.45 Colt Desert Eagle

[AustinTSI]

So something I was looking at the other day. It seems like it would be very easy to make a Desert Eagle that could shoot the .45 Colt +P Ruger only loads. The case length and the rim are the same as the 50ae and the 44mag.

[GarrettJ]

I agree it’s a neat idea, but not without issues. From a business standpoint it’s likely a non-starter.

Yes, the .45 Colt would work with the standard .44 Mag bolt and magazines (I just checked). But the vast majority of factory ammo is the issue. As you note, it would require .45+P level loads. Outside of a couple boutique ammo manufacturers, most all .45 Colt ammo is going to be loaded to standard pressure levels, and will feature a plain lead bullet. Both of which are issues with the DE.

Having said that, anything is possible if you want to throw enough money at it. You could likely ream out then cut new rifling in a .44 barrel, as well as to cut a new .45 chamber. You would have to figure how to keep metal chips out of the gas system while this is happening.

At the end of it all, you will have something that effectively duplicates what the .44 Mag was already doing for you.

But it’s still a fun exercise to think about.

[lockhart]

I think it's a helluva good idea! The 44 magnum bullet diameter is only 429, while the 45 bullet
diameter is 454! It would be a good round for the Eagle* Bigger bullet, and lot's more weight
choices* I have also thought about drilling a hole in front of the barrel, right below the muzzle, in
line with the gas tube, in order to be able to run a small drill bit, same size as the gas tube, in order
to "clean" the gas tube out if you decided to run some cast bullets through the pistol* The drilled hole
would of course be tapped to hold a small bolt to plug it, so it would still function as a semi-auto! Just
thinking out loud! What doe's anyone else think of that?