Ammunition you have tested... |

mrblackcat
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Posts: 108

Ammunition you have tested... Mar 4, 2017 0:25:57 GMT

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Post by mrblackcat on Mar 4, 2017 0:25:57 GMT

I don't reload yet. I have been putting this off for the last 20+ years. I have saved a lot of brass from the .50AE, so I have maybe a couple thousand brass recovered/saved.

After reading a great deal about Desert Eagles over the last month or so, I see over and over how important it is to have ammo that your gun likes. I understand and have experienced this with other guns, but my .50AE Desert Eagle eats every factory load I have given it. No favorites with my gun...

I am going to list all the rounds I can find that my gun has fired so wonderfully for years, but I want to know others experiences with ammo of all the calibers. Does your Desert Eagle have favorites? As I head off into the new world of .44 Magnum with five different brands, I will be adding my experiences with these as I have time to test at least a box of each. Never owned a .44 Magnum before, so I really know little about the round other than reading and few times shooting them in revolvers over the years.

So here we go in the chronological order which I fired them over the years...
.50 Action Express:
IMI - Samson Ultra 300 gr JHP (no ballistics on packaging
Blount/Speer - Lawman: 325gr JHP, 1400fps - 1414me, Part#3977
Blount/Speer - Gold Dot: 325gr JHP, Part# 3977
Blount/Magnum Research - .50 Magnum 300gr JHP, Part#DEP50JHP300B (no ballistics on packaging)
Blount/Magnum Research - .50 Magnum 350gr JSP, Part#DEP50JSP350B (no ballistics on packaging)
Armscor USA Precision - 300gr XTP, 1250fps, Bar Code 8 12285 02200 0
Hornady Custom - 300gr XTP/HP, 1475fps, Part#9245
Hornady/Magnum Research - "Magnum", 300gr XTP/HP 1475fps, Part#9246

I noticed I am out of 325gr ammo... so I am guessing this is no longer made. Anyone know?

I will shoot up some of this .44Magnum ammo and then make another post in a few weeks. One thing I am curious about is the 300gr PPU. I like heavy bullets.

Anyone ever try it in a Desert Eagle?

MrBlackCat

Last Edit: Mar 14, 2017 0:54:08 GMT by mrblackcat

I wonder why "Mass Shootings" don't seem to be happening at Police Stations and gun stores? Hmm... seems we have too many police stations already, so maybe we need more gun stores.

ramrod
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Ammunition you have tested... Mar 5, 2017 5:58:19 GMT

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Post by ramrod on Mar 5, 2017 5:58:19 GMT

I know I have some of the PPU 44mag. Now I can't remember if it's the 240gr or 300gr. In other firearms(pistols and rifles), the PPU has always worked well for me and I consider it to be some of the best ammo for the price. As for reloading...............I think the PPU brass is also GTG.....at least for my 6.5x55 Swede. Way better than Winchester brass but maybe that's not saying a whole lot. Probably just as good as PMC brass.

Sans Remords

mrblackcat
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Posts: 108

Ammunition you have tested... Mar 5, 2017 15:28:18 GMT

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Post by mrblackcat on Mar 5, 2017 15:28:18 GMT

Thanks for the reply...
I don't shoot thousands of rounds of any given caliber anymore, so my experience is limited with current production ammunition. With that said, I have shot PPU in several calibers in the last few years and it seems flawless to me at the volumes I shoot.

As I stated before, I am new to .44 Magnum, and I had no idea or expectation it went to 300gr. I bought a box of most several brands of lower cost .44 Magnum I found at the last gun show, and two brands from WalMart when I first got my barrel. I never saw PPU 300gr, so I ordered some which will be here soon.

I have to add this though... WalMart had only Federal and Winchester white box. I hear a lot of complaints about Winchester white box... and I have read a number of complaints about Desert Eagles. You would think based on these two perceptions, the two together would produce some poor odds. With that said, I suppose I beat the odds. The very first box of ammo put though my brand new .44 Magnum Desert Eagle barrel was Winchester white box. No issues. The second was Federal... no issues. Am I lucky, or is this an example of perception? I don't know that answer, I only know my own experiences. Excellent so far.

For .44 Mag testing I have Winchester white, Federal, PPU, Sellier & Bellot, Remmington, and Fiocchi, some in different bullet weights/types. I know this is all lower end ammo, which is the reason I got a .44 Magnum barrel in the first place. I have experience with all these brands in other calibers with good results however. I have shot almost all these brands in 7.62x25, which is "my other caliber" as far as handgun shooting time/volume.

I will post results for some of these as I get time to shoot them.

MrBlackCat

Last Edit: Mar 5, 2017 15:30:00 GMT by mrblackcat

I wonder why "Mass Shootings" don't seem to be happening at Police Stations and gun stores? Hmm... seems we have too many police stations already, so maybe we need more gun stores.

ramrod
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Posts: 42

Ammunition you have tested... Mar 5, 2017 16:00:29 GMT

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Post by ramrod on Mar 5, 2017 16:00:29 GMT

IMO, any ammo that shoots and cycles the DE wouldn't be considered "low end". I get a lot of my 44mag from Wally as well. The WWB and Federal 240gr do the job and still at less than $40 per box of 50. I bought 5 or 6 boxes of Magtech 240gr a couple of years ago when Cabelas ran a special free ship to store or $5.95 ship to home. IIRC they were $29.95 per box. I have some Black Hills 300gr JHPs that are awesome. I quit using them for range practice and put them back for the personal/bear defense initiative.

Sans Remords

mrblackcat
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Posts: 108

Ammunition you have tested... Mar 6, 2017 1:14:38 GMT

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Post by mrblackcat on Mar 6, 2017 1:14:38 GMT

Mar 5, 2017 16:00:29 GMT ramrod said:

IMO, any ammo that shoots and cycles the DE wouldn't be considered "low end".

I agree with this in practice... I don't mean to come across in a disparaging tone towards any ammunition. More accurately, lower cost ammunition.
Mostly this stems from a bit of my surprise that .50AE and .44Mag cost about the same in the same brands/lines of ammunition. (e.g. Hornady)

[Source] ramrod said:

I have some Black Hills 300gr JHPs that are awesome. I quit using them for range practice and put them back for the personal/bear defense initiative.
(image removed)

Excellent! I will let you know how the readily available PPU 300gr ammo does in the Desert Eagle. I am not familiar with Black Hills I don't think... but I am not familiar with many pistol rounds anyway as I only have a few. I will watch for it at the next gun show in a couple of weeks. There will be plenty of ammo dealers at this one... and I will again get as many different .44 Magnum rounds as I can find, aside from the dollar a shot stuff.

MrBlackCat

I wonder why "Mass Shootings" don't seem to be happening at Police Stations and gun stores? Hmm... seems we have too many police stations already, so maybe we need more gun stores.

Ammunition you have tested...

Post by mrblackcat on Mar 4, 2017 0:25:57 GMT

Post by ramrod on Mar 5, 2017 5:58:19 GMT

Post by mrblackcat on Mar 5, 2017 15:28:18 GMT

Post by ramrod on Mar 5, 2017 16:00:29 GMT

Post by mrblackcat on Mar 6, 2017 1:14:38 GMT

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