Desert Eagle - Why the hate?

Apone · Mar 22, 2010

So - I just finished watching Boondock Saints II (FREAKIN' LOVE THESE MOVIES! So many good gun shots, only thing better would be naked ladies carrying those guns... Although the FBI agent was SMOKIN'! I digress...)

Anyhow - I spent most of the movie identifying the guns used. Lots of Beretta 92 action (one of the best guns ever made, IMHO - a well tuned Beretta is a work of art...) S&W, FNH - just so much good gun porn! Then, I see the brothers pick up matching sets of Desert Eagle MK XIX's, in 44 Magnum. They just looked awesome. Not that I need one, but I started thinking - hey, maybe I'll pick one of those up when I have some spare money (after I get my FNH 45 Tactical, another Sig or two, a REAL Beretta M9, S&W Model 500 Performance Center, AK-47, Saiga 12, a couple of SA XDM 3.8's, lots of suppressors, trigger jobs for all - and I'm going to make Midcounty Gun Shop and 2A rich...)

So - long story short - I started poking about on the 'Net, looking for info. Seems that most people HATE Desert Eagle. Why? Did I miss something about this company? Yes - Desert Eagle's fame is more as a movie prop than as a combat handgun, but what's the story? It seems as if most people are bagging on them just because someone else is doing the same. Does anyone have any real knowledge - good or bad - about this firearm or this company?

Why all the hate for the Desert Easy?

guthook · Mar 22, 2010

It is perceived as a compensation tool. :rolleyes:

I've shot a DE in .44, it was pretty nice.

olzkool · Mar 22, 2010

Apone I have had a couple and still have my first. I would never sell it. It is a matte chrome .44. I have and have had alot of high quality pistols and this is by far my favorite to shoot. I can't explain why, its too damn big for anything else but it is super accurate for what it is and damn fun. It is something about firing a semi .44 that just brings a giant smile to my face. It has suprisingly light recoil for the caliber due to the gas system. It is very simple and easy to break down and clean, and calibers can be changed easily. Very rarely have a failure and when I have it has been with cheap ammo. Plus it shoots really cool flames out of it. I don't knpw where you shoot but I'm in baltimore county and you are more than welcome to take mine for a test ride anytie you want. Just give it back clean when you are done. If I pulled it out and shot it today I would get that same feeling as the first time I shot it. Its one of those. Just my experience and opinion, I have always wondered the same as you. Why all the Hate?

olzkool · Mar 22, 2010

guthook said:
It is perceived as a compensation tool.

I've shot a DE in .44, it was pretty nice.

When you carry it all the women ask you if you are happy to see them

If all else fails you can pull it out and clobber somebody with it too!

smokey · Mar 22, 2010

probably the hate comes from videogame playin mall-ninja types on forums like the highroad going up against people like ayoob and claiming "the 50 deagle is the best fighting handgun of all mf'in time". For a gigantic handgun that weighs a ton, they're accurate and fairly reliable. they're definately very cool. Alot of the hate, i feel, is just pushback from people that know against people that don't. the pushback fails to mention some of the good things about the deagle brah!

Apone · Mar 22, 2010

guthook said:
It is perceived as a compensation tool.

I've shot a DE in .44, it was pretty nice.

Heh - if that's the real story, I'll pick up an XDM 3.8 if I get one. Should balance things out nicely.

MDMOUNTAINEER · Mar 22, 2010

I've never had an interest in the big DE's. I think they are made well enough and they are interesting. I've just never been that into 'em.

The baby eagles on the other hand, I do not like one bit. Horrible ergonomics, not much slide exposed topside to grab onto, and they just feel cheap.

Just my opinion

smokey · Mar 22, 2010

guthook said:
It is perceived as a compensation tool.

I've shot a DE in .44, it was pretty nice.

haha when gangster-types want to see the 500 s&w at basspro i always make a point to hold it roughly groin-level and mention that it comes complete with a compensator that's perfect for anyone looking to compensate. always goes over their heads and makes the brighter people around them chuckle.

Apone · Mar 22, 2010

smokey0118 said:
haha when gangster-types want to see the 500 s&w at basspro i always make a point to hold it roughly groin-level and mention that it comes complete with a compensator that's perfect for anyone looking to compensate. always goes over their heads and makes the brighter people around them chuckle.

Please don't ever do that while I'm around. I will most certainly laugh out loud and get into trouble...

:lol2:

august1410 · Mar 22, 2010

smokey0118 said:
haha when gangster-types want to see the 500 s&w at basspro i always make a point to hold it roughly groin-level and mention that it comes complete with a compensator that's perfect for anyone looking to compensate. always goes over their heads and makes the brighter people around them chuckle.

Might as well just plug the barrel and chain it to one of the octagons in front of the counter. Those 500s get more hands on them than a drunk Catholic school girl.

zombiehunter · Mar 22, 2010

shot one, loved it. It's too big for my hand though...kind of depressing.

RCH · Mar 22, 2010

I have a MK VII in .44 and it's well made gun that works very well for it's intended role- target shooting or hunting. The .44 magnum gets attention when you unleash it on the range. I used to handload with red dot powder (if I can remember correctly.) I had a nice load that had mild recoil and the slow burning powder produced an insane red/orange ball of flame from the end of the barrel. When I shot it indoors at On Target, the blast would clear out the shooters next to me and rattle the windows behind me.

The DE is not a concealed carry piece or even close to being the perfect self-defense handgun. Is it pratical- No. Is it a great conversation piece and a hell of a lot of fun to shoot- YES!

