Opinions on .40 Compact Polymer Baby Eagle

[TheMightyQuinn]

I own a fullsize steel Baby Eagle in .40 and I love the thing. I'd like to get the compact polymer in .40, but there are no in-town ranges where I can hold one or rent one to shoot. I rented a Glock 23 today for a size comparison and man does it bark, compared to the fullsize B.E. I expected more recoil due to the size and poly frame, but geez, it was considerable. This was shooting Blazer 180gr, which I'm sure had something to do with it, but they're like nothing to the heavier fullsize BE.

My question is, would the recoil of the compact B.E. be pretty comparable to that of the G23 in .40? Or would I be better off going for the 9mm? I'm hoping the steel slide of the B.E. helps enough with the recoil to make it more manageable. I am pretty much set that the compact polymer B.E. is what I want. Thanks for any feedback.

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

Anyone?

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

Sounds like not many Baby Eagle owners out there, so I'll ask this question instead. Can the recoil of the G23 be expected of any .40 polymer compact?

 

[rde]

Recoil is first and foremost subjective. All things being as equal as possible...it is still not that equal because there are a lot of variables. Such as bore axis, interface (how a specific hand gun fits a specific person's hand, body structure, and body mechanics), etc. Which is why many recommend shooting something first. However, that is not always an option for many of us and we just have to take a chance.

Now (all disclaimers aside) my WAG (wild a?? guess) would be that the recoil is probably pretty close.

Don't expect many people chimed in because the Polymer Baby Eagle's are not that popular (nor the similar Polymer Witness series of hand guns). As compared to the all steel versions. General consensus seems to be the polymer and the all steel models are two different animals (in terms of ergonomics and reliability). (Notice the watch words of consenus and seems...no emperical evidence on my part).

The all steel version of the Baby Eagle's do have some popularity here. I have 3 of the 9mm models myself. But the CZ crowd is more numerous and more vocal.

 

[D-Man]

I do remember seeing a posted article review on the Polymer Baby Eagles, but can't for the life of me find it. You may come across it by searching on Baby Eagle in this forum........OK - found the link myself to the article. Here it is:

http://www.madogre.com/dream/MR Baby Eagles.pdf

No idea if it will help or not.

As rde says above, I don't think there are many owners of the Polymer BE around, and the few comments I have seen weren't too positive. The consensus was to stick with the steel versions.

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

It does help, thanks for the link. I also found George's posting on THR:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=98653

After some thought, I think I might go for the 9mm, I'm not sure I'm ready for another gun to buy .40 cal ammo for

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

"Now (all disclaimers aside) my WAG (wild a?? guess) would be that the recoil is probably pretty close."

I was afraid of that. Sounds like the 9mm might be the better choice for me. Thanks for your $.02.