Firearms

The Desert Eagle, Can It Be More Than a Novelty Item?

I’ve fired this cannon a few times, and really can’t think of a practical reason for owning a Desert Eagle.

Sorry not sorry to all the fans and owners of this overbuilt blaster but I get asked my opinion on firearms daily.

“What do you think about the Desert Eagle?” one aspiring gun owner asked me on Facebook. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.

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I’ve fired this cannon a few times, and really can’t think of a practical reason for owning a Desert Eagle.

Sorry not sorry to all the fans and owners of this overbuilt blaster but I get asked my opinion on firearms daily.

“What do you think about the Desert Eagle?” one aspiring gun owner asked me on Facebook. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.

.50 action express ammo? Do you really need .50 coming out of a handgun? How small are your hands? It’s kinda like taking a sledgehammer to brass finishing nails. Just overkill to the max. Actually, the Desert Eagle chambers the largest cartridge of any magazine-fed, self-loading pistol. Yet, this offers no additional utility and if I need a second man to carry my ammo I’ll take an M60 machine gun over the Desert Eagle.

You have to watch this epic Desert Eagle Fail.

A Strictly Novelty Item. Mad Max Wouldn’t Be Proud

Look, you can never be prepared enough. But if I’m building out my personal armory I would not have a Desert Eagle in the mix unless it was for the novelty of it.

Now that that is out of the way… Never complain about something unless you want to provide a solution. So here’s my Max Mad Thunderdome loadout below. (Great movie)

I’d want a strong revolver (.686 S&W comes to mind), a great semi-auto .308 rifle (HK is my first choice), an MP7, .308 Blaser bolt action with 3-15x scope, and a good 9mm or .45 (Glock or HK).

I’ll take two of each and four thousand rounds of ammo for each weapon. Plus a spare parts kit and cleaning materials (a good bag o rags and WD40 is all you need).

Also need a good three-day pack to haul your weapons, water, and food… more on that later.

That said, ain’t nothing wrong with novelty if that’s what you’re after. But the Desert Eagle is just that, a party favor at best.

About Brandon Webb View All Posts

Brandon Webb, a former Navy SEAL sniper and Naval Special Warfare Sniper Course Manager, is renowned for training some of America's legendary snipers. He is a multiple New York Times Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur, and Speaker. Webb is the Editor-in-Chief of the SOFREP news team, a collective of military journalists.

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