Finally took this beasty to the range, and yes indeed, it was a BEAST.

We averaged 2 malfunctions per magazine, as I recall. 🙄 But all in all it is a blast to shoot, most of the malfunctions were stovepipes, where the casing gets hung up in the ejection port. Plus a few fail to fire, some inexplicable condition where everything looks like it should have fired, but just does not. These are common "DEAGLE" problems it seems, and can be traced to weaker ammunition. But we were using one of the recommended Magnum Research brands... so the plot thickens.

(adjustable target sights, this thing is accurate up to 200 yds plus!)

We took the mighty Bird home, and my son Tony was itching to tear it down. Seems we should have done this before, the malfunctions were related to the dirtiness of the gas system and recoil guides. YUK! Plus, my good friend Prepper Jack (blogger for TND, The News Doctors) says his 44Mag DEAGLE loves the 300gr bullets. They work the pistol harder, which would alleviate nearly all of the problems we were having.

This is a Hoot to Shoot, despite the hangups. I will try the 300gr and see what I think. A little more trigger time will surely smooth it out for me and maybe even an optic is in order. I have a few options, and I think all of them will clamp on the dovetailed barrel top. Seen here:

Stay tuned for Part 3!!!