Wondering if anyone here has expeience with the MRI Baby Desert Eagle. I looked at one today, (BE9413RSL), and once I had it it my hand pretty much made up my mind to get one. This is the polymer framed semi-compact .40 S&W w/13 round magazine. I walked away today, and have spent several hours reading reviews (95% positive), but since I value the opinions of this group very highly, thought I would ask if any members here had thoughts on them.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and opinions.

www.magnumresearch.com..._Eagle.asp

They are good guns but imho you can get just as good of a pistol in the EAA Witness for about $200 bucks less. That way with the money you save you can buy 500 rds. for practice ammo.

d_hoffman wrote:

They are good guns but imho you can get just as good of a pistol in the EAA Witness for about $200 bucks less. That way with the money you save you can buy 500 rds. for practice ammo.

If I can find an EAA that feels as "right" in my hand as the Baby Eagle did, I'll buy it. Thanks Mr. Hoffman....

I used a "jericho" 9mm Baby Eagle version back in 1996/7 - Very high quality gun with polygonal barrel rifling.

Unfortunately it does not do the thing for me, so I sold it and bought a Para-ordnance P14-45.

A friend has a Baby Eagle that I've shot some and have a favorable impression of. I've considered buying one but it hasn't moved to the top of the wish list yet.

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

A friend has a Baby Eagle that I've shot some and have a favorable impression of. I've considered buying one but it hasn't moved to the top of the wish list yet.

Mike,

I've been thinkin' a lot about gettin' my CCW, and for whatever reason had myself convinced that the Springfield XDM was the gun I wanted. I went to a gun show yesterday to look, and came away convinced that I could "get by" with an XD. Then I stopped at a local gun shop on the way home, and just by chance noticed the Baby Eagle they had in stock. Once I had it in my hands, after ALL the guns I handled earlier in the day(not just Springfields, but S&W, Glocks, Rugers, Beretta, etc,), It just felt "right". That's why I wanted to ask here, to see if there were any known issues, or as D_Hoffman suggests cheaper (or better) variations of the basic firearm (I know it's a CZ 75 clone, but I don't know the others [Toldja, I haven't kept up with handguns]). I guess I said all that to say that it HAS moved up to the top of my wishlist, mainly 'cause other than the wife's 9mm, I don't have a good FIREARM (how ya like me now Eric?) to carry IF i get my license.

d_hoffman wrote:

They are good guns but imho you can get just as good of a pistol in the EAA Witness for about $200 bucks less. That way with the money you save you can buy 500 rds. for practice ammo.

Mr. Hoffman,

I found this as part of an online review:

"The EAA Witness is now the most common and is generally a reliable pistol. However, most shooters agree the Baby Eagle is the superior CZ clone and the only pistol of the type other than the original to have seen extensive military and police service."

From gunblast.com:

www.gunblast.com/RKCam...tEagle.htm

I'm not trying to downplay your opinion, but wanna make sure I get the best " FIREARM" I can for the money I spend.

I've not seen an EAA Witness anywhere around here. What do they generally retail for?

Hey Joe, "no worries mate" The gun has to fit you. The eaa's generaly go for around $425. If I remember correctly, you can get them a little cheaper at budsgunshop.com. Just looked at buds and they have a 12+1 poly frame 9mm and an 8+1 poly frame .45. the rest usualy run $406. If you have a friend with an ffl you can have it shipped through them.

One day at the gun show they had a large selection to chose from to include baby eagles, cz's bersa firestorms, eaa's, taurus ect... I would've bought the eaa in a .45 except right down the table was a taurus 1911al for a super good price. Which by the way, as far as I'm concerned, is a better gun than the kimber I had. Too many malfunctions with the kimber

Just looked on the gun blast link and I'm going to agree with thier choice of ammo for the .40s&w. Double tap is what I use in my glock 22 duty carry in a 165gr jhp. doubletapammo.com is where you want to go.

Hunterjoe, personally I think the most important thing about a defensive handgun is how well it feels and points in YOUR hands. If its not comfortable and pretty much automatically points where you want it to I couldn't care less about caliber, etc. My "go to" handgun beside the bed is an old Ruger Security Six with Hogue grips because it fits me best. My "test" is to pick up the empty gun, select an aiming point, close my eyes and raise the gun until I think its pointed at the target. Then I open my eyes to see how close I really am. I find that most autos point low for me. Now this isn't a major problem when you can see the front sight but, in the dark, I KNOW that the old Ruger will be on target.

I own a cz75 and love it. My trainer uses one and reccomends them for his technique, similiar to the israeli's.

Hunterjoe21, can you explain “get by” with an XD !!!

What caliber are going to carry ???

chambered221 wrote:

Hunterjoe21, can you explain “get by” with an XD !!! What caliber are going to carry ???

Chambered,

By "get by" I mean that after asking many people who know a whole lot more than I do, I was convinced that the XD would work for my intended purpose, and I didn't need the spend the extra $ on the XDM.

My plan is to get a .40S&W. The semi-compact Baby Eagle is 13+1.

Had a 41AE Baby Eagle and it was 100% reliable and ,as you said, felt great in hand.
I would spend the extra and get the Baby Eagle......Im biased though, as I have all calibers of their big brother the Desert Eagle.

I picked it up today. Dunno why I thought it was the semi-compact version, it's actually the full sized (BE 9413RL). It fits great in my hands (I got fairly large meat hooks). The slide mounted safety might take some getting used to, but can be learned.

One thing I noticed is the mags are extremely tight. They are 'posed to be 13 rounds, but I can't get more than 10 in each, and 10 is a real struggle. Maybe I'm doin' something wrong.

Anyone suggestions for a "break-in" interval for it?

I figured 100 rounds of practice ammo (Blazer) should do the trick, followed by a couple boxes of "white box" Winchester, then I'll try some PD rounds (I bought a box of Cor-Bon to experiment with).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions (Yes, Mr. Hoffman, I'll get some Double Tap ammo to try).