The majority of today’s handguns are based on either the Browning tilting barrel design or a straight blowback concept. The phrase “there’s nothing new under the sun” applies to almost every handgun that’s come out in the last century. The only things that change: what the gun’s made of and how the trigger works. Whatever else you can say about the Desert Eagle, it’s different. It uses a more modern operating system on a much different scale.
The Desert Eagle’s barrel is fixed in place (just like in a direct blowback design). To handle the higher pressure loads and relatively thinner case walls (proportional to the powder charge) in large caliber rounds, the gun needs to let the chamber pressure drop off significantly before any attempt to extract the cartridge. Otherwise the case could rupture and injure the shooter. That’s normally where the short-stroke tilting bolt design would come in. But even that’s insufficient for the mighty .50 AE cartridge.
To wait a little longer in the firing cycle to extract the cartridge and use as little force as possible, the Deagle’s designers went with a short stroke piston system, similar to the one found in the M1 Carbine or Mossberg 930 shotgun. For the locking mechanism to keep it all contained, the designers chose a modified version of the AR-15 bolt design, with multiple teeth to fully support the case head and better contain the raging fires within.
This system solves all the technical problems with a semi-automatic handgun chambered for insane calibers and enrages database architects around the world, who have to create a new category for gas-operated rotating bolt handguns…just to accommodate this singular firearm.
The original Desert Eagle was designed by Magnum Research, Inc. Israel’s IMI produced the pistol until about 2009 when production moved in-house at MRI’s Minnesota based shop. In 2010 Kahr purchased Magnum Research Inc and made a couple changes to the original design, which is the version we’re testing here today.
Notably different on this version: factory-installed Hogue grips and a cut in the slide that brings the gun’s total weight down and makes it New York state compliant. The majority of the pistol, though, is the same old gun we’ve come to know and love. Or hate, given problems with its reliability and the ginormous concussion created by the .50 AE cartridge. Or rely on heavily in Call of Duty, because guns.
Another change: a Picatinny rail now sits at the top of the barrel. That seems like a smart move. Since the barrel itself is fixed, you can remove and replace it without shifting the accuracy or point of impact. This seems like a smart move, and something the Desert Eagle can hold over guns like an M&P C.O.R.E. or the new GLOCK MOS models (which use cutouts in the moving slide).
As I said, it seems like a smart move. When you start putting rounds downrange the barrel heats up quicker than Jeremy Clarkson’s temper. Depending on the brand of red dot you throw on top, this can either be an inconvenience or a big problem. The heat generated from the barrel is all directly channeled up into the optic.
I used an Aimpoint red dot and it ran like a Swiss clock through 500 rounds of .357 Magnum ammo in under an hour on the range. But was hotter than INSERT SUPERMODEL HERE when I went to turn it off. Less durable optics may melt under similar conditions, putting an unexpected crimp in your range day.
The Picatinny rail opens up all kinds of options for those who are so inclined. And those with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon.
If your optic melts, you still have a fine set of iron sights to back it up. The sights are crisp and easy to pick up, capable of being drifted for windage adjustments. If your model is anything like mine, that won’t be necessary; the sights were dead nuts accurate straight out of the box.
Frame-mounted safeties have been around for over one hundred years. Slide-mounted safeties are an acceptable alternative if and only if there isn’t enough room on the frame to locate one. There’s plenty of real estate on the Deagle to make a frame-mounted safety a reality. They just didn’t. Wrong answer.
The impact is as predictable as Robert substituting the phrase “bangswitch” for the word “trigger” somewhere in this review. Due to the gargantuan size of this hand cannon, the slide-mounted safety is nearly impossible to reach for the average human hand. I can operate it with some effort, but those with smaller paws like our man Zimmerman can’t even tickle the selector switch, let alone manhandle it into place.
This limits the firearm’s usefulness. Imagine trying to use this thing in a home defense scenario, having your sights on an evil doer, unable to use your gun because your hands are too small to operate the safety.
The Deagle’s firing cycle projects a lot of energy downrange during the firing cycle. In a Newtonian manner, that energy is also transmitted to the shooter’s hand. All that energy transferred over such a short surface area would be downright insane in the Desert Eagle without the exaggerated beavertail — larger and wider than anything else I’ve fired. Much appreciated.
Less appreciated: the machining around the trigger. The trigger itself is a fine piece of engineering with a crisp clean break and short enough reset. But the area surrounding the bangswitch seems crudely designed.
