Why so much hate towards the Desert Eagle?

[ostrobothnian]

They are a "blast" to shoot. My cousin carries a .44 DE on his leg holster when we hunt in Michigans UP. They have a russian boar problem up there and he is an "all about being prepared" kind of guy. Lol. Of course he is a man of much larger stature than I weighing in around 280 and 6'6".

He let me go through a magazine last winter and after I was done I couldn't stop laughing. Didn't even feel the recoil.

BTW. It's not the gold tiger striped version.

[jjmitchell60]

I own a 44 chrome and it is way too heaby. IMHO it is a good boat anchor though. Seriously I think the dislike to the DEs has to do with their weight. the Baby Eagles are a lkot better gun and a lot lighter too.

[BusGunner007]

DiscoRacing:

...we outta form some sortta Desert Eagle Alliance Group

Desert Eagle Alliance Group Launchers Extraordinaire

[DiscoRacing]

Desert Eagle Alliance Group Launchers Extraordinaire

SWEET!!!
Is it real?? gonna have to google that one

[Q!!]

For one they are ugly as sin. Look to "ghetto" for me. Wouldn't mind shooting one but I would not waste a penny to own one.

[44 AMP]

But I can recall a time when the Sig P220 was considered the ugliest auto on the market. And, truth be told, it was.

Of course, this was years before GLocks, or Desert Eagles.

Times, and public tastes change. Sometimes faster than others. After a few years, I found even the brute ugliness of the Desert Eagle to have a degree of appeal. And I've owned a Sig 220 (marked Browning BDA) for 30 years. It too has a certain appeal. Neither one has the pleasing lines of a Colt 1911, or a Browning Hi Power, or my favorite looking auto, but they do have their appeal.

As to all those who disparage the size of the DE, I guess you guys see no use for a T/C Contender with a 10 or 14" barrel?

Despite what video games and movies keep showing us, the Desert Eagle isn't, and wasn't intended to be a combat handgun. Despite the fact that certain specialty military/paramilitary groups have expirimented with them, they aren't intended for that and never were. Hollywood likes them for the same reason they love full auto firearms, they are dramatic looking, and anything that catches the eye is good for movies, no matter how tenuous its connection with reality.

[Big Bill]

They're too big, too ugly, and too heavy for any practical purpose. I'd hate to have to carry one around all day.

[Dave R]

People who hate 'em? They're just jealous. Really.

[ubersoldate]

I love em, but I dont think Id own one.
Sure a fun gun to shoot though, just not my thing..

[Dodge DeBoulet]

It's a fun gun to shoot for sure, and even more fun to have when other folks are around at the range. It definitely attracts attention, and no one I've offered to let shoot it has declined.

And as for the cost . . . the expressions on my fellow shooters' faces when they pick the thing up (never mind firing it) are priceless

[DiscoRacing]

My findings as well Dodge

[SilentHitz]

Seems like most people don't like the weight, think it has no practical use, or simply dislike the constant " it be the best in the universe" chatter from the gaming crowd. I own one and that chatter bugs me too lol.

Of course it's heavy, it's a BIG pistol, I've carried a full size 1911 for decades, and read all the time on this forum and others how big and bulky they are...and too heavy for everyday carry. I find it easy.

I have no intention of carrying the Desert Eagle all day long either, but did just order a good shoulder rig for it...same way I carry all the "hand cannons", just makes good sense to me to distribute the weight...instead of having it hang on the hip.

And God forbid we actually had to have a "practical reason" to have every gun we own! I bet most of us would have a much smaller collection if we had to justify each purchase with a practical reason...only reason I need is I WANT IT. To some it's ugly, to me it's not...that's why there are many different styles of guns, nobody is going to like everything on the market.

Guess I have just always liked the hand cannons, I find them fun as hell to shoot. Lost the cord to my freakin' camera in the move last year, so pic is courtesy of the seller...thanks KCabbage!

[FairWarning]

I don't hate Desert Eagles.

