Anyone own a baby Eagle?

[synoptic]

I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Baby Eagle in either 9mm or .40. It got good reviews on handgunreview.com, but I wanted to see what y'all think. It would not be a full-time carry gun, mainly home defense, target shooting, and possibly a little competition. Has anyone had or heard of any major problems with jamming or any other problem with the gun?
thanks

 

[MJRW]

Mine is currently back at the manufacturer for:

1. Consistent failure to fully go into battery.
2. Bare spots on the finish.
3. Gritty and stagy double action.
4. Loose barrel lock-up.
5. Grip screws coming loose every 50 rounds or so.

Its a baby eagle compact .40. When it shoots, I love it. But it isn't reliable enough for me right now. If it doesn't come back right, I am going to have to figure something out.

 

[WESHOOT2]

FRIEND WITH FULL-SIZE 9

Gun runs great shoots straight.
Nice gun.

Wish it didn't; he keeps beating me :banghead:

 

[synoptic]

MJRW - Is this a new gun or is it older? I have a couple months before making my final decision so you'll have to let me know how the gun work when you get it back...

 

[MoNsTeR]

I have one which I enjoyed very much until a local "gunsmith" buggered it up (long story).

Pros:
- heavy, little recoil
- great ergonomics
- cheap hi-caps
- fantastic grip
- relatively cheap ($410 new here)
- most comfortable auto I've ever held
- did I mention that I love the grip?

Cons:
- the trigger on mine sucks
- it's not stainless (I have an SS fetish)
- captive guide rod makes changing the recoil spring hard

The barrel is polygonally rifled so I wouldn't shoot lead in it, that may be a Con or not depending on what you normally shoot.

Bottom line is, it's a good but not great gun. That's no insult, there aren't all that many great guns! Try the grip, try the trigger, and if you dig it, buy it and shoot it.

 

[jade]

I love mine in 9mm, in fact, I want to get another one (cause technically, my boyfriend owns the one we have now and I want my own). The grip is very comfortable for me. It just fits my hand so well. The controls have an efficient layout. I don't think the trigger is that bad, although it could be better. I really enjoy shooting it.


jade

 

[3 gun]

I had one in 40. Sold it when I started shooting USPSA. Nothing bad to say about the pistol, I've just found I do better with a 1911 style pistol. Mine was a frame mounted safety which allows cocked & locked. They also make a slide mounted safety which is a decock model. Basically a clone of the CZ75 from what I remember.

 

[dude]

my Baby Eagle Compact 9mm is now operating flawlessly.........now that I know to keep my thumb away from the slide release while firing and not to use Fiocchi 11g FMJ as it is wicked hot and jams. I can imagine +p ammo would do the same.

I would preffer the Jericho style frame mounted saftey as opposed to the Baby Eagle slide mounted one. But other than that I have full faith in my compact 9.

 

[firestar]

Are you CRAZY? They will tear you eyes out!!!!

OH! A Baby Eagle. I thought you said a Bald Eagle.

 

[synoptic]

good one firestar...

When the time comes, I'me going to go to the gun shop and see what I think of the triggers (the eagle is competing against some other guns) and pick what I think feels best out of the different options. Thanks to everyone for the info, I wanted to be sure it was a good gun before seriously considering it...

 

[realmswalker]

Hello

After waiting forever I finally picked up my baby eagle .40 caliber.

Having handled the gun and liking the weight of it, and the grip, I purchased the full size version, all metal.

I just went shooting with it to say and must say I like it so far.

I put 120 rounds of fiochi FMJ 170 grain rounds. Not a single jam.

although I did hit the slide release catch my accident once and had the magazine fall out and into the range, boy did I feel stupid.

the recoil was not too bad.

The magazines do seem cheaply made, and my magazine now catches about three fourths of the way into the well. Dont know if it happened when i dropped it, but its not really a big deal. When i try to release a empty mag I manually have to pull it out, If it get a new mag and it does this I guess I'll send it in to the manufacturer, But I do believe its the mag.


If you like the way the gun looks and feels, I recommend it, I did a lot of looking into this gun and I found almost nothing but good things about it, but people seemed to say the .45 is not as good as the 9mm and .40

besides that the gun seems accurate. I am not the greatest shooter in the world but here is a 7 yard ten shot grouping

 

[2xTap]

A few years back I owned a fullsize, all steel UZI Eagle in .40 (same gun) and it was the most accurate .40 I ever owned or shot, and I've shot quite a few. It would group as well with the right ammo as my Kimber Classic Stainless LE or my Custom Colt GCNM. It fed everything and handled the hotter .40 loads well, wasn't flippy like some .40's.

The DA pull was somewhat heavy but in SA, the trigger pull was light and broke clean. And it came with factory installed 3-dot tritium sites all in a package that cost $450 NIB. I still kick myself for selling it.

A buddy of mine has a fullsize MRI Baby Eagle in 9mm and it's quite accurate and has been flawless through several thousand rounds of various factory 9mm fodder.

Good guns IMHO.

2xTap

 

[dude]

factory 10 round mags are avialable from the Magnum Research website at 3 for $60

 

[seeker_two]

my Baby Eagle Compact 9mm is now operating flawlessly.........now that I know to keep my thumb away from the slide release while firing and not to use Fiocchi 11g FMJ

Now I'd like to see an 11gr. 9mm round...

 

[MJRW]

Realmswalker,

I had a similar problem. I had tightened the grip screws too much.

Synoptic,

This is a relatively new gun, coming up on 6 months. Oh, I also had the one magazine it came with break. The follower broke in the first 200 rounds.

 

[SW9mm]

had to go back to the factory for the roll pin that the trigger pivots on. mine is a polymer semi compact in 40 S&W. it kept comin out after about 20 rounds. i'd bang it in and it would come out again. i sent it to the factory 5 weeks later they sent it back with a slightly oversized pin. it is flawless now and i enjoy shootin it. i use federal american eagle 180 gr. it think i'm gonna get a 12 round mag at the next gun show. it's not the ideal conceal gun but i have carried it before. it's a "mean" lookin gun i think.

 

[dude]

The guy nextdoor picked up the Jericho version of the Baby Eagle full sized .45 at a local gunshow today and we went to the local pit and blasted a few rounds. It points exactly like my compact 9 (as it should) but you can feel the larger grip. Flawlessly went through two boxes of Wolf. 45 after a light cleaning. It was NIB with two 10 round mags for $360.

The Jericho has the frame mounted saftey which gives you a 'cocked & locked' option which I thought I would prefer.........but the saftey gets in the way of the slide release. Easy enough to overcome with some practice but I now perfer the Baby Eagle slide mounted saftey and will get a .45 version soon.

 

[MoNsTeR]

I have heard bad things about the current production 10-rounders that MRI ships. If you want the best mags, pick up some hi-caps from CDNN, $30 for 12rd .40 and $40 for 16rd 9mm. EAA or Mec-gar 10-rounders would be something to try if you can't have hi-caps.

 

[dude]

all the ones I've bought from them work just fine, they are Itailan made.

 

[10-Ring]

A buddy got one from Christmas. I've shot it a couple of times and it's a nice little shooter...heavy bugger tho

 

[rock jock]

Yes, but don't tell the Fish and Wildlife Dept. They are an endangered species.