Desert Eagle .44 and .50 not cycling.

Kevin M.

Kevin M.

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Hello all, have an odd problem and not enough knowlege about the gun to know what is wrong with it.


My Desert Eagle will chamber rounds no problem, fire them with no problem, but after it fires, it will not push the slide back far enough to cycle the round. (Or push it back at all, I am not sure.) I have to manually cycle the slide after every shot.

I assume it has to do with the gas system, but I have no idea where to start looking.

And also, this is a new problem. It worked fine for many range visits, and one time it just stopped working in semi auto.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Heard of a person having a screw somewhere on the gas system fall out and experience that sort of issue. The gas pressure was bleeding off through the screw hole and wouldn't cycle the action.

I have no firsthand experience with Desert Eagles but this is the kind of thing I would look for first.
 
vagrantviking said:
Heard of a person having a screw somewhere on the gas system fall out and experience that sort of issue. The gas pressure was bleeding off through the screw hole and wouldn't cycle the action.
Click to expand...

I will check this one out, sounds like that might be the thing.

jdman said:
The loads you are using are the same as always? Id guess if not, they are not powerful enough to work the slide.
Click to expand...

Same loads. Same exact brand of factory ammo, never had a problem until now.

The screw sounds like the right thing, I will check that out later today.
 
I'll try to find out a bit more detail when I see him again. Hope its that simple.

I would hold off shooting it till you rule that out. Could burn out the threads and make it hard to fix.
 
If you field strip your DE, look through the back of the barrel at the chamber, in recesses where the bolt locks up, in the six o'clock position there should be a screw closing off the gas system. If that is open it could be your venting problem.

Let me know if you would like pics.
 
Harwood said:
If you field strip your DE, look through the back of the barrel at the chamber, in recesses where the bolt locks up, in the six o'clock position there should be a screw closing off the gas system. If that is open it could be your venting problem.

Let me know if you would like pics.
Click to expand...

Yes please for the photos.

I am looking, but I don't see the screw you are talking about.

Maybe it is an odd shape or size, or maybe I am just missing it, but I don't see a screw or an empty hole in the 6 o clock position where the bolt locks up. I see the gas port further down the barrel, but no spot for a gas screw.

Thanks.
 
Here is the view I was talking about. The highlit slot-head is a screw that covers the rear of the gas tube.

(Mine is a US production Mk XIX 50.)

DEChamber.jpg


Obvious next question would be the piston...everything okay there?
 
Man I love this site! Lots of help and even pictures.

I am going to follow this thread as I am having an issue with my .44 DE. Fires fine, slide comes back, slide STAYS back! I have to "slingshot" it and then the round chambers fine???

Maybe a bad mag and the gun thinks it is empty?

Tonight is strip it down and clean it all, likely not it as it only has 50 rounds through it all jacketed ammo.

Thanks Guys, good luck OP!
 
Shooter, clean your gun, pay attention to the hold open tab that engages the slide on the inside of the action where the mag engages it to lift. Sometimes they get cruded up and stick up, or the spring holding them down gets weak.

OP, you haven't been fireing cast or plated bullets have you? My first thougt was that the gas system may be cruded up.
 
Cocked&Locked said:
Shooter, clean your gun, pay attention to the hold open tab that engages the slide on the inside of the action where the mag engages it to lift. Sometimes they get cruded up and stick up, or the spring holding them down gets weak.

OP, you haven't been fireing cast or plated bullets have you? My first thougt was that the gas system may be cruded up.
Click to expand...

Thanks C & L. Just finished a very thorough cleaning. Back to the range soon to see. Inside was pretty clean. Gave it the once over anyway. DE forum says some mag springs may be wimpy too and create a lock open condition when mag is not actually empty.

Thanks, happy new year!
 
Alright, gas plugs in both barrels are perfectly intact.

The fact that it is happening with both barrels on the same frame leads me to believe that it must be on the frame of the pistol, but I can not see anything obviously wrong. Anything obvious that I am missing that can be put together the wrong way on the frame that would cause a FTE?
 
Kevin M, welcome to the wonderful world of Desert Eagle reliability. These pistiol are well know for cycling issues and they are very ammunition pressure sensitive. IMI has always been concerned that the "right type" of ammunition is used, no exposed lead. The arguement goes that fine lead shavings can find there way in the the gas port and cause a cycling issue!
So say you think the gas port is blocked, how do you clean it? Well according to IMI the there is no access to clean this gas port as it is self cleaned by the hot gases every time it is fired. One way to clean this gas port is to spray WD40 (using the staw) through the chamber into the gas port opening, and check that its coming out at the other end. WD40 is said to damage the finish on some of these gun so care is needed.
The gun is then drained and fired to remove and all WD40 from the gas system.
 
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