On the Browning 1911 design, there’s a cutout specifically to allow your trigger finger to rest comfortably against the trigger without the frame impinging on your finger. The Desert Eagle shows no such consideration of your flesh. It presents a sharply machined edge which rubs against your trigger finger with each trigger pull.
Instead of a standard flat muzzle, the Deagle sports a proper muzzle brake machined into the barrel itself (shown here detached from the gun but placed roughly in the right spot for emphasis). Given the caliber of ammunition used in these firearms that’s a welcome feature. It reduces felt recoil and making the shooting experience a little more comfortable.
For the shooter, that is. When using cheaper ammo the muzzle brake has a tendency to throw football-sized fireballs to the sides. The concussive force of the blast can cause the shooting lanes to either side of you to empty rapidly. A feature, not a bug? We report, you decide.
Any kind of under-barrel Picatinny mount is notable by its absence. Normally, that would be useful for hanging accessories like lights and lasers, options which would improve the firearm’s utility in low -light and home defense scenarios.
The Deagle’s outside is is impressive looking; the internals and the engineering that went into this beast are a real show stopper. Takedown is a snap. Push a single button and rotate a takedown lever to disassemble the gun for cleaning or maintenance.
Instead of a single massive recoil spring, the Desert Eagle splits the load between two identical springs working in tandem, a design feature which makes the assembly much flatter and ultimately takes up less space. The slide is a work of art, machined from a solid piece of metal and chunky enough to beat a dwarf to death if so needed.
This gun — chambered in .357 — shines on the range. I’ve launched the cartridge from multiple handguns, from a Smith & Wesson Airweight J-Frame revolver to a Colt Python. This is the lightest-recoiling version of a .357 Mag handgun I’ve ever fired. Shooting this .357 Magnum is no worse than pulling the trigger on a GLOCK 19.
The length of time that the gun is in recoil makes this gun such a soft shooter. On a revolver, all that rearward impulse is delivered to your hand as fast as the gunpowder can burn. On a semi-auto like this one, some of the force is delivered immediately through the frame, but a good chunk is used to cycle the action. The force is soaked up by the recoil springs, delivered over a longer period of time.
Robert sent this very gun back to the factory because of feeding problems. After a trip to and from Kahr, he handed it off to me for a second crack at it. I used the same ammunition he did. The gun refused to go into battery (see previous picture with me holding the gun in my hands; the slide is slightly out of battery after firing a round).
TTAG’s publisher used older lead nose rounds, which provided just enough resistance while chambering to keep the massive slide from reliably going fully back into battery. When I switched to full metal jacket or jacketed hollow point rounds the problem disappeared. Moral of the story: always test your home defense ammo to make sure it works with your gun.
The Desert Eagle isn’t one one gun to rule them all. It’s too big to be very useful in many situations. The controls can be hard to reach, and it can be picky about ammo. But this is an amazing piece of engineering art, solving ballistic problems in an elegant yet brutal manner.
I’d never carry a Desert Eagle into combat. And I wouldn’t take one hunting. I’d never keep one on the nightstand. But I could definitely see myself keeping one in the safe for when my Yankee friends come into town and want to go shoot some big guns.
SPECIFICATIONS: Desert Eagle .357 Magnum
Materials: Aluminum frame
Finish: Black annodizing
Height: 46.25″
Length: 9.75″
Width: 1.25″
Caliber: .357 Magnum
Capacity: 8 + 1 (but you can totally shove 10 rounds in there)
Weight empty: 3.9 pounds
Trigger weight: 4.0 pounds
Price: $2,054.00
RATINGS (out of five stars):
Style * * * * *
The Italian Futurists of the early 20th century would absolutely love this thing. It looks massive and violent even while sitting on the shelf.
Concealability (0)
I’m sorry, you want to do what?
Customize This * * *
There’s a Picatinny rail on the top for red dots and other optics, and the design has been around enough that some replacement parts are available. But there’s no under-barrel Pic rail and the aftermarket scene isn’t exactly in AR-15 territory.
Ergonomics *
Aye, there’s the rub. The safety is nigh on impossible to reach for the average (non-Trump) shooter. It’s all you can do to wrap your hand around the grip without the largest, meatiest paws.
Accuracy * * * *
Not quite as accurate as a .357 Magnum revolver, but with a red dot installed it did just fine finding the 10-ring.
