[Swifty Morgan]

I learned some things about the Desert Eagle, and I think they will be helpful to other people, so here I am again.

I received two Kahr Jujube extractor "springs" in the mail, along with a DPMS steel AR spring. I decided to use the DPMS spring, for reasons which will become clear.

I looked at the manual, and I watched Youtube. I figured this gave me enough information to disassemble the gun and replace the Jujube. WRONG.

It turns out I have a California gun. Humiliating. California doesn't want anyone to have a .50-caliber pistol that actually works, so they forced Magnum Research to add an annoying hindrance to the firing pin stop. It's a big pain to remove the firing pin, and the instructions are not in the manual. No conceivable excuse for that blunder. You have to push two pins in instead of one.

Kahr sells the 49-state firing pin and stop, and they fit in the California guns. Cost: $50. I have these parts on the way. The stop is black, so it won't match the gun. Maybe I can fabricate one from stainless.

I have to blame this on Garcia's National Gun in Miami. It was a terrible gun shop, but I tried to support them because they were local. How they managed to get me a new California gun, I can't even guess. I was a loyal customer, and they never even got to the point where they recognized me or said hello when I walked in the door. This is why I buy online or at big stores. I've had lots of problems with local shops. They don't seem to appreciate the precarious position they're in, or the fact that people are doing them a huge favor by giving them business.

The old extractor Jujube wasn't just damaged; it no longer existed. I found some bits of reddish grease that used to be the spring. No exaggeration. Had I not known what I was looking at, I would never have known there used to be a spring.

I'm sure Magnum Research had some kind of justification for using this stuff instead of a real spring, but it has not worked out for me. A spring that dissolves in oil or gun-cleaning solvent is a bad idea.

Removing the bolt is unpleasant but not terribly so. The extractor is held in place with a pin which is not tight. You can push it out with a punch. Then you have to put the new spring in, line up the extractor with the bolt, and shove the new spring in. That's all there is to it.

I have not fired the gun since reassembling it. I don't know if the real metal spring will have any effect on shells hitting me in the face, but they should eject, so I have that going for me.