Green Beret Blows Up Stuff with a Lightweight .50: The Desert Eagle L6—Full Review.
Picking up a
Magnum Research
Desert Eagle .50 cal. instantly conjures stories from Hollywood, or
maybe Lara Croft if you were raised in the Playstation age. If the bad
guy in a movie is carrying the DE, you know he is BA. (That’s bad ass
for our older readers without a twitter account.) I myself can’t look at
the gun without my subconscious whispering “because yours says replica,
and mine says Desert Eagle point five oh.” It is certainly an instantly
recognizable icon, and sure to stand out in a crowd.
The Desert Eagle L6 is a behemoth of a .50-cal., but MRI managed to shave a full pound of weight off of it.
SPECS
- CHAMBERING: .50 Action Express
- BARREL: 6 inches
- OA LENGTH: 10.75 inches
- WEIGHT: 3 pounds, 7 ounces
- GRIPS: Rubber
- SIGHTS: fixed
- ACTION: Single-action
- FINISH: Stainless steel slide, matte-black alloy frame
- CAPACITY: 7+1
- MSRP: $2,054.00
I
am decidedly pretty boring when it comes to firearms. Everything I own
is practical, and the closest thing I have to a peculiar caliber is my
10mm Glock. I was actually a bit concerned when this gun came to me for
review; because it is nothing I would even entertain purchasing. I have
revolvers in magnum calibers, but I have never really cared for
ultra-powerful handguns. One cylinder of a .454 Casull was enough for
me, and they can keep the .500 S&W. I don’t hunt (except people), so
before I moved to the Pacific Northwest even 10mm was a bit much for
critter control. So, what are the practical purposes of a Desert Eagle
.50 Action Express? Well, the only one I can think of is for
hunters/fishermen in Grizzly territory, that don’t like revolvers. Which
is a pretty limited segment of the population. I am happy to report
that this opinion changed after I took this bad Johnson to the range.
Practical
can sit down and shut its dirty mouth. A degree in accounting is
practical, but you don’t see kids dressed up as Mr. McGillicuty from the
local CPA office on Halloween. We want to tour with Spinal Tap, with
all the drugs, booze, and groupies promised to a shooting star Rock God.
And that is what the DE brings. It is fun to shoot in a way that is
hard to describe with words. You had to be there, man. You had to be
there. I giggle every time I spark this big bastard off. That has been
true from the first shot to the last. I am absolutely unapologetic about
the fact that I flinch every third shot. Most times when I pick up a
pistol I feel its weight, or balance, or craftsmanship. When I pick up
this .50, I feel destructive power. And it feels good.
Now, the
most significant element of this new model, dubbed the L6, is the fact
that it has a lightweight alloy frame. But, light is really a relative
concept, isn’t it? The Desert Eagle .50 L6 is no small fry still for
sure, but MRI has managed to shave some serious weight off the platform.
The other DE .50s in the line-up weigh in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces, so we
have dropped about a pound here on this new gun. That is quite a gain in
a pistol of this size.
Made in Pillager, MN. That just about says it all!
The .50 AE cartridge (right), next to a 9mm (center) and a .44 Mag. (left).
I
must also admit, I didn’t know much about the caliber .50 Action
Express when I received this gun. I assumed it was a lot like .50 GI,
which you can convert a Glock or 1911 to shoot. Why do you shoot a .45?
Because they don’t make a 46! .50 GI is essentially just slightly larger
diameter 45 ACP. To me, that is a solution looking for a problem. Not
so the .50 Action Express. This thing is a monster. I almost loaded my
shorts when I first popped open the Hornady box. The cartridge is
comparable in size to Off The Res 6’s thumb. 350 grains of kick-your-ass
moving at 1,320 FPS is serious business.
The author ran some Hornady 300-gr. ammo through the L6 for testing.
For testing purposes, we used both
Hornady 300 grain and
MRI 350 grain.
Both cycled equally well, and the Hornady XTP adds new meaning to the
phrase “chucking ashtrays.” The abyss they call a hollow point on this
bullet is absolutely massive. The MRI ammunition was a soft point FMJ,
which would be more than adequate for social work in this loading. The
MRI averaged about 1,320 FPS as mentioned, while the 300-grain Hornady
was 1,385 fps.