Reliability * * *
Ammunition is key here. You need to find what your Deagle likes best and restrict its diet to only that flavor. Full metal jacket in the case of this one. Your mileage may vary.
Overall * * *
I really can’t fault anyone for buying one of these. The Desert Eagle is a range toy hall-of-famer and solidifies your “cool kid on the firing line” status. But you can either have this ridiculous piece of engineering (and I mean that with all due love and respect) or an upmarket 1911 guaranteed to eat damn near everything, conceal easily and fire more accurately. Your call.
Hey, it is perfectly possible to conceal a Desert Eagle. Silly, but possible if you put it in a vertical shoulder holster. It’s actually a decent option If you live in a state with a silly capacity ban, if you run into a situation that 7 rounds of .50AE won’t deal with, you’re not in need of a bigger gun, you’re in need of close air support.
At least one person tried to conceal it IWB….
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/02/ralph/louisville-leather-desert-eagle-project-pt-2/
Good times, my friend. Good times.
well I’ve known of one person that carries a Desert Eagle .44 magnum for CCW. But he was also just a giant of a man anyway. Certainly do-able with the right rig and right user. But it’s still far from optimal. I never got to meet the guy myself, I know of him through others. I kind of wonder what kind of rig he had. By all accounts he was able to do it well enough.
Hell I actually had a .41 Magnum Desert Eagle. It was mostly a range toy and once hunting trip. But I never thought about really carrying it daily. :p
I’ve concealed carried both a 6″ GP 100 and a 6.5″ .44mag Blackhawk that way. Of course the DE has a pound and a half on those though.
Beautiful piece of art. But $2,054.00? That’s a Catch-22! You would need to have this pistol in order to go out and rob someplace in order to be able to afford this pistol!
That’s retail. A good .50AE Desert Eagle can be found for a street price of ~$1500. The secondary market for these guns is huge. It’s one of those toys that gets really old after you feed it $600 worth of ammo in a single range trip. (That’s ~150 rounds)
” It’s one of those toys that gets really old after you feed it $600 worth of ammo in a single range trip.”
It’s not quite *that* bad, but it damn sure ain’t good by any rational measure ($1.35/Round):
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/758435/hornady-custom-ammunition-50-action-express-300-grain-jacketed-hollow-point-box-of-20
If you have brass, you can reload .357 Magnum for around 20 cents.
Mr. pwrserge was referring to the cost of .50AE, not .357mag…
I find .50 AE locally right now for $1.50 a round, I reload for $ .30 each.
Yeah, I remember when .50AE was $45 a box.
Beautiful piece of art. But $2,054.00? That’s a Catch-22! You would need to have this pistol in order to go out and rob someplace in order to be able to afford this pistol!
You’re not thinking creatively. You could easily buy a cheap gun like a Hi-Point, go rob a store, then buy the Deagle.
Rather take a hit of a round and get an 8 shooter scanium Smith. I will say I want to fire one at least once in my life though.
Ah but it’s COOL. Are we gonna’ see a Deagle in the latest John Wick opus??
Ok. So… Two grand for a four pound pistol that might work.
Got it.
Curtis,
The way I read the review, the pistol will work just fine if you use metal jacketed ammunition. That fact that the particular pistol that they reviewed did not like one particular type of lead bullets doesn’t screem “unreliable” to me.
Your definition of “reliable” is different than mine.
The manual states jacketed ammo only. Cast bullets can clog the gas system. Did they read the manual and observe all safety items before they tested the gun?
Once again, gun writers slam a firearm for reliability, and then the hordes of “gun enthusiasts” will repeat it forever as gospel.
That being said, they are finicky, but function with the right ammo.
Do you have the .357? This review say they wouldn’t put it on the nightstand. I wouldn’t have a gun I wouldn’t put on the nightstand. My question, do you like this pistol, and do you trust it to function. Thanks.
500 rds of 357 Mag in an hour? Sounds like govt statistics. But, if you did manage to burn up 500 dollars worth of hard kicking ammo in an hour, could you unzip your fly afterwards?
