P&R;
I wouldn't be too fixated on the gold accents (it may be a sign of age, but the sparkly accents are tasteless IMHO). Beyond that, the DE as first made by IMI has proven to be a superb handgun for the two of us!
Ours is about ten years old now (I bought it new) and gobbles right through a hundred or two of my favorite handloads any time we go shooting. Admittedly, the past year has seen no range time for either Susan or myself, but I'm looking forward to nicer weather when we can return to the high country range and spend the entire day having fun!
Don't let the appearance of the DE lead you to believe the pistol isn't quality! Ours has easily seen over a thousand rounds each year (on minimum average), and has only developed one hicup that was a simple fix: the sear spring retaining pin bent just enough to unseat one end from the retaining frame - but the firearm didn't fail to feed, fire or eject during that particular shooting day! I was running a new batch of very hot handloads through it (+P+ and maybe a tad more, smearing headstamps), so the damage was more than likely all my fault!
We've enjoyed extended sessions (in excess of four hundred rounds), shooting constantly enough that the barrel literally began to glow a dull cherry red and was far too hot to handle! The accuracy never changed, and the pistol just kept going!
Durable enough?
The pistol can be a bit random where it throws brass, as it used the same gas-operated rotary bolt as the AR rifle but opens completely on the top when the slide cycles. Once you figure out which brand of brass the gun prefers, the randomness all but disappears.
It's a superbly soft gun to shoot, even with Cor-Bon loads. YMMV - we're just two forty-something lesbians. Guys may have an entirely different perception.
Anyway. There's nothing like a Desert Eagle. We use it, and the even hotter loaded Super Redhawk to strengthen our shooting stance and refine out trigger discipline - and the pistol always performs flawlessly, always leaves us grinning from ear-to-ear!
I've taken the time to field-strip the new ones, and those are unsatisfactory after owning the original. Again, YMMV. . .
I love the Mountain Gun, and the old, black-pearl blued Model 29's - they're wonderful revolvers, but the De and the revolvers aren't comparable.
Another thought on feeding the DE: use the cleanest powder you can. I've found nothing better then VV N340. Buy it direct from Caltrone-Pettibone for the freshest batch. A dirty batch of ammunition will foul the gas system awfully quick, and is more tedious than necessary to thoroughly clean. And as it's got polygonal rifling, quality jacketed bullets! No exceptions!
Food for thought, if nothing else!
Trisha