How was the recoil you ask? It was present, to say
the least. I credit the dual recoil springs that are present in the
Desert Eagle design, and they are quite heavy, with eating a lot of
that. But if you were concerned about recoil, you wouldn’t be looking at
this gun. I did manage to empty the gun (7+1 rounds) in under two
seconds, mostly on target, but you will feel it. Trust me.
How did
it do on paper? I didn’t even bother. I already admitted I flinch a lot
shooting this gun, so that is kind of unfair to the group size. And for
me personally, shooting 300 grain Hornady XTP at paper would be
sacrilege. Why would you shoot at paper, when you can shoot at things
that explode? The closest I came to an accuracy test was golf balls at
10 meters. The answer is 1.) yes, it is accurate enough to do that and
2.) the result was hilarious.
The barrel of the L6 has an integral Picatinny rail, as does the alloy frame.
How
about reliability? I did have a couple times when the slide didn’t go
all the way into battery with the next round in the magazine. No
failures to eject, but a few failures to finish the cycle. I will assume
all fault for that, it was literally raining soda and pieces of fruit
when I was testing. No gun was meant to be subjected to that. Also, I am
not too proud to admit I may have been limp-wristing the gun a bit
after 200 rounds in an afternoon. That is a lot of bang in a man-sized
caliber.
I also liked that Magnum Research went ahead and milled
full-size Picatinny rails on both the frame and slide. With a gun this
big, why not? I first put a full sized Surefire Scout Light on the
pistol in jest, but it did fit. And if you are carrying something this
big, why not? Ditto for the Aimpoint I put on top, and a 1×6 wouldn’t
have been out of place.
The way the MRI 50 works is a pretty
marvelous piece of engineering as well. One drop of a lever and the
entire barrel comes off, and it is a pretty serious barrel. The “upper”
weighs as much as most pistols, and you wouldn’t want it any lighter.
By
far the most unique part of the DE .50 is the fact that it is gas
operated rather than recoil operated and employs a rotating bolt. That
it actually uses a true bolt is quite different in its own right. The
bolt looks like a modified AR-15 one, and it rotates in the same way to
lock and unlock the action. If nothing else, it is at least very cool.
The
dual-recoil springs look like they have been scaled down from a MK 19
Grenade launcher. That being the full-auto, belt-fed grenade launcher in
use for decades in the US. They certainly work, and it adds to a
military feel to the design of this weapon. I was a bit less in love
with the springs after I spent an hour putting the gun back together the
first time, but they do mitigate recoil quite well.
The frame in
this lightweight version is all aluminum, and it is remarkably light
with the slide off. We will have to wait and see how durable this frame
is with such a heavy round, but if aluminum is good enough for
mach-speed aircraft, it is probably good enough for this. Rounding out
the frame is a very large rubber, one-piece wrap around grip, that your
hands will thank you for. I was quite happy with how the grips felt
during use.
The DE .50 is a single-action-only gun. The safety is
slide mounted, and is a safety only, not a decocker. The only part of
the Desert Eagle I didn’t care for was this. I would have preferred a
“down to fire” safety, even if it was slide mounted. Pushing a safety up
while assuming a firing grip is not a natural action for those of us
used to American handguns, and it is a bit awkward on a gun of this
size. The trigger is pretty good, as it should be in a
single-action-only gun. The test model broke consistently at 4 pounds, 7
ounces, with just a small bit of take up, and a small bit of creep.
It’s not a 1911, but it’s not bad all things considered.
The L6 breaks down into its primary components quickly and easily.
The .50 AE Desert Eagle L6 pistol employs a dual recoil spring system.
An M16-style rotating bolt is employed by the gas-operated pistol.
So,
overall, what was my take away from the gun? It was extremely fun to
shoot, and that is a purpose all in itself. I haven’t had that much fun
shooting since I got my first semi-automatic shotgun, at which point I
just walked around my range for an afternoon shooting down saplings and
auto glass. I smile every time I shoot this Desert Eagle, and that is
quite a value in itself. I might be smiling less if I had to feed it at
$2.00 per round, but it is a great toy. And certainly unique. If you are
already bought up on TEOTWAWKI guns, this makes an excellent edition to
your collection. Like a lift on your Prius, it is certainly a head
turner, and if you have the means, it is hard to pass up.