might even be a good thing), the recoil is managable, and its accurate. My issues with it are A the muzzle flash with most ammo, B how loud the blast is, C the cost of the pistol, and B the lack of ammo for the .50ae. Of course the ammo can be found, but there aren't many choices, and the costs are pretty high.

For hunting it would be great, for range fun time it would be great, but CCW would be nuts. I am one of the few people that could CCW a DE (and not have the gun sticking a foot out of my pants), however I would much rather have something smaller, less powerfull, and with a higher capacity. For home defense the first thing I will grab would be a shotgun, with a pistol for a back up. The DE would not be that pistol, I am not risking shooting through a perp, and having the bullet hit someone 2 houses down.

 

[Kurac]

I thought I wanted one too so I rented one at my local indoor range. The only ammo they had was Fed American Eagle in 240gr Soft Point. It only had about 20 failure to feeds out of 50 rounds. Accuracy was good, but don't put your face to close to the rear sight. I thought is was well made but I guess not well enough for a rental gun.

 

[eastwood44mag]

I tried holding a .357 BDE one time. Felt like trying to hold a beer stein without a handle. Heavy, awkward, and weird. Keeping in mind that a .44 is bigger, I just wouldn't want to deal with it.

Some rounds were never meant to be double-stacked.

 

[Cousin Mike]

Thanks everyone.

I've been weighing this pretty heavily - I've really wanted an Eagle for a long time. I'm sure a lot of folks have I'm sort of leaning towards maybe going for something else right now, unless I can find a used one pretty cheap. Fat chance of that though.

Starting a new thread for ideas on another pistol suggestion, but I will continue to check back here incase anyone can convince me to go ahead and drop the money on it.

 

[GregGry]

I tried holding a .357 BDE one time. Felt like trying to hold a beer stein without a handle. Heavy, awkward, and weird. Keeping in mind that a .44 is bigger, I just wouldn't want to deal with it.

Some rounds were never meant to be double-stacked.

The same frame is used for all of the models, you can convert the .50 ae to .44, and .357 with a barrel change (the .357 needs a bolt change). The .44 might be heavier due to the ammo weight diffrence, however its not pysically bigger. Also, I don't recall the magazines being double stack. Considering they only hold 7 rounds (50ae), I seriously doubt they are of a double stack design.

 

[carolinaman]

Hi there,

I have a neighbor that bought the Desert Eagle in .50 AE about 8 months ago.

We took to the range and had a blast!!! Literally, it was the best sound and light show the folks in the spectator area had in awhile! It was a great gun, great engineering and a pair of gold plated ones looked wonderful in Demi Moores hands in "Charlies Angels-fully loaded".

I can see the DE being used in hunting or long range sillouette applications, but beyond that they look great in the movies.

My neighbor several months later bought the Baby Eagle which is a more practical SD pistol in 9mm.

He is thinking of buying the .44 magnum barrel and magazine to swap out calibers as you can find ammunition at most the big sporting goods stores.

Chris

 

[Cousin Mike]

Durn.. now I want one again.. But I have found a nice little solution. For right now, I have decided to go for a more practical self defense pistol. When I can afford to, I plan to buy a nice little package that Magnum Research offers... take a look

www.impactguns.com/store/SS-49298.html

I'm thinking this is the better option, since its basically getting 2 more guns for $1k more. Getting the barrels, bolt assembly, etc. would cost a lot more. Still a little pricy, but IMO a nice package

 

[Gixerman1000]

I own an MK XIX in 50ae, it's accurate, reliable and a real blast to shoot, while I wouldn't feel under gun if I had to use it for self defense, I would only use mine for hunting and having fun at the range because of it's size.

 

[WillBrayJr]

A 44mag Desert Eagle with a 6in barrel is great bear medicine. With 9rds in the gun and an extra 8rd magazine combined with low recoil and fast reloads there's no living thing on this planet that you couldn't if you had to. I have medium size hands and have no difficulty handling the Desert Eagle in any caliber.

My only complaint is the company is unpleasent to deal with.

 

[MachIVshooter]

As has been clearly outlined, the DE is not exactly designed for HD/SD. It is unwieldy to sum it up. And I certainly wouldn't want to touch of a round from my .50 indoors without ear protection. As for night vision, forget it. FIre one round in the dark and you might as well be blind. I use mine foor deer hunting and expensive range time. These guns are extremely accurate. Mine is topped with a Burris 1.5-4x scope and will consistently produce sub-3" 100 yard groups from the bench using Speer 325 gr. JHP's.
But if I were you, I would buy a few other handguns first. My DE was my 17th handgun.

Thoughts on the Baby Eagle would also be appreciated, as that's what the future Mrs. is considering.

Baby Eagle's rock. I (used to) have one in 9mm (now it is the wife's, along with my coveted S&W 4506 ). I have between 13,000 and 14,000 rounds through it with 7 failures I can remember, 4 of them due to bad handloads (cases not properly resized). 2 were FTE (stovepipes) and one was a light primer strike. The Baby's are made by Tanfoglio of Italy and finished by IMI. They use a modified Witness Elite frame and standard DA lockwork. IMI mills the slides and uses polygonally rifle barrels. Excellent guns for the money and probably one of the most ergonomic double-column .45 ACP pistols out there. Unfortunately (and you're probably aware), the .45 version only comes as a semi-compact. Still waiting for them to chamber in 10mm (though you could put a Witness 10mm slide and barrel on a Baby Eagle .45 frame).

 

[Black Majik]

I own an MK XIX in 50ae, it's accurate, reliable and a real blast to shoot, while I wouldn't feel under gun if I had to use it for self defense, I would only use mine for hunting and having fun at the range because of it's size.

LOL...

This kinda made me chuckle. I dunno anyone who would feel undergunned in a self defense situation with a .50 AE pistol.