But put it this way---overpriced SUVs with big gold spinners are to trucks what DEs are to pistols.

[DiscoRacing]

overpriced SUVs with big gold spinners

and there seems to be plenty of those running around.

I tried to get the gold spinners for my honda civic....
they said i cant get them for that antique of a vehicle

[HisSoldier]

How many of you own high end $2K+ 1911's? Is that because its more practical than a glock?

For me that is definitely true, because if all I could shoot were a glock I'd give up shooting. A DE would be a gazillion times more interesting to me than a glock.

[IdahoG36]

I have always wanted a matte black DE .50AE just to use as an occasional range gun. It bet it would be a lot of fun to shoot. But I just can't justify $1000+, and around $2 a round, for a safe queen that gets shot a few times a year. Otherwise I would probably own one.

[kristop64089]

I just sold my DE not too long ago. My personal belief is that it's a "conversation piece", or maybe a phallic symbol of sorts. It's the "biggest, baddest, loudest, gun out there" mentality that goes with it, that I don't like.
Your hand rides to high, the slide comes to close to your hand, the trigger sucks, the sights suck.

All in all, the gun was meant to impress your friends, but has little practical application. Not to say it can't be done, but there are many other guns out there that are better served.

[Lattitudes]

As others have noted, for ccw its just not that handy. For a woods gun(I hike with a heavy .44 Super Red Hawk) its a fine sidearm. I dont understand the benefit of a pistol to a revolver when you need it most.

[Citizen Carrier]

I owned two, simultaneously, back in the 1990s. A two-tone .44 mag, and a matte .357 magnum.

Why'd I buy them? It was the Hollywood factor. Of course that is a factor. Look what happened to Model 29 availability after "Dirty Harry". Or more recently, what happened to Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle prices for four or five months after the release of "Enemy At The Gates".

Heck, I even noticed a run on big 11mm French foreign legion type revolvers after "The Mummy" came out. People were snatching them up at ridiculous prices in Kansas and Missouri gunshows.

But I digress.

I have a jaundiced eye for them now because neither of those guns ran right. Guns, any gun, should be able to get through an entire range session with factory ammunition without jamming. Neither of those two could. Meanwhile, I can take a $400 Filipino copy of an M1911A1 to the range and it works from start to finish.

Would I like to have another DE? Yeah, I'd like one of those chrome ones.

Am I going to buy one again? No, probably not.

Anymore, I think that WHAT you do at the range is more important than what you BRING to the range. I'm largely past any desire to show "range jewelry".

No, not entirely past it. Face it, none of us here are immune to taking pleasure from others admiring our guns. It's just like cars...or houses...or wives. We like to show off our stuff. Human nature. And a shiny DE is imminently "show-offable".

Unfortunately, I didn't think my having to clear a jam every five shots, or re-tighten the safety lever screw that backed out under recoil, or have the hammer drop on an empty chamber because the slide stop didn't engage...was all that "impressive". In fact, it was embarassing for other shooters to see me slapping and pulling and tinkering on those expensive guns continually.

If I was a handgun hunter or one of those long range steel ram/pig/chicken target shooters, I might give the DE a consideration. Besides being range jewelry, those would be the only reasons I'd get one.

[Doc Intrepid]

Originally Posted by kristop64089

”Your hand rides to high, the slide comes to close to your hand, the trigger sucks, the sights suck…”

In terms of the design of the pistol, the measurement from the longitudinal axis of the bore and the recoiling slide to the top of the shooter’s hand isn’t substantially different from that of other auto pistols. In terms of the trigger and the sights, these things may be changed – my Desert Eagle came with a very slick, lightweight trigger option 20 years ago, and I put high-visibility tritium night sights on it when I was a law enforcement instructor. At that time it was one of the few pistol rounds that would penetrate the type of kevlar body armor being worn by bank robbery teams.

You can change the trigger and sights to whatever configuration you desire.

