Desert eagle 44 mag factory load

[Logs]

Just picked up a preowned Desert Eagle in 44 mag. I bought two boxes of ammo. First mag tech 44 in 240 grain and other Remington 180 grain. Both jacketed but not hollow points.

I was getting a failure to eject on both loads but more often on the Remington 180. Spent case didn't eject so next round stopped the slide. The 240 gr ammo functioned better but did jam once.

What load works best for you Eagle owners? Are these guns picky typically?

Thank you

 

[T. O'Heir]

Any pistol will cycle and shoot every load differently. That's why you have to try a box of as many brands as you can. However, I suspect 180's are just not enough to cycle the action.
Have a look at the mag lips too.
Only shot a DE once, long ago, and I still laugh about how much too big the thing was for my hand. Finger came nowhere near the trigger. Need about an inch and a half more finger. snicker.

 

[smee78]

Yes, they can be picky about ammo, they usually run better with full power 240. The main thing about these is not to limp wrist them, they need a firm grasp and no two hand grip on the mag floor plate/base, it can cause feeding problems. Other than the misfeeds how did you do?

 

[Logs]

Any pistol will cycle and shoot every load differently. That's why you have to try a box of as many brands as you can. However, I suspect 180's are just not enough to cycle the action.

Not sure I agree, my Glocks, Sigs and Colt 1911's eat anything from Blazer to Winchester White box. I bought two different brands of ammo to see about accuracy.

Yes, they can be picky about ammo, they usually run better with full power 240. The main thing about these is not to limp wrist them, they need a firm grasp and no two hand grip on the mag floor plate/base, it can cause feeding problems. Other than the misfeeds how did you do?

Gun is pretty accurate and I did try shooting with both a one handed and two handed grip. I cleaned it good tonight so I will give it another try. I am hoping to use my GoPro for a little fun shooting a Gallon of Water, Fire Ext, and a Cement Block. I am going to pick up a new magazine to see if that helps. The magazine I have is marked 3/98. The guns shows Israel Military Industries so it looks to be an older model.

 

[44 AMP]

Not sure I agree, my Glocks, Sigs and Colt 1911's eat anything from Blazer to Winchester White box.

And they should, being designed to be service pistols. The Desert Eagle is NOT, and NEVER WAS!! One look, let alone picking one up, should tell you that! Movie heroes and villains and shooter video games wielding Desert Eagles (or the infamous "Deagle") are just FANTASY.

The Desert Eagle in NOT an omnivore. It is not a vegan, nor a scavenger. It requires a VERY specific diet or it gets sick. Think of it like the carnivorous bird the name suggests. It must be fed the right diet, and handled the right way, or it will not "fly".

Gas Operated. NOT recoil operated like GLocks, Sigs, Colts, and every other service class pistol over the past 100+ years. And, the gas system is fixed (non adjustable). So it requires a certain minimum level of gas volume and pressure to run.

Compared to service semi autos, the operating range of ammo for the DE is very narrow. The gun is made to run on FULL POWER 240gr ammo, and that is what the (semi) fixed sights are regulated for at the factory.

Call Magnum Research (not sure if the info in on their website) as ask them what factory ammo they recommend. Quite simply, the ONLY factory ammo you can "trust" to work in the Desert Eagle is what is recommended by the maker. If the Eagle doesn't run on THAT ammo, then you have a gun problem.

If the Eagle doesn't run on some other ammo, you DON'T have a gun problem, you have an ammo suitability problem.

You already seem to know not to use cast bullets. I would also recommend staying away from plated bullets, and jacketed stuff with exposed lead bases.

Lead noses, RN or hollow point are not a problem in my experience. Desert Eagles can run well on specially worked up handloads, I've been doing that in mine for decades. 180s in the .44 and 125s in the .357 can run the guns well, BUT the loads have to be worked up for the gun, and my experience is they have to be full power to HOT or the Eagle won't like them.

Now, your issue COULD be the magazine (DE's are not immune to mag issues), but its not the most likely cause, for the symptoms described.

Another point where the Desert Eagle different from about all other autoloaders is the magazine. It must "float" (meaning nothing holding or putting pressure on the base of the mag) or feeding issues are likely.

As far as I know, the "date" number on the magazines is NOT the date of manufacture of the individual magazine. It is a factory code referencing (I believe) some design feature or spec about the mag, a quick check of some of mine shows "dates" from 86 to 08. (in .44Mag).

Hope this helps.

 

[Sevens]

Winchester White Box 240gr JSP worked well in the .44 Mag Desert Eagle that I played with for a while.

But I would have gone broke buying that stuff so eventually I ran handloads running the 240gr Nosler JHP and Alliant 2400.

 

[Logs]

Thanks for the updates. I picked up some Winchester Ammo JHP to try out next.

 

[TRX]

I used to load a lot of .44 for a friend's Desert Eagle. It wanted maximum loads to reliably cycle.

1911s will work with "any" .45 ACP because all commercial ammo is loaded to be able to cycle a 1911. The .44 Magnum is a revolver round, and a revolver will happily fire anything that will clear the muzzle. There's a lot more variation between brands of .44 Magnum than .45 ACP.

The guys with autoloading shotguns run into similar problems. Any shell will work with a break-open or pump shotgun; autoloaders are far more picky.

 

[KEYBEAR]

The lead in a cast bullet does not foul a DE the lube dose .
After shoot bunch of cast bullets out of a DE never a problem with the lead.

The lube will slow the gun down but one hot jacketed bullet cleans it out .
Lead bullets in a DE will key hole ?

 

[Sevens]

KEYBEAR, you are free to do as you choose but what you wrote CAN, HAS, and often WILL wreck the gas port on a Desert Eagle barrel, to the point where the manufacturer will simply tell you that it's done, un-fixable, and barrel needs replaced.

Your mileage may very, but if you are suggesting it isn't a problem, you are offering PROVEN bad advice.