Does this sound normal to you...

T

Tankist

New member
Couldn't stand to wait any longer, finally decided to try out my new Desert Eagle 44mag.

Here's what happened. After the first shot, a problem became apparent almost right away. The DE absolutely refused to feed. I mean completely, I had to literally feed the first 25-30 rounds by hand. It would eject the spent case and just fail to strip the next one from the magazine. My first though was, DE requires full power ammo. Maybe CCI Blazer just doesn't have enough kick. Then all of a sudden about halfway through the box it started to feed. At first it jammed... twice. Then it just proceeded to function flawlessly second half of the box, not a single hitch.

My question is, does this kind of thing sound normal for these particular pistols, or should I expect to have failures to feed for the first couple of hundred rounds or so.

Also, I still have about a month or two until I can take possession of the pistol due to some insane city laws. Because of this the pistol is now being safeguarded by the dealer. He can let me shoot it, if I fill out a rental agreement. Renting my own gun... How crazy is that. Anyway, since I can't take it home, I can't clean it after firing it. I ran 50 rounds through it, before that it has never been fired. Would it cause any damage if I left it unlearned for a month or two. Mainly I'm concerned about rust and things of that nature. Finnish is black. What do you think, should I leave it like that or do I need to run over there with a toothbrush right now.
 
You mentioned that it was ejecting but not stripping the next round and that you hand fed the first few rounds. Was the slide locking back on an empty mag when you were hand feeding it?

(My initial guess is that the gun is absolutely new and that the bearing surfaces were still rough and tight the slide was slowed down and shortstroking, not traveling back far enough to strip the next round. Another possibility is that the gas port was plugged up a little bit and the more you shot it, the clearer it got.)

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- Ron V.
 
At first it sounded like a magazine problem. Make sure the magazine is in properly, because if it's down just a little bit than where it should be it won't feed. It sounds like a "breaking in period" problem (magazine stiffness is part of this problem also). Yes the Desert Eagle needs near full power ammo to cycle properly (note also that it needs to be jacketed. Lead cloggs up the gas system). As for the cleaning I wouldn't wory about the month/two cleaning situation. As soon as you get the gun, you should give it a good cleaning, etc. before shooting it again, and after each session. I bought mine (50 A.E.) used so I don't know how long it had been sitting before it was cleaned. I did shoot several rounds through it before I gave it a good cleaning. It cycled flawlessly with most types of ammo before I cleaning it. I handload for mine now. I will admit that due to my magazine springs needing replaced it jams up on the last round (7th) of each magazine. It didn't do this until recently. Besides that it cycles flawlessly with my handloads.
 
i am not sure from your post how you were shooting. i have seen DE's that would malfunction if pressure is placed on thier magazines. we were resting the butt of the handle on a sandbag and it would fail to feed or jam every round.

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the outcome of the vote.
Let he that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one. Luke 22-36
They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Song of Solomon 3-8
The man that can keep his head and aims carefully when the situation has gone bad and lead is flying usually wins the fight.
 
Ron,

Yeah, the slide would not lock back on an empty mag. Weird thing about the mag. I noticed that when fully locked there is a small gap between the magazine tab and the bottom of the mag well. Wasn't using any rests yet, from what I could tell the gun is very accurate although my aim needs a lot of work.

By the way, since we're on the subject. Has anyone tried upgrading the sights or the grips on their DE. If so, whats a good source for these items. Besides M.R. that is, I saw they had a few of each to chose from, overpriced ofcourse.
 
PB -
What do you use for a handload? Mine functions great with factory ammo, but I have some problems with handloads.

[This message has been edited by acp Mikey (edited October 09, 2000).]
 
I was just at the range yesterday, and I had a conversation about the Desert Eagle .44. According to the owner of the range, who just acquired a Desert Eagle .44, the Desert Eagles will only feed certain brands of ammo properly. He had the same exact problem. You will have to find out which ones will work right...
 
acp Mikey wrote:
"PB -
What do you use for a handload? Mine functions great with factory ammo, but I have some problems with handloads."

Speer 325gr JHP\31.0 GR H110\CCI Magnum Large Pistol Primers\various 50 A.E. cases.\overall length (I set the caliper at 1.61 in, and the loaded round must pass through this with ease, but with not to much of a gap. If I feel there is too much of a gap I disqualify it).

As a note: I remove the barrel, and drop the loaded round down the chamber. Then tip the barrel up side down. If the loaded cartridge falls out of the chamber easily it passes. If it doesn't, or if the loaded cartridge gets stuck when going in it is disqualified. I do a similiar practice with my revolvers.
 
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