Micro Desert Eagle: Initial impressions and first 1000 rounds

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so I got ripped a little there as well. Store has a good rep and it was less than retail but no where near $300. So I guess I am keeping it for a while. You pay your money and take your chances I suppose. Hopefully Magnum Research will take care of the customer. Love the feel and shooting it (when it shot). Guess it's back to my P7 iwb and my keys get my right pocket back.
 
oddmannout,
no solution to your trigger problem, but I believe that MR will take care of this post haste. What were you shooting if I may ask. Ammo?
 
Thank you OldStumps for the chronograph data and the corrections to my measurements. I'm not sure if the error was my own misreading of the dial or my crappy plastic calipers not being up to the task, but I appreciate the more accurate data. You also confirmed what I was trying to get across in my post, that the velocity loss from the ports is more or less negligible when compared to the massive loss in velocity from the stubby little barrel.

And M2Carbine, I'm very familiar with your review, it was one of the biggest factors leading to my decision to get the Micro Eagle. I too have an affinity for longer range pistol shooting, and the fact that the little gun was capable of it was very attractive to me.
 
Ok. I purchased a MDE this week and decided to put it through its paces today. 37 rounds with 6 ftf and on round 37 trigger goes. Nothing...totally limp. I don't want to take it apart before I send it in to see what is wrong and I don't know if I will have confidence to carry even with repair so what now? I assume i will lose $150 or so on resale minimum but maybe I can find a trade for slightly used s&w 442. Anyone else hear of this problem with the MDE
Click to expand...

Make sure your grip screws are tight. The trigger bar is retained by the right side grip panel. If the grip screws aren't fully tightened or (in the case of my cocobolo grips) the relief cuts for the trigger bar are too deep, the trigger bar can pop out a little and not re-engage the sear when the trigger resets. Also, I noticed after a post-cleaning reassembly of the pistol where I forgot to put the firing pin back in that if the hammer is allowed its full forward movement without resting on the firing pin that the trigger will not reset without the slide being racked. It could be possible that there is a similar issue in your gun, such as a weak firing pin spring or a little bit of crud not allowing the slide to go fully into battery.
 
oldstumps,

I was shooting target fodder american eagle 95 grain and Hornady critical defense 90 grain. So far Magnum Research's customer support has been good. I left a message and fairly nasty (heat of the moment) email. They called by 10 a.m. eastern time (not bad since they are on central). Apologized, emailed me the fedex label and off she went.
 
Thanks Irishman. I didn't check the grip panels but makes sense seeing how the trigger bar is external. I wonder if an inadvertent snag on the trigger bar during a draw could cause this. Than would be truly bad. Sounds like a design flaw that needs some work.
 
Irishman,

Actually if you carry your calcs a little further and look at area of barrel for pressure release upon exit of bullet you get .400 inch^2. That's fifty times the area of the ports. The only question is how much pressure is releaved by the ports before bullet actually exits barrel. If substantial it's a .7" barrel, not 2.2"

I must admit to being a little concerned about my chrono's accuracy at this point. Either a number of others specifically measuring the ME's velocities are optomistic or my chrono is slow by some hundred fps or so. I need to call them and see if there is some way to calibrate it. More importantly for me at present is that I have received my BB +P 95gr JHP and have some more gel ready to go. This Friday will be fun.

One additional concern I have is the litle buffer pads at the front of the frame. They appear to be hard clear plastic. The MR tech I spoke to said they aren't commonly replaced. Mine look a little worn and I was wondering what a 1000 rounds have done to yours. Likely will get some more of these and a set of springs.
 
A bit heavier than the other small 380s, but has typical CZ firearm
quality and reliability.
DT380-4.gif
Mine has customized and slightly over-sized grips from Dennis Marschal.

km9.gif

km-hn-1.gif

The gun will get more popular as shooters look for something smaller and
lighter for Summer carry.

I plan on buying a blued one, and think it could only be better if there
was a laser attached.

mdewal.gif
 
One additional concern I have is the litle buffer pads at the front of the frame. They appear to be hard clear plastic. The MR tech I spoke to said they aren't commonly replaced. Mine look a little worn and I was wondering what a 1000 rounds have done to yours.
Click to expand...

Here they are, still with 1000 rounds of wear.

Front:

222807_10100511316709148_13717046_59850399_8152139_n.jpg


Top:

221607_10100511316774018_13717046_59850401_2984181_n.jpg
 
Thanks.