That’s nothing 500 rounds of 357 Magnum in an hour out of an autoloader you could easily do that if you had multiple magazines and had someone loading them for you I’ve shot at least 300 maybe 400 rounds out of a GP100 Ruger 357 Magnum in about 2 hours and my hands weren’t vibrating or tingling crazily now I do have a Hogue monogrip on there that soaks up quite a bit of recoil but I’m shooting a 4 inch stainless steel revolver with an NO Magnum porting all back into my wrist no gas system to suck up that recoil and no 10-pound brick in your hand either and I can do that and I’m 48 years old. Not trying to trap you or anything I’m just saying it is possible now if you have arthritis or a damaged wrist or any type of problem with carpal tunnel syndrome then yeah you probably couldn’t do that. I always found talking those guns especially the 50 action Express really difficult I’m a hundred and seventy pounds 5 foot 11 so I’m a little guy and I’ve always had problems getting those slides back on the 44 and the 50 caliber one. I guess I’m just the worst. LOL
I call BS. Having shot my fair share of 357 Mag this particular claim has BS all over it.
Nick, I love this:
‘and enrages database architects around the world, who have to create a new category for gas-operated rotating bolt handguns…just to accommodate this singular firearm.’
Do you do databases as a day job?
Home is where the LAMP stack resides. I’ve done DBA for the day job, but now I really just do it for TTAG. I created and maintain the Reader’s Choice Awards system and the gun review browse function and help out when things go wrong with WordPress.
Any database architect who was also worth his salt as a Gun Guy would have had this category queued-up and awaiting inputs, as there have already been several other handguns in this category. The Plainfield Machine (later Iver Johnson) “Enforcer” and “Super Enforcer” handguns have been around since the late 60s – early 70s. These are modified M1 Carbine-action pistols, and like their carbine big brothers, have gas-operated rotating-bolt actions. The same can be said of the Wildey pistol (prominently featured in the Charles Bronson movie Death Wish 3), which even had an adjustable gas system.
And then there is the Coonan .357. Thus far unable to locate a TTAG review of this magged-up .45 clone. Though from what I’ve been able to find, I’d opt for the Coonan for a .357 semi.
No, I’m not associate with Coonan, but wish I was so I could afford to own one. (The price of which is more than a grand less than the DE in discussion.)
I’ve had the fortune of firing a 357 Coonan and it is all that and a bag of chips. But it can be finicky about ammo and the mags are expensive.
It is capable of big fireballs.
Yes on the Coonan .357. Hands down over the Desert Eagle any day of the week!
( Almost bought a Coonan recently but am in the process of finishing up some AR builds so it has to wait. )
Just get the 5-Hundo Smith; it always works, costs half as much and the ammo can be found for $1.80 a round. Then you reload for it. Now that is a gun that is mis-labeled as a useless range toy, it can basically do everything but conceal.
One of the funnest handguns I’ve ever shot. When I was in Ranger Battalion back in the early 90’s, one guy had both the .357 & .44 models (single Rangers living in the barracks have lots of money for guns, and they were cheaper then, too). The .357 was very pleasant to shoot, the operating system soaks up a ton of recoil. The .44 wasn’t as nice, but definitely more pleasant than a .44 revolver. And they both were very accurate, We were shooting in a big gravel pit, had some cans & whatnot close in, and a beer keg out at 100m. From standing offhand (both hands of course) I put an entire magazine of .357 into the keg. All of us did, and made hits with the .44 as well. Easy 100m hits on a torso sized target with a pistol was a blast. Would definitely be a great fun gun. And the Ranger who owned them regularly carried the .357 concealed – vertical shoulder holster with a coat. He was a big dude, 6′ 4″ at least, 200lbs+ of big ol’ farm boy turned Ranger. Safety was easy for his paws.
Anybody else have a desire for an SBR Deagle with an 8″ barrel and Benelli M4-style stock?
Having shot the .44 mag version, one of the earlier versions, I can say that it speaks with authority. The muzzle blast on them in immense. It was fun but way too monsterous for me. Here in Texas I can’t carry my H&K USP .45 unless it’s the dead of a cold winter so I’m usually lugging a 9mm XDM compact. The Desert Eagle is always been more of a hollywood gun, but I freely admit it’s a fun range toy.
