Thinking About Buying A Desert Eagle

[Flying Bones]

Hey guys,
Thinking about buying a Black DE just because...it would match a Scar17 and Benelli M4...maybe not, but still.
Can someone school me on them?
Is there a particular model that I may want to hunt for?
Anyone know of any good deals in Sac/Bay Area or further north?
Thanks!

[sirr6]

I have one, don't shoot it much, but can say ammo is pricey. There's some at wild bills right now.

[Sabot]

My Desert Eagle is a Jam-O-Matic.

[tnlrat37]

I saw a guy picking up the gold plated one at riflegear last week, I told him that's "Big Pimpin right there" he looked happy.

[IVC]

Desert Eagle is fun novelty gun. Not practical for any particular purpose, but a lot of fun when your reason to own one is "just because."

Make sure you get Mark XIX and not the older Mark VII. The newer ones can be converted between 50AE, .44 Mag and .357 Mag. To convert between 50 and 44 you need new barrel and magazines. To convert to .357 you'll need a new bolt as well.

I'd look at shiny ones, but it's a matter of taste. I have a 50AE brushed chrome and a .44 conversion barrel and magazines. A lot of fun to shoot.

As for how it works, it's quite an interesting gun. It's gas operated, not recoil operated. Much more like a rifle action in a pistol. The barrel is fixed and doesn't tilt, so you get good inherent accuracy. Blasting off 50AE is a lot of fun - somewhat expensive, but you do it only as an add-on during you standard range trip and after shooting more traditional guns.

Note: they don't make ankle holsters for DE. I'm not sure they even make IWB holsters. If that's your line of thinking, forget about it... : )

[IVC]

My Desert Eagle is a Jam-O-Matic.

Big part of that is how you hold it, especially since it seems to cycle slower than other guns.

[joe_sun]

I've never had one but my friend had a 44 DE. It didn't get shot much it was much more of a, hey check out what I have in my safe gun that all the non gun owners would ooh and ahh.

When non shooters find out I have guns it's the most commonly asked gun if I have, it ranks right up there with "Do you own any machine guns"

About 10 years ago you could get one for 700-800 used and I considered grabbing one just to have but couldn't justify the cost. I actually don't like shooting them or how they feel and I HATE slide mounted safeties but they used to look really cool. Nowadays whenever I see one in the movies I think.. the 90's called they want their prop gun back.

Everyone has a grail, mine was a HK P7M8 and I never shoot it either but I'm not sure I'd ever sell it. It's just something I'd wanted since I was kid. If you want one and can afford it then go for it.

[joe_sun]

Big part of that is how you hold it, especially since it seems to cycle slower than other guns.

When I shot my friends 44 it shot fine but when I shot the 50 it was malfunctioning left and right. I was told by the owner that it was operator error and It's entirely possible this was back in the 90s and I didn't know what I was doing.

LOL I remember being 18 and shooting a handgun and thought that I was so awesome because I was anticipating the recoil and jerking the gun down to keep it on target.. you know.. flinching lol. I accidentally pulling the trigger and not doing my awesome anti recoil jerk and I hit the 10 ring and thought.. man that was a lucky shot!

[Tok36]

My brother owns a DE in 50 AE

Lets put it this way, i thought i was shooting the floor and i was actually shooting the ceiling.

I enjoy watching other people shoot it more than shooting it my self.

Ill stick with my 9mm.

[DannyInSoCal]

I passed on one of these complete sets a few years back for $2800 -

Probably shoulda bought it...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=432483089

[mrblah]

I own one in 44mag, and am pretty content with it (meaning I have no desire to convert it to 50ae).

With that said, it rarely comes ouf of the safe and if you bring it the range,
prepare to get alof of attention, and if you shoot it alot, it becomes a very expensive affair.

as for shooting it, its pretty dang accurate, but I've also notice that it is easy to limp wrist. Mine likes to be run wet, I mean really wet, otherwise it'll have malfunctions.

As others have mentioned, its more of a piece to get people talking or taking pictures of it, so it definitely has its value to a collector. If i wasn't a collector or if I sorely needed the money, I wouldn't miss owning it if I sold it.

[Justintoxicated]

hmm reasons to own one.

[colossians323]

My Desert Eagle is a Jam-O-Matic.

would you like to learn how to correct that or sell it at a deep discount

[ivanimal]

My Desert Eagle runs flawlessly. It is a first generation in 44 Magnum. The newer ones can be interchanged with new slides and barrels for multiple calibers. I like the 44 magnum.

[Mr. Gillious]

I have a Mark VII. It works fine and I've never had any problems with it besides the times I shot lead 44 mag thru it and the lead clogged the gas port and made the piston sticky.

Other than that I bought it for $1,000 used with 5 magazines which I thought was a fantastic deal.

They're super easy to clean and pretty accurate. They're heavy but a load of fun to shoot. I would say it's an accurate gun once you learn where to hold and packs a lot of punch. Mine was made in Israel