50AE now what, Desert Eagle

[JTknives]

well i brough home a Desert Eagle last Nite and started looking into reloading and have read that every one says"NO" to cast as its gas operated cause thy say it will plug up the gas port. The gas port by the way is in the throat and then turns and runs under the barrel and turns again to face back at the shooter. i don't think you could get anything in there to clean it out if a bit of lead got in there. So what can i do? will cast with a GC work or is the cheapest thing just a plated boolit? Thanks guys and here is the baby

[scarry scarney]

Any body? Come on guys, doesn't somebody know how to cast bullets for the DE?

[DrB]

I ran plated berrys mfg in my 44 magnum DE for years, no problem. supposedly they can shed the plated skin if you launch them too hard but I never ran into the problem with h110 out of the standard barrel over several years and hundreds of rounds. Never any sign of abnormal fouling.

In my 50AE DE I usually shoot 325 gr jacketed imi bullets I bought a bunch of at about $.11 each ten years ago. As far as cast goes, I have tried load workup with a lee 501 cast at 440grs. I didn't get enough oomph with case capacity to get reliable cycling. I worked up to a max oal for my magazines with (eventually) a compressed load of h110. You'll probably want to use lighter weight (plated) bullets to achieve the necessary case capacity for powder to cycle the gun.

I shot them full as cast size, in a water dropped alloy around 23bhn. I watched carefully for any sign of leading in the chamber, barrel, or on the gas piston. Because the gas bore adjustment plug is brazed in, and you have those sharp turns in the gas system, if you ever get any significant leading in the gas tube you may have a PITA problem. You need to be meticulous in your load workup, and/or resigned to a major hassle in purging and/or repairing the gas bore if you screw up. Cost to fix may be prohibitive... but I just don't know as I've never heard of anyone who has screwed one up. And... I honestly don't know that if you should do everything right you won't eventually have a fouling problem anyway.

Also, there is pretty much no load data out there for cast as most folks are sensible enough to not risk that kindof money tied up in a novelty gun shooting cast bullets with the blind DE gas system. (I call the DE a novelty gun as a revolver has almost as much capacity, orders of magnitude greater reliability, lighter weight, generally lower cost, and far far more load versatility for a handloader.) I am sure I am not the only one who has tried cast in a DE, but far as I know from what anyone else has been willing to post, I'm the only one who has tried it and admitted it. Maybe someone else here will chime in...

Anyway, I suggest you go with h110 powder. I haven't used berrys mfg plated in 50 caliber, but if you find something like a rn or tc around 325 grain weight you might work up a load using those. Watch carefully for signs of skin failure. There are plenty of starting loads posted for jacketed bullets in that weight, so start there.

Best regards,
DrB

[redneckdan]

As long as it is not aluminum you could use 50/50 white vinegar hydrogen peroxide to attack any leading. This forms lead acetate which will wipe out like powder fouling. The bad part is the compound is highly water soluble and must be treated as hazmat.

[DrB]

Rnd, I think that might work if the lead is not too thick/solid... you would have to use shop air or such to blast it out, or a fine steel cable/pipe cleaner... The gas bore is difficult to navigate (no straight shot).

Jt, one of these days I've thought about seeing if lil gun might have the additional impulse to cycle the gun with the 440 gr boolits. I have seen no official load data so that would be a purely experimental process, to be approached with care... (a quick load calculation would be helpful).

You might also pm tommy girl as I know she had loaded for the DE (though not cast, I believe).

Best regards,
DrB

[Bullwolf]

That's a tough one. Take a look at the gas port in the Desert Eagle barrel. You cant really get any access to the gas port at all, to clean it.

If you could get to the gas port to clean the thing, id say go for it. Since you can't get to the gas port though , you are in a bit of a pickle if you managed to block it.

The best recommendation that I have heard from people was to remove the barrel, and soak the whole thing in Kroil hopefully to clean the gas port, or unplug it.

I think I would stick with gas checked cast 50 caliber fodder in it at least, if not only loading plated, or jacketed ammo.

I have an older Automag V (with no gas port) that I experimented around a bit with, but it takes a much milder load to cycle, and it isn't built like a tank like the DE is.

