Desert Eagle .357?

I’ll preface this by saying they’re cool looking guns, and they can be a lot of fun to shoot.

I have never met a Desert Eagle that ran properly. Ran a range that rented them and saw several more samples at bowling pin matches. Never saw one make it through a whole match (which was not a high round count, maybe a box or two of ammo) without a stoppage.

.50 AE guns tended to run “best,” But, that’s also in a cartridge designed to run that gas system.

The .44s and .357s were extremely load sensitive. They needed the right bullet shape, the right volume of gas, and that gas needed to be burning at the right rate to run the gas system cleanly. Any sort of feeding issues with those long, rimmed, straight-wall cartridges meant mangled cases in the feed path.

The guns themselves (all Israeli) weren’t particularly well built. I saw two or three break safety levers (I cannot remember if one was the same rental gun twice), and one of our rental guns had a bolt lug shear off.

If you have the right expectations and don’t mind trial-and-error load testing, they’re fun oversized toys. In my experience, it’s more fun to have a friend with a Desert Eagle than it is to be the friend with a Desert Eagle.
 
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Yikes, never heard this about Desert Eagle. My brother had a couple and wanted a 44 mag version because of the cost of 50AE, but I need to tell him about this thread.

I sometimes get the feeling a lot of folks think anything Israel does it first rate, from guns to training without a round in the chamber, and other stuff. Not to derail the thread, but @JRV do you have any experience with Bul Armory? I have been pining for a 1911 Commander in 9mm or SAS II Tac 4.25. I am too old and cranky to mess with guns that won't run.
 
From my very limited knowledge- the very early guns were on different frames. The original.357 and 44 were on smaller frames - those early guns ran well in their respective calibers.
DE went though some changes in design and ownership- KAHR Arms
In order to standardize manufacture they decided to build all of the models off of the same large frame of the 50 AE.
This also allowed them to offer caliber conversion kits- these work better with 50ae

The pistols work best with hand loads with hot charges and heavier bullets. I believe most issues with this gun are ammo related
 
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JRV said:
If you have the right expectations and don’t mind trial-and-error load testing, they’re fun oversized toys. In my experience, it’s more fun to have a friend with a Desert Eagle than it is to be the friend with a Desert Eagle.
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Wanted to say, this seemed a great review. Critical, but realistic based on experience. And this last line, boy I feel like you could replace "Desert Eagle" with so many other of our toys and it still hold true!
 
Had one years ago that ran just fine with my handloads. Wish I hadn’t sold it, ran better than the coonan I had for awhile. I would have to agree with most opinions upthread on it having no practical use and definitely big pimpin range toy status.
 
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dmarbell said:
Yikes, never heard this about Desert Eagle. My brother had a couple and wanted a 44 mag version because of the cost of 50AE, but I need to tell him about this thread.

I sometimes get the feeling a lot of folks think anything Israel does it first rate, from guns to training without a round in the chamber, and other stuff. Not to derail the thread, but @JRV do you have any experience with Bul Armory? I have been pining for a 1911 Commander in 9mm or SAS II Tac 4.25. I am too old and cranky to mess with guns that won't run.
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I have never owned a BUL but have shot them after matches and talked to owners at matches.

I know from talking to those guys that BUL’s sight dovetails are proprietary (so upgrading or replacing sights is not easy) and the double-stack mags are also their own beast—not STI/Staccato compatible. Some guys modded Remington/Para double stacks to work when the BUL mags were tougher to find. I know other guys that modded their grip frames for STI mag compatibility.

Joe Chambers (Chambers Custom) has related consistently on podcasts—including one of the most recent Primary & Secondary episodes about the 1911 market and building 1911s—and his Patreon posts that (1) BUL does not make “in-spec” 1911 clones and (2) he puts the MIM quality at or below current Springfield. He actually reports better consistency with in-spec parts from modern RIAs, which is crazy coming from a guy that builds $5K+ guns for a living.

That doesn’t mean a BUL won’t work out of the box, but like most 1911s below a certain price point, the odds of getting a gun with “gremlins” is higher.

Personal preference and experience for out-of-the-box, in the $1,500 price range—even though it’s not the value it once was—I would look at Dan Wesson. Good reputation for making properly-spec’d 1911 clones, and no MIM. Tool steel ignition parts and, on the lower end models, a few castings for non-critical components (like mag releases).
 
I had one 15 years ago. It was funny with the ammo. I had one and the neighbor had one. Most of the off the shelf ammo would not cycle it and the neighbor reloaded at the time loaded a load that was on the higher end of the grain scale of the powder charge. Those loads ran that pistol reliably. Still wish I had it.
 
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