AOA Blog

The Desert Eagle is a CO2 repeater pistol that just begs to be shot fast.

As a fulltime freelance writer, I occasionally get some really neat assignments. Recently I interviewed a dozen NRA national champions about how they prepare for and handle pressure in competition.

Among them, I got to interview several action pistol shooters. And that got me to thinking: man, I would love to have a good game that I could play with rapid-fire air pistols – a game where I could shoot turning targets, falling plates, and the like, all against the clock. If you would like to get an idea of what might be possible shooting action air pistols, check out these videos of airsoft IPSC shooters here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PB7BNo0zWM and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABhkFTO4cp4

Recently, the good folks at UmarexUSA sent me an air pistol that I think would be a prime candidate for shooting an action air pistol game: the Desert Eagle. The Desert Eagle is a big, beefy pistol constructed primarily of matte black engineering polymer. It stretches about 10.5 inches from end to end and weighs 2 lb. 10.9 oz. Like most of Umarex’s action pistols that look like a semi-automatic, the Desert Eagle is actually a single-action/double-action revolver. .177 caliber pellets are loaded into an eight-shot rotary magazine that, when in use, is hidden by the receiver of the “automatic.” What sets the Desert Eagle apart from the others is that this is a blow-back pistol. We’ll find out why that is important in just a little while, but first let’s take a tour of the Desert Eagle (DE).

Here are the beavertail, the hammer (cocked), and the safety.

At the back end of the DE, you’ll find a pronounced “Beaver tail” that curls back over the shooters thumb. Above that is the hammer, which can be pulled back to put the DE into single-action mode. Just forward of that is the portion of the upper receiver that blows back when the DE shoots. On either side of the receiver are safety levers – pull either one down to safe the action, push either one up to allow the DE to fire. On top of the receiver is the notch-type rear sight which can be adjusted for windage only by loosening a screw, manually moving the sight, and re-tightening the screw.

Underneath this big brass screw is where the CO2 cartridge goes. The Desert Eagle comes with a wide flat screwdriver that fits the screw.

Forward of the beaver tail is the pistol grip which is lightly textured for better adhesion in the hand. On the bottom of the pistol grip is a large brass screw which is removed for loading a single 12-gram CO2 cartridge. Forward of the pistol grip, a molded polymer trigger guard surrounds a molded polymer trigger. Just above the trigger on the left side of the DE is a lever. Pull it downward, and the barrel sleeve, which houses the 5.7-inch .177 caliber barrel, is released to move forward so that the rotary magazine can be inserted into the breech.

Forward of the trigger guard, underneath the receiver, is a flat spot. The DE comes with an optional Picatinny rail for accessories that can be attached to the flat spot with a couple of screws. Moving ahead again, you’ll find the muzzle of the DE and above that, the blade-type front sight. To the rear of the front sight is another Picatinny rail on top of the DE.  That’s all there is to the Desert Eagle.

To ready the DE for shooting, take the wide, flat screwdriver provided with the pistol and remove the large brass screw at the bottom of the pistol grip. Drop in a 12-gram CO2 cartridge nose first and replace the brass screw snugly. Load eight flatnose or roundnose pellets into the magazine from the rear (the front of the magazine has a flat face). Do not use pointed pellets.

The barrel sleeve is in the forward position, showing the gap where the 8-shot rotary magazine is inserted.

Release the barrel sleeve, place the magazine in the breech, and push the barrel sleeve back into position until it latches. Take aim at your target, flick off the safety and . . . now, at this point, you have two choices: you can shoot the DE in double-action mode or single-action mode. In double-action mode (in which you do not pre-cock the hammer), the trigger pull is 8 lb., 1 oz., but in single-action mode (with the hammer pre-cocked), the effort to pull the trigger drops to 4 lb. 9 oz. 

Now, here’s the really cool part. The DE is a blowback pistol, so as soon as you trigger the first shot, the slide blows back and automatically cocks the hammer for the next shot. With the hammer pre-cocked, that makes it much easier to fire each following shot and to shoot a magazine-load of pellets quite rapidly.

The specifications for the Desert Eagle claim 425 fps, but I found it would launch 7 grain RWS Hobby pellets at 469 fps (average) in 80 degree weather. UmarexUSA tells me you can expect about 50 shots from a fresh CO2 cartridge.

Here's the Desert Eagle, tricked out with the Walther Top Point II on the top rail and the Walther FLR650 flashlight/laser combo on the lower rail.

I mounted a Walther Top Point II red dot on the top rail of the DE, and it really helped me to aim and shoot at targets very quickly. I also tried mounting a Walther FLR650 combination flashlight and laser on the lower rail, but I found I couldn’t see the laser in full bright sunshine, although it works quite well in dimmer conditions.

The bottom line: I give my hearty personal recommendation to the Desert Eagle, with an extra hearty recommendation to the Desert Eagle with the Walther Top Point II red dot sight. Now, if somebody would just invent a really good action shooting game for air pistols . . .

Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.

–          Jock Elliott