9) Are the .50 AE Desert Eagles less reliable than .357 or .44? -
The short answer is - No, not at all.
This question or statement has been around I guess since .50 AE
first appeared. Mostly what I have heard are stories like: "I saw a guy shooting .50 DE &
it was jamming with every shot" or "my friend saw a guy ..." etc etc.
While I can't exclude the possibility, that you or someone else have seen a really defective gun,
( yes, this happens to everything, so DEP is no exception ) most likely this was the shooter's fault/problem
& not the gun or the ammo. Since all of the factory .50 AE ammo is made for DE & the cartridge itself was
designed for DE, bad ammo shouldn't be a reason for .50 problems, unless we are talking about bad
handloaders.
The reason why many people complain about .50 AE being unreliable, bad, etc.
is pretty much simple, some just repeat other's words and some prefer to blame the gun instead of
admitting, that they were not shooting very good.
A .50 AE is a very powerful round & hammering of the shooter is very significant. DE shooting techniques
are different, the rule of the thumb 'No wrist limp' - and this is much harder with .50 AE. If with .357
or even .44 DE is more 'forgiving', when it comes to .50 (& I guess .440 Cor-Bon will be similar to
it), you're gonna need much more.
I have communicated with different people about this topic, DE owners, shooting range personnel, etc, etc.
From all I know, I can say one thing - with the right ammo & correct shooting .50 AE is not any worse
in terms of reliability, than in any other caliber.