Back in 1991 I worked at a gun shop in Orlando Florida and we had a desert eagle 357 Magnum for a rental gun. The only ammunition that you could buy that would make the gun fire reliably was Winchester Black Talon 180 grain jacketed hollow point it was the only ammunition out of 40 different boxes we tried that would actually let the gun cycle correctly and reliably. I find that it isn’t very reliable in the 357 Magnum version. We didn’t have the problem with the 50 caliber version or the 44 magnum version or even the 41 magnum version. So you could also run Samson hundred and eighty or 200 grain jacketed hollow-point 357 Magnum and it would work very well but you’re talking back in 91 that stuff was almost $30 a box so it was just really expensive to shoot and I don’t know if they’ve made any improvements to make the gun cycle on more ammunition types but I would like to know. Does anyone out there have one of the newer models made in the US and have you tried all different types of 357 Magnum ammunition what seems to work for you? And how reliable is the gun in 357 Magnum.
I’ve discussed the unreliability of the DE’s with an instructor/ammo maker and he found that keeping multiple sets of springs for the pistons is key for making them run well. Apparently if one side is off, they jam-o-matic. He just changes both sides out with fresh ones and they seem to do fine.
In the mid 90s, I owned a very early production .357 DE, and it functioned just fine with any full-powered .357 load using jacketed bullets of 140 grains and heavier. It would NOT work with 110 JHPs, and 125s were iffy (depended on maker).
It was a big sucker, I still have a couple of holsters for it (in case I ever buy another DE); each holster contains the amount of nylon needed to make a small duffel bag (it looks like you are wearing a small sleeping bag on your belt).
It’s only nowadays, as range/target ammo is getting weaker and weaker, that this and other handguns have started to show functioning problems with certain loads (I think it’s just cost-cutting by the makers; reduce any load by 2 grains of gunpowder, it adds-up to real money over a million-round production run, and most people will never notice the loss).
Good. Now I don’t want one.
Maybe the Coonan sucks too, and I can finally end this fantasy of getting a semi-auto .357.
Same ballistics with 125 grain bullets can be had with a Glock 31 or 32, which is completely reliable, much lighter, carries more ammo, and is far easier to shoot/use/carry. If you like muzzle flash, get Glock’s ported “C” version of either model, and load it with cheap range/target ammo (no flash retardant).
But it won’t say “Look at meeee!” in the same manner when you shoot it at the range…
More modern? It uses the Mars Automatic Pistol theme with gas standing in for long recoil. The Desert Eagle is a modern take on that year 1900 overpowered beast of a handgun.
Good review Nick! I think that price is outrageous but I do like the concept of a rotary bolt handgun.
By the way I LOVE the idea of a semi-auto handgun in .357 Magnum. If only it cost something like $800 rather than $2,000+.
When I shot a rental .44 Mag DE in the 1990’s, I observed two things:
1. It was easily one of the most accurate semi-auto pistols I’d ever shot. I was laying down groups of 1.25″ at 25 yards with relative ease.
2. The gas system fouled so quickly when shooting commercial ammo loaded for revolvers, that it needed cleaning about every 75 rounds or else it would start failing to cycle properly.
Fun pistols, good construction, interesting design – but I think to get the most out of them, you need to handload both to keep the costs down and to enable you to choose clean-burning powders.
american eagle 240gr sjhp. never had any powder fouling. wish they were still $15 box/ fifty. with lead jacketed rounds the gun will lead foul; they give you a little port bore reaming tool for that job. and recommend against that ammo.
the earlier models have the 3/8″/ 11mm rail on the barrel. you will need warne steel rings to run a scope, or the little .22 “adapters” to weaver size for unlimited eye relief stuff. the original magnum research picatinny rails are rare. with a 2x leupold it sort of sucks pretty wobbly sight picture and hard to obtain. i am going to find out if a trs-25 will hold up to this thing (.44mag). i have my doubts.
a lot of fun after pumpkin season, with permission. guests accompanying you to the range ask for it by name.
Shot a friend’s IMI-flavored Desert Eagle chambered in .50 AE once upon a time and my biggest complaint was that every third extracted casing would come straight back and clock me in the forehead. We weren’t sure if it was due to a faulty extractor or just the way the gun’s mechanism operated. We had all sorts of fun and didn’t let the gunpowder half-moon stamps on our foreheads slow us down.
Gives the term “headstamp” a whole new meaning, eh?
Bravo! for the reference to the Futuristi!
Zang tumb tumb !!!!
Andrea from Italy
What can I say about Deagles — big, heavy, complicated and loud — that I can’t say about myself.
Maybe that’s why I love ’em.
That’s one gun that’s more intimidating than my Taurus Judge with 3″ chambers!
