What's the recoil on a Desert Eagle really like?


BlueMR2

New member
Everyone's seen the videos of people smacking themselves in the face when firing a .50ae round and heard the complaints about firing a few rounds and having to quit before they hurt themselves. The reviews I've read all said that firing a .44 Magnum Deagle is like firing a .22 revolver. Is the .50ae round really THAT much worse than the .44?

I ask because I occasionally take trips into wild animal territory. These locations do allow CCW (and even open carry), but a rifle or shotgun would be a problem (frequent hopping in and out of the car and have to be completely unloaded in the car, etc. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, a handgun of any type is weak against larger animals. So, to at least give myself the best chance possible, I'd like the most powerful one that is controllable for myself and my wife.

Sounds like the .44 Magnum version would be usable for both of us and give us at least a chance against a larger animal, but if it's possible to *reasonably* (in a safe and controllable manner) go bigger and improve those odds, I certainly would...
 

I have a 44 mag desert eagle and yes the recoil is not bad considering it weighs 5 lbs. Big grip, accurate and will take down a deer! One thing that I found is you have to use quality ammo. Light ammo will not cycle the slide which is very stiff. I use fiocchi.
 
Are you stuck on wanting a auto handgun, if yes then it would be whatevr you prefer, the 50AE is a strong rd, but so is the 44 mag, if ether on is shot buy a untrained person it may smack you in the nose, the DE in 44 mag would be a fine weapon to use, but this also would depend on what sort of wild animal you encounter, a big mousse or grizzly may just get pissed if shot with a 44, but if hit several times I'm sure it would stop them, personaly if I were out in the woods and had even a chance that I could run into that large of a animal, I would have a 454 Casull, or 500 smith for a handgun, and just be ready for the recoil
 
Couldn't agree with you more Rocketgeezer. I also have a .454 and a .500 mag. I like big guns. As i went up in caliber, I started carrying the bigger gun. Trust me, you don't want to go bigger than a .500. Mine is a 4 inch barrel and carries real well. Recoil is not as bad as you would think as it is ported but still a hand full. And yes it will take down anything you may encounter!
 
My father on law got a sw500 last christmas...

It's intimidating to shoot at first. The concussion can be felt through my whole chest. Even though it's massive, after 25 rounds I still wasn't sore. I could probably shoot that thing all day if I had the money. I'm 5' 10", 185lbs, athletic build. My wife and mother on law (both 5" 115 lbs) shot it once and stopped, but I believe they could have gone more if they really wanted.

though this is the .500 mag, not the 50 ae, I would guess it's about the same (.500 is bigger, but the desert eagle slide action might give it a good kick too).

Go to a range and see if they have one to rent. Look for some of the gun shows around your state that still have these kind of guns (ie: machine gun show in albany oregon). If not to purchase a .50 cal, then just for fun!
 
At one time, I owned a Wildey .45 Win mag. Also, I shot a friend's .44 mag Desert Eagle. Both pistols are BIG. They have the same design flaw: a grip too big for normal hands to hold properly, despite having only a single stack magazine. That being said, they are not bad to shoot. Trust me, a .357 magnum derringer is much worse. So is my .44 mag S&W Mountain Gun with full power heavy bullet loads. My Freedom Arms .454 Casull is not as bad because of grip design, greater weight, and porting.

If you have a way to comfortably carry a monster like the Desert Eagle, and hands big enough to hang onto it, I wouldn't worry too much about recoil.
 
My father on law got a sw500 last christmas...

It's intimidating to shoot at first. The concussion can be felt through my whole chest. Even though it's massive, after 25 rounds I still wasn't sore. I could probably shoot that thing all day if I had the money. I'm 5' 10", 185lbs, athletic build. My wife and mother on law (both 5" 115 lbs) shot it once and stopped, but I believe they could have gone more if they really wanted.

though this is the .500 mag, not the 50 ae, I would guess it's about the same (.500 is bigger, but the desert eagle slide action might give it a good kick too).

Go to a range and see if they have one to rent. Look for some of the gun shows around your state that still have these kind of guns (ie: machine gun show in albany oregon). If not to purchase a .50 cal, then just for fun!

The 500 S&W mag is twice+ the round the 50AE is, look up the ballistics and bullit energy numbers
 
I've shot my dad's .44 super black hawk countless times and never had any problems. Like those seen in countless youtube vids, I don't think .50 AE would be that much worse. I haven't shot one but would love too!
 
Yes, its a big gun. But the weight of the pistol offsets some of the recoil. So it isn't bad. You will know you have a cannon in your hands. Isn't that part of the fun?
 
Due to the weight of the gun, grip design, and slide action my DE 50 AE shoots like a +p round through a 1911. That being said, it is not an ideal choice for animal protection. It is not an easy weapon to manipulate, and doesn't compare in power to the other .500 calibers.
 
While on subject, do not ignore the S&W 460 XVR, another formidable revolver that will also shoot stout 454 Casull and 45LC. Perceived recoil of the latter is so mild I'd compare it to shooting 38SPC thru a SW686.
 
Rocketgeezer:211545 said:
My father on law got a sw500 last christmas...

It's intimidating to shoot at first. The concussion can be felt through my whole chest. Even though it's massive, after 25 rounds I still wasn't sore. I could probably shoot that thing all day if I had the money. I'm 5' 10", 185lbs, athletic build. My wife and mother on law (both 5" 115 lbs) shot it once and stopped, but I believe they could have gone more if they really wanted.

though this is the .500 mag, not the 50 ae, I would guess it's about the same (.500 is bigger, but the desert eagle slide action might give it a good kick too).

Go to a range and see if they have one to rent. Look for some of the gun shows around your state that still have these kind of guns (ie: machine gun show in albany oregon). If not to purchase a .50 cal, then just for fun!

The 500 S&W mag is twice+ the round the 50AE is, look up the ballistics and bullit energy numbers

I know the .500 mag is bigger, I said that in my post. But the design of the desert eagle being a semi auto, and still using a .50 caliber round could be pretty intense. Never shot a desert eagle...but a sw 500 wasn't bad after the initial nervousness. I don't feel like looking up ballistics right now anyways...:)
 
The 44 Mag version is not all that bad to shoot. Friend of mine had one and we shot it quite regularly...Heavy gun and heavy slide eats up the recoil... I agree with another poster on the ammo issue. They do require full house mags of good quality to cycle reliably... Federal American Eagle 44mag 240gr worked well...
 
The recoil would never even come to my mind if a huge animal was about to make ME its main entree of the day. (I think the adrenalin would make that 50 feel more like a 22 in a heartbeat!)
 

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