Eagles

[IMG=left]http://www.madogre.com/images/DoubleEagles.JPG[/IMG]

When I asked to review a compact Baby Eagle for Concealed Carry Magazine, they pretty much just said "which ones". They offered me the buffet. Whatever I wanted. After thinking about it a bit, I decided on a compact and a sub compact with the polymer frames and both in 9MM for an easier comparison. I figured these would be the best choices for CCW work considering they are half the weight of the normal Baby Eagle pistols.
They both arrived along with a nice letter stating that they would like them back within 60 days. Whoa. 60? I had to read that again. Yup, sixty days. Sweeet. They hooked me up properly and promptly and have been awesome to work with. I hope the guns are as good as the people are.
The guns themselves are impressive pieces. They radiate ruggedness and competency. But most people would have to get over the slide mounted safety thing. The poly frames themselves have a slot molded in for a frame mounted safety... it is filled with a drop in plug that I didnt notice initially. A frame mounted safety would have been favorable, but the system it has now is just fine. Triggers could be better of course... Good sights. Good ergonomics. The only real downside are the Clinton Magazines. It looks to be that the Sub Compact should be able to hold at least 12 rounds, if not 14 and the Compact mags should be able to hold 15 to 18. Instead, all the mags hold only 10 rounds. Such a waste.
These guns are typical of all CZ-75 clones... meaning they are very good. I like CZ's the best but as far as clones go... I must confess that the Jerichos and these Eagles are my favorites. I love the way the muzzle end is beveled. Looks sharp. I dont perticularly care for the polymer frames to be honest. But I can see where this would be an advantage if you are packing one of these things 14 hours a day or longer. They are a lot lighter than the standard versions.

Update:

Just got back from my range. I emptied out my loose ammo bucket and counted that I had 83 rounds of 9MM. All different kinds, all different bullet types... from target to +P+ and a few rounds that I remembered was "SMG" ammo from Germany. I didn't try to sort them... I just grabed them and loaded them into my mags. Some of these rounds were as old as 6 years by my best guess. These are the rounds that used to collect when I had a box of ammo that only had a few rounds left, I'd just dump them in this bucket. Kinda like a loose change jar.
Well all 85 rounds ran through the Sub-Compact without a single failure of any sort. My initial impression that these guns are good shooters has at least been verified in the Sub-Compact Baby Eagle. It is a dang good shooter! Accurate too. My shot groups did have some verticle stringing but that is from all the different velocities going on. Had I used all the same lot of ammo, I am sure it would have been nice and tight. I had five of the same rounds loaded together in the first mag and all those shots went right into the same little tiny area that could have been covered by a quarter.
This was not a test of accuracy... I just wanted to get it out and do some banging.
Even the hottest rounds felt good... felt easy... Like from a full sized HK USP or Beretta. And this was from the Sub-Compact.

Update:

I've just run another 200 rounds through the Sub-Compact and 200 rounds though the Compact.
Thank you Walmart's for your cheap WWB ammo!
All the rounds went very very near right where I was wanting them to go. I was bouncing Mt Dew empties with boring regularity... I'm impressed with the accuracy.

Not a single malfunction of any sort. These guns just flat like to shoot. Very comfortable for long range sessions... but the Sub Compact's mags are tough to get round #10 loaded up. The good sights are spot on and easy to see and to shoot with... the trigger is wide and serated like a S&W target gun... making it easy to control the pull all the way to the bang.
The trigger pull in DA mode is extremely horrible. One of the worst I've ever felt. Seriously... the Compact's trigger make an AMT DAO Backup's trigger a work of art and the CZ-100's trigger an absolute DREAM! The pull is off the scale... it's gotta be like 18 - 20 pounds or something, with the roughness only appreciated by someone who has ever had to scrape barnicles of the bottom of a tug boat. Made me want to sing some sea chanties.

However the pull in SA mode is different. It's... well... stacking and squishy at the same time, and the break is something like a green twig. But you can get used to it and then it aint bad. If you put forth the effort to learn it, it's useable. If I was to carry one of these guns regularly, I'd loaded it up, chamber a round, decock it, then take the safety back off... and practice thumb cocking with the non firing hand. After that first shot, these guns come into thier own. They become serious shooting machines.

Overall impression is favorable. I like them. Not sure which one I like the most yet. For CCW work the sub compact is certainly the better choice, while for duty or range shooting work, the compact would be better... that thing shoots like Lincoln Navigator.