Fxck no. 9 Rd magazine? 10mm ballistics are almost perfectly on par with the .357. I’ve got my all steel EAA witness that holds 14 rounds and doesn’t have the bulk of this overcomplicated brick – and it cost me about $450 – $500.
The one gun that aint a Ruger and is Ok.
Wasn’t the AutoMag gas operated with rotating bolt? Sure it didn’t use rimmed cartridges, but it’s kind of hard to ignore the fact that the Deagle was not the first.
The only reason it never caught on was cost. The gun itself was difficult to manufacture, and it only used AutoMag branded calibers (357 AMP, 44 AMP, etc)
Rotating bolt, yes, but short-recoil-operated vs. gas.
And how can anyone forget the Plainfield/Iver Johnson “Enforcer” pistols in .30 Carbine, or the Wildey autoloading magnum from “Death Wish 3”?
Wow looking at the specs 46 inches heigh, no way your concealing that. Someone might want to fix that.
Beautiful safe queen.
I’ve got many .357 Mag revolvers and 44 Mag revolvers. I recently picked up a use DE in 357 Mag. the price was OK so I figured it would be fun. Recoil is a state of mind. I hate the 50 and 500s but the 44 Mag is OK . I have Dan Wessons, S&Ws, and Rugers all shot well so now it’s time to check out the auto.
I don’t think the height of this pistol is 46.25 inches. Perhaps 4.625 is more accurate.
Who writes this shit? Seriously! Kat, I hope you guys didn’t pay him too much for this “review”!
1. He used “Deagle”, ala’ Counterstrike and Grand Theft Auto. No Bueno, and his credibility as a bona fide gunwriter was lost at that very moment.
2. To make New York handgun weight restrictions, the MkXIX L5 Desert Eagle got more than just “a cut in the slide” – much more. The barrel is now shortened to 5″ from the original 6″, and has an integral muzzle brake machined into the steel. The frame is now aluminum instead of the Desert Eagle’s normal steel.
3. Reliability – People really need to read owner’s manuals. I know it’s not cool or sexy to do so, but you’d be surprised what one can learn. Desert Eagles are big-assed gas guns. They like a serious volume of gas pressure AND volume to run that big slide and AR-15 bolt back and forth. Magnum Research has a list of factory approved commercial loads that they’ve tested to reliably cycle the big gun. You can do that, or handload your own to approximate the chamber pressures needed. For .357, that means 158gr or heavier ammo, and no reduced-recoil stuff. The “picky ammo” reputation is 99% solved by using the right ammo. You don’t put 87 octane in a Ferrarri, either.
4. Lead bullets – No. Don’t even dick around with exposed lead nose jacketed bullets. The gas port is at the chamber end of the barrel, right at the throat to the (polygonal) rifling. Any lead shaved or otherwise removed from the bullet in cycling will be sent through the gas system, and deposited where you cannot clean it, necessitating a trip back to Magnum Research. The gas tube is integral to the bottom of the barrel, and makes a 180 before turning backwards towards the piston mounted to the front of the slide. Stay with jacketed ammo sans exposed lead.
5. Under barrel Picatinny mount? For what, a bayonet? Isn’t the mount on top enough, or is there an additional need for more lasers, phasers, and wind speed indicators?
6. The photo shows why the gun refused to go into battery – there was a round IN THE CHAMBER already. The exposed lead bullet of the round attempting to chamber is a millimeter or so away from the gold primer of the unfired round already chambered. No firing pin dimple there – what fuckery is this? Photos like that are supposed to remain on the editor’s cutting room floor, hint, hint…
7. “Too big” – well, that’s subjective. My Desert Eagle MkI was never too big for IHMSA Silhouette Matches (which some say the gun was actually designed for), Florida wild hogs, or Wisconsin whitetail. It’s not a really good CCW pistol, but neither is my Yugo M92. I do have a nice shoulder rig for mine, but still, that’s a LOT of gun. However, 10 each 158gr JHPs scooting along over 1600fps in a soft-shooting platform is a wonderful thing, even at my local Steel Challenge and bowling pin matches. YMMV, of course.
8. Slide mounted safeties – They’re topside for a reason. The Desert Eagle slide is a beast to rack open against the dual recoil springs. Since the gun’s debut in the mid 1980s, they’ve been there to assist you in grabbing the slide. They’re also effective in blocking internal lockwork without a bunch of extra monkey motion and linkages ala’ the Colt Series 80. As such, those safety paddles are easily within reach of your non-grip thumb, even if you’re a southpaw.
