Desert Eagle 50AE siezed up

[soopafly]

I need help troubleshooting this. My DE50 siezed up, slide completley stuck, slightly out of battery. After about 16 rounds, I was going to shoot my last mag(I randomly loaded 3-4 rounds per mag). I fired 2 rounds, then on the 3rd trigger pull, noticed a dead trigger. I check the gun to find this(see pics below) so I'm not sure if there is a round in the pipe or not.

Suggestions on how to proceed?

[John Browning]

First priority is to verify if there is a round in the chamber. You should have counted the number fired and the number in the mag and done the math. Absent that, stick a wooden dowel down the barrel and see if it hits the bolt face or is way short which means there is a round in there.

I'm almost sure that you have a live round in there and that is a problem. The rotating bolt probably got gummed up and you'll have to work to force the thing open.

[DT556]

Man handle it.
Give it some taps with a mallet.

[bug_eyedmonster]

Originally Posted by Damiiaaannn

Man handle it.
Give it some taps with a mallet.

I had a similar situation, I used a dead blow to smack it loose. Make sure it's in a safe direction, put on eyes and ears just in case, and swung for the fences.

Jerry

[Romeo_alpha01]

Here’s what I did.

Unseize the gun:
-grasp the slide with your weak hand
-palm strike the rear of your grip with a quick Kung fu strike.

As for diagnosing the problem:
-remove your bolt assembly
-check each round by locking the round to the extractor
-twist the locking lugs into the chamber
-if the round and bolt do not lock, the round may be out of spec. Verify the OAL.

Another thing I noticed was you have an older Israeli model. Sometimes the Israeli made barrels leak gas at the seam. I noticed the US barrels are one piece and don’t suffer from this problem.

Anyway, best of luck! I had the same issues and determined the problem to be a combination of those two problems.

[heidad01]

Not an expert on DE. But, do you ever oil that thing? Looks mighty dry.

[Robotron2k84]

While you're in there, order a set of replacement return springs. They're only good for 1000-1200 rounds per set, when new.

https://shopkahrfirearmsgroup.com/fi...il-assy-de.asp

[TKM]

[soopafly]

thank you all for the feedback; much appreciate the video, tkm.

looks like i have some work to do, won't be able to get to it until after thanksgiving though...

[dozer wright]

Get a Large flat blade Screwdriver, take a Oil bottle Cut a flat Piece out fold it over the Screw.driver . To protect finish on Gun and Pry the Slide back .
Need to oil and Grease that Firearm .

[jarhead714]

Mortar it!

[soopafly]

OK, so I figured out it was an out-of-spec round. After clearing the gun using the aforementioned techniques (thanks again) and cycling the action several times without a hiccup, I confirmed the out-of-spec round by trying to chamber it again with the same result as before – Armscor 50AE is the culprit. I cleared the gun again and was able to chamber Magnum Research brand 50AE ammo without issues.

In all the years I owned this DE50, I always used Magnum Research brand with 100% reliability. It was only recently that I tried the Armscor brand solely because it was the only brand in stock at my local LGS at the time. Moving forward, I'll be waiting for my LGS to stock the Magnum Research brand and will be avoiding Armscor brand 50AE.

[Romeo_alpha01]

Originally Posted by soopafly

OK, so I figured out it was an out-of-spec round. After clearing the gun using the aforementioned techniques (thanks again) and cycling the action several times without a hiccup, I confirmed the out-of-spec round by trying to chamber it again with the same result as before – Armscor 50AE is the culprit. I cleared the gun again and was able to chamber Magnum Research brand 50AE ammo without issues.

In all the years I owned this DE50, I always used Magnum Research brand with 100% reliability. It was only recently that I tried the Armscor brand solely because it was the only brand in stock at my local LGS at the time. Moving forward, I'll be waiting for my LGS to stock the Magnum Research brand and will be avoiding Armscor brand 50AE.

Honestly it can happen with any factory loadings. I’ve had it happen with Hornady 300gr XTP, MR 350gr, MR 300gr. Yet to have the malfunction with Armscor stuff. The hornady loads I found 2/100 rounds to be out-of-spec. One was way too long, and another seemed overcrimped.

[iFrantic Kecleon]

My Desert Eagle wouldn't load any Magnum Research .44 MAG until after 3 boxes but now it'll eat all .44 MAG love the Deags!

[soopafly]

Originally Posted by Romeo_alpha01

Another thing I noticed was you have an older Israeli model. Sometimes the Israeli made barrels leak gas at the seam. I noticed the US barrels are one piece and don’t suffer from this problem.

If this ever happens, would the most economical option be to buy a new barrel? New barrels are around $500 half the cost of my original purchase price for the whole gun

[Romeo_alpha01]

Originally Posted by soopafly

If this ever happens, would the most economical option be to buy a new barrel? New barrels are around $500 half the cost of my original purchase price for the whole gun

I don’t think the leakage is a huge deal breaker. I have the same problem and I just run much hotter ammo. I still cycle through Hornady and armscor just fine. If you had to get another barrel save up for the 10” model.

On the bright side you can actually separate the two halves of the barrel for cleaning, although I’ve never done so myself. I could imagine maybe using some sort of softer material like copper to seal the mating surfaces?