The Desert Eagle is a semi-automatic, gas-operated pistol that is manufactured in Israel by IMI (Israeli Military Industries) for Magnum Research, Inc. Magnum Research, based in the USA, developed and patented the original Desert Eagle design, but the refining was done by IMI. The Desert Eagle is unusual in that most semiautomatic pistols use short recoil or blowback mechanisms; the gas operated mechanism used by the Desert Eagle is more commonly found in rifles; the locking mechanism of the Desert Eagle bears a strong resemblance to that of the M-16 series of rifles. The advantage of the gas operation is that it allows the use of far more powerful cartridges than traditional semiautomatic pistol designs, and it allows the Desert Eagle to compete in an area that had previously been dominated by magnum revolvers.
Three different versions of the Desert Eagle were manufactured: the Mark I, Mark VII, and Mark XIX. The Mark I is no longer produced, but had an aluminum frame was available in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. The Mark VII was built on a steel frame and was available in .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum and .41 Magnum chamberings. The Mark VII is out of production, but the manufacturer still has 6 and 10 inch barrelled .44 Magnum Mark VIIs in stock (early 2005). The most recent, the Mark XIX, is available in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .50 Action Express (or .50 AE). Magnum Research also showed some models in .440 Cor-Bon caliber, a .50 AE derived case, but no .440 Cor-Bon components are listed in their catalog.
Switching a Desert Eagle to another chambering requires only that the correct barrel, bolt assembly, and magazine be installed. Thus, a conversion to shoot the other cartridges can be quickly accomplished in the field. The most popular barrel length is 6", although 10" and 14" barrels (which are rarely seen) have been available. The barrels are machined with integral scope mounting bases, making adding a pistol scope a very simple operation.
It is fed with a detachable box magazine, just as with any other semi-auto pistol. Because it fires such large cartridges, magazine capacity is limited to a meager nine rounds in .357 Magnum, 8 rounds in .44 Magnum, and 7 rounds in .50 AE. Compare this to the full-sized service type pistol, the SIG-Sauer P226 (which is smaller and lighter), when chambered in 9mm Luger it can have normal magazine capacities of up to sixteen rounds.
The Desert Eagle is a sport pistol which has limited practical use other than giving enjoyment on the range, and as a capable hunting weapon. It is sometimes seen as a form of ludicrous overcompensation by accomplished pistol marksmen, as the .50 AE can be considered excessively powerful. The Desert Eagle is also a weapon of choice in many computer games, perhaps most well known in Counter-Strike and Urban Terror. The gun also appears in various films, often as the weapon of choice for the villains. In The Matrix, the Desert Eagle was the standard issue side arm for the Agents .
While IMI makes a cosmetically similar pistol, originally called the Jericho 941 and now marketed as the "Baby Eagle", the guns bear no functional eqivalence--the Jericho/Baby Eagle design is a standard high capacity, double action, short recoil design. The one functional similarity is in ammunition. The .41 Action Express (or .41 AE) developed for the Jericho 941 used a rebated rim, so that the pistol could switch between 9mm Luger and .41 AE with just the change of a barrel. This is because the .41 AE was based on a shortened .41 Magnum case with the rim and extractor groove cut to the same dimensions of the 9mm Luger. This allowed the same extractor and ejector to work with both cartridges. The .50 AE has a similar rebated rim, cut to the same dimensions as the .44 Magnum. This is what allows caliber changes between .44 Magnum and .50 AE with just the change of the barrel and magazine. Unfortunately, due to the requirements of the gas operated action, the Desert Eagle barrels are very expensive, selling for at least triple the price of a barrel for a short recoil design. This makes changing calibers an expensive option.
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Last updated: 10-19-2005 07:59:12
