The best pistol

History

The Desert Eagle was originally designed by Israel Military Industries (IMI) and entered production in 1982. The Desert Eagle, or 'Deagle' as it is popularly known, is unique among pistols for its gas-actuated method of operation, normally used in rifles, as opposed to recoil-operation which is used in most pistols. This method of operation allows it to be chambered for high-powered cartridges normally reserved for revolvers, which gives the Desert Eagle its renown for stopping power. The weapon is mainly produced by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and Magnum Research for the U.S Market. Despite its constant portrayal in the media as a military weapon, the weapon's bulk hinders its practicality, weighing in at five to six pounds unloaded.

The original design from the IMI was chambered only in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum; there is also a rare .41 Remington Magnum variant. Later on, American company Magnum Research offered a variant chambered in .50 Action Express, the most powerful and perhaps the most well-known chambering of the pistol.

In-Game

General Information

The Desert Eagle XIX's damage model is similar to the Executioner, being focused on scoring headshots at shorter ranges. However, the Desert Eagle XIX's damage model is much more forgiving compared to the Executioner. It is capable of a one-shot kill (1SK) on the torso out to its maximum damage range of 40 studs. However, this torso damage comes at a cost - the Desert Eagle XIX cannot one-shot-headshot at the same ranges as the Executioner. 

The Desert Eagle XIX can be fired at 400 RPM, however the weapon experiences incredibly harsh recoil resulting in strong muzzle flip and awkward camera recoil. If a player chooses to wait to let the weapon settle between shots, they will fire at closer to 150 RPM. Muzzle velocity is the worst in its category, at 1500 studs per second, meaning that the weapon's ability to function as a pocket DMR is limited.

Usage & Tactics

The Desert Eagle XIX can be considered a direct competitor to the Executioner; both having high recoil, the capability to one shot to the body, and very high overall damage. The XIX has slightly less range, muzzle velocity, and ammunition reserve but has a faster firerate, higher capacity and is a more flexible and customizable sidearm, being able to equip a suppressor and being able to perform a tactical reload. As mentioned before, it is also more forgiving of torso shots.

Due to the weapon's unwieldy handling model, players should choose the Desert Eagle XIX as a moderate range weapon. While it is possible to score one-shot-kills in close quarters, the weapon is slow to draw, slow to aim, and slow to recover after a shot. With the default irons, it is also impossible to shoot targets at extended ranges, so an optic may be the first place a player goes to extend their effective range with the XIX. However, attaching an optic will reduce weapon handling slightly.

Players may be tempted to attach a suppressor. However, they will hamper torso damage, causing the weapon to be a 3-shot-kill at range and/or reducing the effective 1SK range depending on the suppressor used. They will also slow down the XIX's already slow muzzle velocity, making the Suppressor a difficult choice. However, there is an option shared with its lightweight companion, the Desert Eagle L5, the Extended Barrel. While the L5 takes much better advantage of this attachment, the XIX can utilize it to increase the range at which it can 1SK to the torso. However, this makes the weapon incredibly slow to react and even more unwieldy than before. The XIX also has two exclusive attachments, the Police Barrel and the Police Stock. The Police Barrel is just slightly more powerful than the Extended Barrel, increasing the muzzle velocity to 2000 studs per second and increasing the minimum damage range to 105 studs which is only five studs more than the Extended Barrel. The Police Barrel is barely worth using since it does the same thing as the Extended Barrel but reduces the reserve ammunition count from 21 to 14, which is extremely low. It also makes handling exceptionally slow. The Police Stock greatly reduces the recoil on Desert Eagle making it much easier to spam and hit the target in CQC however it also reduces the reserve ammo from 21 rounds to 14 rounds. The Police Stock combined with either barrel attachment transforms the weapon into a pocket DMR.

Conclusion

The Desert Eagle XIX is a powerful pistol, going toe-to-toe with the strongest revolvers. All of this power comes at a cost, however. The Desert Eagle XIX is heavy and unwieldy, with a slightly shorter one-shot-headshot range compared to the Executioner. Players who have a hard time with the Executioner may find the extra ammo capacity and more forgiving torso performance of the XIX attractive.