X17: While thinking of a totally cool custom job you could produce what made you think a suppressed Desert Eagle?   Rick: Basically the KWC Desert Eagle is a highly rated gun. The only add on for it was the 10" barrel. I noted every so often people wanted a suppressor for the Eagle but couldn't come up with putting one on securely. X17: Why a Desert Eagle and not some other pistol?

Rick: At the time it was one of the only guns out that no one could affix a silencer to successfully. I took it as a challenge to prove it could be done. Currently I am working on other pistols however like the Beretta M92, M93R, and P99.

X17: Any influence on your choice of production?

Rick: Pretty much no. Since it seemed no one had done this before, I had to pretty much think up a silencer for the gun. No one (at least no one I know of) had put a suppressor on a Desert Eagle. I followed a few simple rules though. One was to make the suppresser's diameter small enough that the front sights could be used. Two, not to make the suppressor too long to where it makes the gun difficult to balance. Three, long enough to support the 9" inner barrel.

X17: How many of these do you plan on building to sell?

Rick: Currently this is an "on request" item. I build them, as people want them. To date I've completed 12 of these full guns. For people who already had the DE but wanted the suppressed barrel, I've created an extra 5 stand-alone barrels.

X17: How does the gun actually work?

	Rick: The gun's blowback firing is the same. You wont notice any fictional changes. The change you will notice is the small FPS increase and Range increase due to the barrel going from 5 inches to 9 inches. The extra
4 inches of solid barrel length really give you an edge and works the same as the optional 10-inch barrel for the DE.

X17: Through you’re testing what have you seen the 10-inch barrel do apposed to the stock barrel?

Rick: The 10 inch barrel (actually a 9 inch inner barrel that really matters) is able to hit targets more accurately from farther away.  From what I know of my customers, a few have reported actually out-shooting other players with AEGs in games.

X17: Does the suppressor actually work?

Rick: Nope, the suppressor is strictly a cosmetic feature that hides the 9 inch inner barrel that runs through it... Basically think of this gun as the Desert Eagle version of the Western Arms Pro killer 2000 guns.

X17: How hard is it to change between the two barrels?

Rick: Not hard at all! Barrel changes can be done almost as fast as magazine changes. All one has to do is move the take down lever, take off the stock barrel, put in the suppressed barrel or 10" barrel, push the take down lever back to the locked position and its done. This entire action can be done in just a few seconds with the magazine still inserted into the gun.

X17: How much do you charge for the newly suppressed DE?

Rick: Currently a Newly suppressed DE is $200.00 with all the works (10" suppressed barrel, and 6" standard barrel).

X17: How much for just the suppressed barrel? 

Rick: The suppressed barrel is $75.00.

X17: How long did this customization take you?

Rick: Originally, the very first one literally took me about 5 days to do as I had to use trial and error to figured out how to attach the silencer without screwing up the inner barrel or outer barrel housing.  Now things are standardized and it only takes about an hour from making the silencer to mounting it to having a complete barrel system ready to fire.

X17: Come across any potential problems why building the first gun?

Rick: Yes! There were problems from the start with securing the suppressor on. One of the major problems was to keep the suppressor stable and unmovable over the DE's long inner barrel. Like most airsoft guns, if you freely turn the inner barrel, you'll screw up the hop-up system. Since the suppressor was mostly housing almost half of the inner barrel, it was very important to keep the suppressor mounted stable and unmovable while still looking natural.

X17: Who supplies your suppressors?

Rick: Right now I have a friend at work with a lathe. We take turns using it to make the suppressors. These have to be specially made just for the DE. It wouldn’t be possible to buy these anywhere unless you had someone who could mill you out a custom one.

X17: What made you choose this suppressor over other suppressors?

Rick: Basic design. I actually went through about 4 different suppressors until I came to the current one. At one point I had an entirely steel suppressor, but that proved faulty as it gave the gun too much nose weight and unbalanced the gun. Also since it was steel, it took a longer time to make and an even longer time to work with mounting to the outer barrel.  The current suppressor used now was actually voted on by 7 people who were waiting for me to complete these guns for them over last Christmas. 6 of the 7 voted for what you see now on the gun. I think it’s a pretty nice sleek look myself and no one else since has made any comments on how to change it.  

X17: Do you ever plan on releasing a "how-to-guide" on this customization?

Rick: Well until I get this down perfectly and master it, I’m afraid the "Jinxx Guide To Customizing Airsoft Vol. 1" will have to wait a bit. Each time, doing and even re-doing projects I’m still learning different things and getting new ideas.

X17: What’s your next creation that you are working on? Or is it "hush hush?"

Rick: Yeah sure why not, I might even be able to supply a top secret picture as well LOL... Right now I’m working on allowing the KWC Beretta Heavyweight series, the ability to accept Tokyo Marui accessories: the tracer unit, after market silencers, muzzle breaks, flash suppressors, etc. Now, for as small as this task may seem, believe it or not, putting threads on these barrels is no small task. First I need the "correct" threading, and second, since these barrels are plastic, they are actually pretty easy to break under pressure from machinery cutting into it.