Magnumite · Mar 23, 2010

Red Dot really isn't that slow a powder. Its just slower than Bullseye. What do you get for pressure signs using that load.

Fodder4Thought · Mar 23, 2010

I've never even held one, let alone fired one, so take this for what it's worth:

My ... 'dislike' is too strong a word, but perhaps 'disinterest' works ... for the Desert Eagle stems from the media, in particular the b-grade stuff that tended to flaunt the not-brief-enough 'Girl Power' meme. For a while there, it seemed like every where I looked there was some stick-armed swimsuit/lingerie model strutting her stuff with one of these things in each hand, practically screaming 'Look at me, I don't need a penis!' It grew tiresome pretty quickly, for me.

Perhaps a good analogy would be this: what if a part of the girl power meme involved a bunch of tiny, anorexic girls being impromptu firefighters, and as soon as they got past the initial trauma of being trapped in a fire, decided that they would never again be helpless. In the next scene, of course, you see these 100lbs-soaking-wet characters running around, putting out fires while dual-wielding a couple of industrial-size chemical extinguishers.

No thanks.

I like my women the way I like my everything-else - capable, but without having to flaunt it.

On balance, though, I hear that it's a fine gun - accurate and reliable, and I'm sure the mass of the thing does a good job absorbing the recoil of the .50AE round.

Just my two cents.

olzkool · Mar 23, 2010

Fodder4Thought said:
I've never even held one, let alone fired one, so take this for what it's worth:

My ... 'dislike' is too strong a word, but perhaps 'disinterest' works ... for the Desert Eagle stems from the media, in particular the b-grade stuff that tended to flaunt the not-brief-enough 'Girl Power' meme. For a while there, it seemed like every where I looked there was some stick-armed swimsuit/lingerie model strutting her stuff with one of these things in each hand, practically screaming 'Look at me, I don't need a penis!' It grew tiresome pretty quickly, for me.

Perhaps a good analogy would be this: what if a part of the girl power meme involved a bunch of tiny, anorexic girls being impromptu firefighters, and as soon as they got past the initial trauma of being trapped in a fire, decided that they would never again be helpless. In the next scene, of course, you see these 100lbs-soaking-wet characters running around, putting out fires while dual-wielding a couple of industrial-size chemical extinguishers.

No thanks.

I like my women the way I like my everything-else - capable, but without having to flaunt it.

On balance, though, I hear that it's a fine gun - accurate and reliable, and I'm sure the mass of the thing does a good job absorbing the recoil of the .50AE round.

Just my two cents.

So I am wrong to like hot chicks with big

guns? And all this time I thought they were sexy. Damn

august1410 · Mar 23, 2010

The first time I saw one, in the 1985 movie "Year of the Dragon", I was a little intrigued. I was 15 and the thought of a semi-auto in .44 or .357 was alien to me. (I had no idea there was the Coonan Arms .357 which looked vaguely like a 1911).

As I got older, my tastes changed and it simply went out of favor for me. I have no issue with it other than it is a little big for my hands.

Unfortunately, as it does with so many things, the media and pop culture have elevated the Desert Eagle (I will not call it a 'Deagle') to a mythic status. Being able to get them tiger striped and gold doesn't help matters either.

I understand that they are a decent gun and fun as hell to shoot. I'll give one a whirl if I come across one at one of the shoots.

Splitter · Mar 23, 2010

One day, a guy at the range offered to let me shoot his DE in .44 if he could shoot my wife's HiPoint. Talk about bizzaro world!

Anyway, it shot fine, very accurate. It's one of those pistols you feel in your chest when you shoot it. Fun! Makes you giggle. Helluva muzzle blast on a sunny day under the roof at Hap. Shooting it at dusk would be a show. Kind of of neat looking in a modern way.

I walked away thinking that there was nothing practical about it in my estimation so it would never make it to my list. But it was fun as hell to shoot once.

He walked away saying he wanted to buy a HiPoint lol.

I like black or stainless pistols, beautiful in their simple way. The DE, in my humble opinion however, just begs to be dressed up. It's a fun show piece after all. I can only think that had he lived, Elvis would have had a pimped out DE

.

Splitter

august1410 · Mar 23, 2010

The difference between the Desert Eagle semiauto pistol and the Deagle: weapon of choice of douchebags the world over.

The top image is a Desert Eagle, .50AE :thumbsup:

The bottom image is, well, a Deagle. :sad20:

xtreme43s10 · Mar 23, 2010

smokey0118 said:
haha when gangster-types want to see the 500 s&w at basspro i always make a point to hold it roughly groin-level and mention that it comes complete with a compensator that's perfect for anyone looking to compensate. always goes over their heads and makes the brighter people around them chuckle.

awsome I'll take 2 :innocent0

Rockzilla · Mar 23, 2010

Yeah the 50AE is a sweet gun, to shoot and reload for. I actually like it. I have big hands anyway.It is fun to watch other people shoot it though, sort of surprises them. Actually still got my first one low serial no. It's still in the box with the paperwork just like the day I bought it. The other one is the one I shoot and let others have fun with it. Recoil, oh well no worse than the full house reloads in the Ruger 44 Blackhawk I have. 500 S&W I want one but saving for the barrett 50 and a S&B Scope to go with the TRG42 .338. Got the low end covered .17 Rem need to work on big boys. Same with handguns. Got the low end covered. Man why did I start back in this again. Anyway the .50AE is sweet. Same rap I guess as the Stainless Steel AMT Long Slide and Hardballer .45s

-Rock

Desert Eagle - Why the hate?

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