Probably will get a couple of these from MR and some springs. Don't think springs should get weak with design (ie., they should never exceed spring's elastic limit if properly designed and therefore wear out), but given this design I think a good thing to do.
 
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Thank you very much for the excellent write-up. I have to admit, I'm qutie tempted, especially seeing your MDE with those beautiful cocobolos.

I wish they'd make something similar in 9mm (although I'd be willing to tolerate a slight size increase in that case). It would be a huge hit - I'd buy one.
 
paul34 said:
Thank you very much for the excellent write-up. I have to admit, I'm qutie tempted, especially seeing your MDE with those beautiful cocobolos.

I wish they'd make something similar in 9mm (although I'd be willing to tolerate a slight size increase in that case). It would be a huge hit - I'd buy one.
Click to expand...
You do realize that the micro is a blowback and therefore has fierce felt recoil and that is the reason a 9mm in the same design is out of the question.
 
Irish,

I really enjoyed your write-up and the subsequent additions by other writers.

Never had the chance to handle one of these, and in fact did not think they were a good carry option. Your write-up has changed my mind!!

The comparison photo makes the Kahr look HUGE!



Bill
 
I was going to start a new thread but realized that this one had the greatest concentration of MDE owners. After looking at the pictures above and comparing them to my gun, I see a difference. Mine has only the one buffer pad compared to the two on the guns pictured here. I also called Magnum Research and was told that this was not a part that could be ordered. Has anyone ever changed their buffer pad? If so, where did you get it?

MDE2.gif
 
Another MDE fan here.
hnmde-1.gif

Like the nickel gun so much that I'm going to buy the blued version
in 2012.

Kind of waiting to see if we will get a 9mm MAK MDE though.

Now that would be a real peppy round in the Micro, but offer some
more punch than the .380, and I'm now able to buy 9 MAK locally.
 
Jbabbler said:
I was going to start a new thread but realized that this one had the greatest concentration of MDE owners. After looking at the pictures above and comparing them to my gun, I see a difference. Mine has only the one buffer pad compared to the two on the guns pictured here. I also called Magnum Research and was told that this was not a part that could be ordered. Has anyone ever changed their buffer pad? If so, where did you get it?

MDE2.gif
Click to expand...
Odd. How old is your MDE?

Bought mine last year (early 2011) and it has 2 buffers.
 
CZF said:
Another MDE fan here.
hnmde-1.gif

Like the nickel gun so much that I'm going to buy the blued version
in 2012.

Kind of waiting to see if we will get a 9mm MAK MDE though.

Now that would be a real peppy round in the Micro, but offer some
more punch than the .380, and I'm now able to buy 9 MAK locally.
Click to expand...
The Micro is not fun to shoot in 380 and I would expect be significantly less fun in 9X18.

If you need more oomph why not just get a P238 or one of the other good pocket 380 pistols.

According to the ballistics from Gunblast a DPX round leaves the barrel of the P238 one hundred feet per second faster than it does from the Micro. Obviously due to the longer barrel of the P238.

Also the P238 when compared to the Micro is a pleasure to shoot and more accurate as well.

I just checked Gunblast again and find that the DPX round out of an LCP is almost 170 fps faster than it is from a Micro!
 
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Nice report ... and man you got some strong hands for shooting one of those pocket rockets 1000 times.
 
Seriously hate to resurrect such an old thread, but I purchased one today and was wondering if any further testing had been done by anyone? I'd like to have the best doin possible but don't have anywhere to chrono on my own
 
I picked up my second one (a slightly used nickel model that the LGS had sold less than a month prior) a few weeks ago. I bought a blue one first and it has been a constant companion since I got it. It is as accurate as most service sized pistols and much easier to conceal than a J-frame.

I do not consider myself a strong man by any means, but I find it odd that some are commenting on the fierce recoil of the MDE. Yes it jumps a little and it's loud and blasty, but I'd hardly call it fierce. It is nowhere in the class of the airweight 357's or even airweight 38's. And it's a downright pussycat compared to the slightly smaller Seecamp 380 which beats my trigger finger like a rented mule.

As an added note, I've considered what I'd do if my plastic buffers give up. I'll probably try an injection of hot glue first and then work my way up to hand carved pellets of truck tire tread. I once replaced the buffer in a Marlin Camp Carbine with a piece of truck tire and it worked perfectly until a replacement buffer arrived.
 
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