Clearly the pistol is a special purpose weapon, but to assert that it has no use at all betrays a lack of awareness of the roles it has filled both in Israel and the US.

Originally Posted by Lattitudes

”I don’t understand the benefit of a pistol to a revolver when you need it most.”

Tactically, the benefit is the same benefit that any semi-automatic pistol offers over any 6-shot revolver: (a) there are more than 6 rounds immediately available; and (b) the semi-auto may generally be re-loaded much more rapidly with a magazine (again with more rounds) than a 6-shot revolver. From a tactical perspective, given the huge range of potential circumstances one might face in a tactical situation, this offers a recognizable benefit.

Few would dispute that the .44 Magnum cartridge is useful if you find yourself in a position where you're forced to use it on animals, especially wild animals. Most might agree that a .44 magnum handgun makes a good 'outdoor' or 'woods' handgun.

And for those who question why anyone might want a handgun that offers a tactical advantage for a “woods gun”, beware of assumptions regarding the various circumstances that you imagine you may encounter in the woods. (You know what can happen when you “assume”)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/0...king-over.html

Originally Posted by Citizen Carrier

”I didn't think my having to clear a jam every five shots, or re-tighten the safety lever screw that backed out under recoil, or have the hammer drop on an empty chamber because the slide stop didn't engage...was all that "impressive". In fact, it was embarrassing for other shooters to see me slapping and pulling and tinkering on those expensive guns continually.”

That’s understandable - I wouldn’t have liked that experience very much either. I’ve owned the one I have for more than 20 years now, and have not encountered these failures with my pistol. I can see where that would be a real negative experience…my experience with my DE in contrast has been uniformly positive – it has been completely reliable assuming you change out the springs every 3000 rounds.

Obviously, opinions and tastes vary. Even professionals often disagree on what is “best”, or even desirable. That’s why law enforcement agencies often allow officers to carry more than one type of handgun.

People should carry whatever they want.

But folks who are completely dismissive of the utility of a firearm occasionally reveal more about themselves than they do about the firearm.

IMHO. YMMV.

[biohazurd]

I own a desert eagle myself but i would have never bought one with my own money, I received it from my aunt after my uncle passed away and i havent had the heart to sell it. Its a blued .357 with 3 magazine. Its a fun shooter that handles the .357 mag will very light recoil, obviously because of the weight and gas system. Is it my favorite gun, no but it is a fun thing to have.

[bamaranger]

but impractical, to what I believe a handgun ought to be. Portable, easily riding in a reasonable holster, 'till you decide you need it. Not necessarily concealable, just handy.

A 1911, a colt SA, even a Ruger Super B or a Smith 29 are all these things.

Not so a Desert Eagle.

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Originally Posted by bamaranger

but impractical, to what I believe a handgun ought to be. Portable, easily riding in a reasonable holster, 'till you decide you need it. Not necessarily concealable, just handy.

A 1911, a colt SA, even a Ruger Super B or a Smith 29 are all these things.

Not so a Desert Eagle.

You don't believe a handgun should be fun? Because the DE is certainly that.

And that's exactly why I bought mine. As for practicality, I have other guns for that.

[DiscoRacing]

but impractical, to what I believe a handgun ought to be. Portable, easily riding in a reasonable holster, 'till you decide you need it. Not necessarily concealable, just handy.

makes me wonder what a rifle should be too then...
and im sure the 50bmg and barrett 416 will also be too big and impractical

[WhistlerSWE]

Originally Posted by SilentHitz

And God forbid we actually had to have a "practical reason" to have every gun we own! I bet most of us would have a much smaller collection if we had to justify each purchase with a practical reason...only reason I need is I WANT IT.

Welcome to Sweden. We more or less have to specify which competition event we need each gun for to get a license. Handgun hunting is illegal. Concealed carry is definitely illegal. Few people around here have Desert Eagles, and the ones that do are kind of frowned upon, judging that it is not a competitive gun even in the few events that allow them.