Desert Eagle .357 loads

[Aiden]

Does anyone have a Desert Eagle .357 load that cycles consistently? Ive been experimenting and haven't had much luck. All are 158gr projectiles, so that should not be the problem. Also loaded some very hot loads. No consistency.

[stilly]

Did you remove one of the recoil springs? Aside from swapping out bolt and barrel you are required to remove one of the recoil springs as well. IIRC, It does not matter which one- Left or right.

Also, I read somewhere where the Deagle has a gas system that you can tune and it is set from the factory to be xxx. So I was never aware of this but I suspect the guy is full of crap or maybe I just missed it somehow. I will look into it.

I have never had any issues with any of my 44 loads not cycling.

[Ferrum]

Did you remove one of the recoil springs? Aside from swapping out bolt and barrel you are required to remove one of the recoil springs as well. IIRC, It does not matter which one- Left or right.

Also, I read somewhere where the Dealge has a gas system that you can tune and it is set from the factory to be xxx. So I was never aware of this but I suspect the guy is full of crap or maybe I just missed it somehow. I will look into it.

I have never had any issues with any of my 44 loads not cycling.

Never heard this before... Is this their version of recoil spring weight reduction?

[stilly]

Never heard this before... Is this their version of recoil spring weight reduction?

Yeah.

Believe it or not it I think it IS.

I remember reading it somewhere, because of the difference from .357 to .41 mag to .44 mag to .50AE the springs were heavy to support all of the rounds, but if you ran the .357 mag you were supposed to remove ONE of the springs from the firearm.

The Desert Eagle actually has 4 recoil springs. Two on the left and two on the right, but they are captured or whatever.

Let me double check.

[Aiden]

Mine are all in their original configuration, so the .357 was always a .357 and not a conversion from a 44, so no I have not removed a recoil spring. Never heard of this actually. Also, none of my DEs have adjustable gas systems, or any mention of an adjustable gas system in the owners manuals.

[Batman]

What exactly is happening when you get a cycling problem? Is it not extracting? Slide staying open? Or something else?

[NoHeavyHitter]

My .357 DEP is an early MKI. I use 158gr JSP's over any book charge (from lightest to heaviest) listed for AA#9 and all loads run 100%. Just look up the *specific* DEP loads listed in the Accurate Arms reloading manual. WW296 is also listed as accepted powders, but I have not tried them yet.

I have a friend that likes to run 2400 in his .357 (as it works good for his) - but MRI says that powder is too dirty and can clog the gas port over time. They also allude to the fact that the .357 DEP was developed around Accurate Arms powders.

**this is direct from "Magnum Opus" - the newsletter that MRI used to have for DEP owners.

[NoHeavyHitter]

I found a copy so you won't have to take my word for any of this.

[Ferrum]

I know I shortened my rounds a little to help with cycling problems... (DE .357)

I also switched to powders to H110 (can't remember what I was using before) and that helped also.

[stilly]

Let's operate under the impression that I do not know what I am talking about or I got things mixed up instead.

The tunable gas system came from a website called something outdoors, where they reviewed the deagle. I am thinking they got a prototype or something because they said you can tune it to your favorite pet loads, I found that to be totally wrong. BUT, Since I got my Deagle with no instructions and only in a plastic case with only 1 mag, I figured there was something that I was missing that anyone else might have had so I was not going to argue and since mine always shot fine for me, I never bothered to look up how to TUNE the gas system...

I apologize. I do not intend to mislead anyone about a Deagle. I just have it in my head that I can remember reading in black and white I think, that in order to convert the 44 mag MK-XIX to a .357 you needed to replace the bolt, magazine, barrel and remove one of the recoil springs, but it did not matter which side.

So i am going to hunt for that wording now and i think I even printed it out at one point.

Anyways, here is some ammo guides in the meantime:

http://zvis.com/dep/depmrra.shtml

http://zvis.com/dep/depammo.shtml

And for what it is worth, I have put a lot of different powders through my .44 and it has functioned flawlessly (for the most part) with about all of them.

Is your gas system fouled up?

[JTROKS]

Try a near max load of AA9 or AA7 with 158 grain soft points. When I had my 357 DEagle that's the load that cycled of me and very accurate.

[stilly]

Heh. When I clean mine (it is very dirty now) I will be taking it apart and having a closer look.

I will say this though, I THINK you can actually run PC boolits in the bird.

I was having a second look at the documentation that I found on this and the instructions said things like not to run FMJ unless the bullet base is encapsulated completely (which is a TMJ correct?) but apparently the only real issue that these have is when the base of the bullet burns from the gasses and makes a lead vapor which travels into the gas port and down the length of the barrel and then out the front into the piston, when it cools I guess it can kinda solidify and plug things up. SO then the gas port is at the barrel chamber, right to the left I think of where the cartridge goes in. I guess it is that little hole. SO then it can not get plugged up by lead scraping into it and since PC does not burn and become vaporous then any cast PC boolit should be good to go...

Well, reloading just got cheaper. I am still looking for that document. I SWEAR it was a write up about what 50 AE was and how it meant Action Express because it was a simple action to quickly change from one caliber to another... Then it went on telling you what you needed to do to convert from 50 to 44 and to .357 and to 41 mag and so on... I distinctly remember it saying that you needed to remove one side of the recoil springs if you have the Deagle in 44 or 50 and you are converting to .357. Scouts honor! (yeah three fingers are up in the scout salute...)

[Aiden]

My 44 will cycle just about anything, no problems. The 357 on the other hand short strokes and will not pick up the next round in the magazine. It fires and extracts fine, just wont strip off the next round every time. I think it needs a hotter load to push the heavy slide all the way back to grab the next round. I'll try the AA-7 and AA-9 and see if this makes a difference. It is an early 4 digit serial number gun if that makes a difference to anyone.

[Aiden]

I found a copy so you won't have to take my word for any of this.

NoHeavyHitter, Thanks for the info on this.

[stilly]

Well, I have looked all over and I can not find where I read that removing the one half of the recoil spring will allow it to cycle better for .357 loads.

I will stop looking when MRI gets back to me and says I am crazy.