9. Accuracy – If we IHMSA shooters have no problems knocking over steel rams at 200 meters with the Desert Eagle’s iron sights, why would it be less accurate than a revolver?
10. Range Toy? Ok, sure. The venison in my freezer would beg to differ.
In the early 1990s I had an FFL. The first gun I bought from a wholesaler for personal use was a MkVII Desert Eagle chambered in .357 Mag.
It was a fun gun. I did carry it concealed on a limited basis in Winter only when a bulky jacket would hide the bulge.
The accuracy was excellent.
The engineering was brilliant.
The reliability was …less so.
The issues I had with it were not really pertaining to the choice of bullet crimped snuggly in the case, though I did encounter a few softnose JHP hanging up on occasion. But I chose to reload for this gun and found some copper-plated truncated cone Ranier bullets did function quite well…aside from my overcrimping them and the rear half of the jacket tearing off during firing.
Generally the “FMJ” type bullets you’ll find DO HAVE EXPOSED LEAD BASES…which is verboten. The lead will foul the gas channel and the pistol will cease to cycle after a number of rounds. JHP is the fodder of choice.
The FTF issues that gave me nightmares were caused by the rimmed cartridges tripping over each other, which caused more than a few FTFs, and the long, skinny, soft brass cases bending while being loaded. This happened on more than one occasion.
I sold the gun before the decade was out. I had a new toy to feed…a .44 magnum Desert Eagle.
But that’s another story.
I just thought of this – the safeties…DO belong on the slide. A four pound pistol bucking in your hand may inadvertently engage the frame-mounted safety lever while firing. I’ve had my 1911s do this at times. Usually while one handing it. But it’s rare even then.
Some CCW permit class certification instructors actually teach you to shoot a 1911 with your left thumb holding your right thumb away from the frame-mounted safety.
A DE is not a 1911, but aside from cutting down on the in-frame clutter, and aiding the shooter’s grip on the slide as Darin mentions, the possibility of clicking on the safety accidentally MAY have been a concern.
Once again, a moronic article by a moronic wannabe. Who calls it a “Deagle”? I’ll tell you who–people who don’t own one.
It’s too big? For whom? This is America the last I checked. Thank you, “Nick”, for your intelligent insight into what groupthink should be. Dah, Komrade.
“If your optic melts…”? What kind of idiotic statement is that? Sheesh. Has this ever happened to anyone ever? Write cartoons, not gun blogs.
This is supposed to be the review of the .357 Desert Eagle. Or, silly me, I assumed that from the title of the article. Then why do you reference the .50 AE so much? Why not just review ALL Desert Eagles? Because you know SO MUCH about them?
YOUR OWN PHOTO SHOWS A ROUND IN THE CHAMBER AS YOU TRY TO CHAMBER A SECOND ROUND!!! Shoot much, noobie?
You won’t carry one into combat???? Who does? Have you seen much combat, Leghorn? Have you EVER SERVED? A proper soldier carries a RIFLE into combat. A pistol is on your hip as a backup, last ditch, defensive weapon. If you carried a DE into combat, who would you be fighting? A den of badgers?
Firing LEAD BULLETS? Idiot. And I don’t use that insult lightly.
You won’t hunt with one? So the people who do are what…dummies? Bet the meat tastes good.
I showed this article to my gun club and have seldom seen these guys laugh so hard. Leghorn, your street cred is SHOT. (See what I did there?)
You’re a hack, “Foghorn”. Give it up. Now.
Has anyone here done any successful research in this thing with medium to heavy cast lead bullets, (.357 version). ?
No. because the lead fouls the gas system. The manual tells you this will occur.
I have proven this will occur by shooting exposed lead based “FMJs” through my own MKVII .357 Desert Eagle which I bought new in the early 1990s and sold in the late 1990s. At the time I thought the bullets were actually fully jacketed. I recovered several spent .357 caliber bullets from the dirt bank with obvious polygonal rifling on the jackets and I found them to be exposed lead based. IIRC the gas piston bore in the barrel was fouled heavily, as was the floor of the gas channel in the frame where the recoil springs reside. This was causing intermittant FTF and FTE. I managed to remove most of the lead from these accessible areas, but not from the gas port in the barrel.
It would be stupid in the extreme to disregard the factory warnings.
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