New discussion old handgun

[Steve8261948]

How many times has the .44 Auto Mag been tried? I've been going over some old and newer videos about this handgun but, has any thing actually changed? I've had several friends bite the bullet on the Dornas & Dixon Bren Ten and this has left a bitter taste in me.
Steve

[SmokeRoss]

Just buy a Desert Eagle.

[AKBEE]

Just buy a Desert Eagle.

i sold my DE 50 because It always ejected rounds towards my face and I found it to be cumbersome. Didn’t like the .44 either but it was fun at the range.

[The German]

OK then,,,,,, Back-in the Day, mid-90's, a buddy of mine used to bring his .44 DE to Elk Camp every year, @ close to 5lb's it never left camp.... TG

[Steve8261948]

I was hoping someone would of had some experience with the newer ones or knew some else who had in Alaska? Looks to me like the first two guys just took investors money and ran(one even pulled out before the guns were even made or assembled), from what I've read and heard?
Steve

[tundrawooky]

Those big pistols aren't reliable, grizzly, desert eagle etc.
the .44 auto mag died a horrible death, leave it buried. By a revolver. Or better yet carry a carbine that weighs as much as that boat anchor.

[moose338]

In my opinion, the desert eagle is and always has been a novelty gun, with no clear real world application beyond attracting attention at the range. As mentioned by others above, at over 4 lbs empty for the lightest models, it is an immensely heavy and unwieldy gun for woods use, and certainly for self defense use. It's mag capacity (it's only "advantage" over a revolver) is only two rounds more than any number of six shot big bore revolvers out there. Ammo is rather hard to find in comparison as well. I can't comment on it's reliability as I've never known anyone who had one. The only place it has ever really had any popularity is in Hollywood movies.

Now by comparison. A current production Ruger Redhawk in 44 Mag with a 5 1/2 inch barrel (similar length to the Desert Eagle) weighs a hair over three pounds. It is a proven reliable design and uses commonly available ammo that you can find in any gunstore in the country (when there's anything in stock at all that is). Obviously there are many other revolvers I could have used for this example the redhawk is just the one I picked. My advice is, if your looking for a handgun of that power level, get any of the many readily available 44 magnum revolvers out there and let the auto mag rest in peace.

[tundrawooky]

Sadamm Hussein had a gold plated one, I never malfunctioned when he was shooting it up on the air!

[SmokeRoss]

In my opinion, the desert eagle is and always has been a novelty gun, with no clear real world application beyond attracting attention at the range. As mentioned by others above, at over 4 lbs empty for the lightest models, it is an immensely heavy and unwieldy gun for woods use, and certainly for self defense use. It's mag capacity (it's only "advantage" over a revolver) is only two rounds more than any number of six shot big bore revolvers out there. Ammo is rather hard to find in comparison as well. I can't comment on it's reliability as I've never known anyone who had one. The only place it has ever really had any popularity is in Hollywood movies.

Now by comparison. A current production Ruger Redhawk in 44 Mag with a 5 1/2 inch barrel (similar length to the Desert Eagle) weighs a hair over three pounds. It is a proven reliable design and uses commonly available ammo that you can find in any gunstore in the country (when there's anything in stock at all that is). Obviously there are many other revolvers I could have used for this example the redhawk is just the one I picked. My advice is, if your looking for a handgun of that power level, get any of the many readily available 44 magnum revolvers out there and let the auto mag rest in peace.

I shot the same ammo in my D.E. that I used in my revolvers. My D.E. worked fine.

[tundrawooky]

How many 100s of rounds did you fire? A DE that doesn't jam?? Hard to believe

[moose338]

I shot the same ammo in my D.E. that I used in my revolvers. My D.E. worked fine.

Good to know. As I said have have never known anyone who had one so I don't know anything about their reliability.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying that it is a "bad" gun, I've personally just never found any benefit to it over an equivalent revolver. I'm also only comparing to the 44 auto mag version since that is what the OP was asking about. If you have one that is chambered for a more common round, than that will obviously affect my statement on ammo availability.

[AKBEE]

Moose:
The .44 mag DE I had was quite reliable and was fun to shoot at the range and for hunting hogs. My buddy and I had identical guns set up with Leupold 2x scopes and I do not remember have any reliability issues. They are just big and I decided to get rid of it. My btother hunts deer with the .44 and has never had any issues. The ,50 AE I owned was reliable as well, but I did not like the size/weight other than range time, and I didn’t like the way the brass ejected towards my face. I never experimented with different ammo that may have ejected differently. I have personally never heard any actual DE owners complain of reliability.

[moose338]

Good to know, I'll add them to my mental list of reliable guns.

[tundrawooky]

After living in Alaska my entire life and spending a large majority of that time in the bush and back country. I have NEVER seen one outside the range. It's not a good pistol for Alaska.

[AKBEE]

After living in Alaska my entire life and spending a large majority of that time in the bush and back country. I have NEVER seen one outside the range. It's not a good pistol for Alaska.

I know a couple of guys who carry them here, as well as another who keeps one in his SXS. It is a very nice handgun to use for hunting over bait when you don’t need to worry about weight. I prefer DA revolvers for areas I might encounter critter issues and I practice shooting DA, because I know that I can shoot faster DA after the first round while maintaining my same grip if shooting one-handed. That does not mean they are the best for everyone. To me an AR platform is not a great rifle to bust brush with, but many people do. Just because you don’t like something does not mean someone else has the same opinion.