Hi guys

I went to look at a Desert Eagle that is for sale. It has seen some use but all and all not to bad. however one thing bothered me a lot. In fact it was the first thing I felt and didn't like it. The safety catch was like really easy to manipulate. Like in there was no tension behind the spring. I figured it was from being worn or a very relaxed spring. However this kept bugging me. So i engaged the safety and pulled the trigger. (The gun being unloaded of course but that goes without saying). To my surprise the trigger pushed the safety off and the gun "fired".

Now my question, since i don't know much about the internal workings of a DE, is this due to a worn spring or did this guy modify the gun, safety catch, by removing components? I just don't see how Magnum Research would count on just spring tension to make the gun safe. Seeing how everybody gun maker is making guns so safe that you can hardly use them, I cannot believe a gun would be this unsafe stock standard.

I'm sorry to say I didn't check to see if it was the Mark VII or the Mark XIX.

Of course without seeing the gun for myself all i can do is venture an educated guess.
That said, I had the same issue with my gun, .50 XIX, and it is a very easy fix. the screw holding the ambidextrous safety simply gets a little lose some times. tighten that up a bit and you are ready to go. It really is that simple, or was in my case.

Good luck in the search!

Thanks for the tip. That just confirms it.

I was at a regional gun collectors meeting this weekend and one of the guys collects DE's. He told me the same thing. Apparently they just get shot loose. So it is either just tightening the screw or replacing a spring that gets slack. Either way not a big deal to fix.

This makes me happy. So as soon as this guy finally makes me a price that baby is coming home with me. It would be the start of another collection for me. I need them all. Not just a barrel kit. I mean I have to get a license for each barrel so why not just get a complete gun to go with that barrel I need to license. See we license teh barrels here and not the frames. A bit of a mission but oh well. Makes 22 conversion kits on 1911's a mission. Multi barrel shotsguns are is another pain but that's a story for another thread.