Mainly I was looking for a mild load for the old AMT. If you are interested, you can view the thread here. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=117958

I tried some of the Cast Performance flat nose .50 caliber bullets with a gas check for sale at Midway.

The people in the reviews complained about leading when using them though. Many were pushing them pretty hard in 500 Smith and Wesson. If you cast for it yourself, you could at least get the sizing closer to your gun.

I never pushed the cast boolits really hard. All my loads were just barely enough to cycle the Automag V, and I did not load any of them even close to 1100 fps.

All of the 50AE Desert Eagles that I have been around took a really massive maximum, or in some cases over maximum load to cycle the guns. I am not sure if I would feel comfortable pushing a cast load quite that hard. If I did, I would definitely use a gas check.

Almost all the jacketed data out there for .50 AE uses a Desert Eagle as a test firearm. I noticed that the Lyman manual swapped from using a Desert Eagle as a test pistol, to the Automag V for cast bullets in the Lyman Cast Bullet handbook 4th edition. Maybe they had a good reason for doing so.

If you do go with plated bullets, I would suggest W296/ H110 for a powder choice as well.

I have loaded and fired a hundred or so plated Rainer Leadsafe 300 grain flat nose bullets. At $22.99 per 100, they are a lot cheaper than buying factory fodder, and they loaded just fine. At least the 300 grain bullet leaves you some room for powder, its going to take a lot to cycle the big DE.

For the cost of buying .50AE you still save quite a bit of money reloading it, even if you are using plated bullets. Whatever you decide to do, please keep us informed of your results.


- Bullwolf

[tommygirlMT]

I used to own a DE-44mag --- sold it mainly because I couldnt/wouldnt shoot cast lead in it and having a gun that is jacketed bullets only is kind of a PITA --- especially when you cast your own

When I did have my DE-44mag --- my favorite condom bullets to load for it where half jacket bullets --- Used the Speer HP half jackets they make for 44 --- but there also used to be a custom bullet maker on the net who has unfortionatly gone out of business and his web-site is no longer up --- he only did half jacket pistol bullets but he did all different types and used a very heavy wall jacket cup about twice as thick as regular bullet jackets --- he had ones that were hard alloy cast cores with a Keith type SWC nose that were bonded to the jacket that were really good bullets I used to buy from him

[JTknives]

As long as it is not aluminum you could use 50/50 white vinegar hydrogen peroxide to attack any leading. This forms lead acetate which will wipe out like powder fouling. The bad part is the compound is highly water soluble and must be treated as hazmat.

I have wondered about that mix to desolve lead. I have a big bottle of mercury that I use to remove lead from mould cav's works amazing.

[Whistler]

I've shot a couple of hundred copper plated bullets (German "Händler & Natermann") in my .44 Mag Desert Eagle Mark VII (Israel made) as well as a couple of hundred cast Lee C430-310-RF.

Using the Lee C430-310-RF I cast WW which I waterdropped, sized to .430 and gas checked with Carnauba Red as lube in my Lyman 4500. I tried both Hornady copper checks and my homemade aluminum checks made with the Freechex III tool.

My experience is that accuracy is great, but the fouling is extreme. I always soak my barrels (I've got a 6" and a 12") in Ed's Red. The Desert Eagle often benefit from using medium powders rather than slow (like Vihtavuori N105 instead of N110), it helps to keep the pressures high for reliable function but does not foul as much.

I will probably not shoot much more cast in it. It is a pain to clean all the time even with jacketed bullets, but I can live with it using plated. The cast foul so much that the whole gun and my hands are black after competition (50 rounds).

[Link23]

i load the Gold Dot 325 grain and i never got it to cycle untill i started shooting OVER max!! .3 grain over max and it shoots perfect and is very VERY accurate

[GoodAlloy]

If you are over max. I would say that the gas channel is somewhat restricted. If you purchased it used. I would suspect someone used Boolits in it.
At the cost of the barrels I would not plan to use any Boolits just jwords. Unless you like buying expensive barrels.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Opps..... sorry guys...7 year resurrection.

[Gunslinger1911]

Great reason to get into powder coating !
I messed around with PC last year, worked great, just liked Carnuba Red better.
I just got a 50 Beowulf AR upper, gas operated, perfect candidate for PC cast.