In the mid-1980s, a new heavyweight contender was making its presence known in the firearms world: the Desert Eagle. This semi-automatic pistol very quickly became renowned, not by its adoption by military forces but by its appearance in many action movies. Nicknamed the Desert Eagle, it has subsequently then acquired a very substantial following among gun enthusiasts and hunters, despite the pistol’s hefty price tag and a pragmatic utility limited to very few military or police forces.
First produced in 1985, the Desert Eagle first came in the .357 Magnum cartridge. This was known as the Mark I and, minus accessories, the handgun measured almost eleven inches in length, an inch over six inches in height, and tipped the scales at four and a half pounds unloaded. Loaded, the Desert Eagle was two and a half times heavier than a loaded Glock 17.
The Desert Eagle was uniquely designed with revolutionary influences from revolvers, pistols, and rifles, including the bolt face from M-16 and AR-15 rifles and the gas piston system from the Ruger Mini-14 rifle. This structuring is very necessary to meet the high chamber pressures coupled with the recoil that needs to be handled for firing high-caliber weight cartridges. Traditional pistols use the energy produced from firing the shot to throw the slide backward to cycle another round. This caliber of handgun, like the Desert Eagle, is releasing too much energy for a blowback system to be practical or safe. Instead, what happens is the gas system from the barrel diverts some of the hot gunpowder gases to drive a piston.
Rifle characteristics for the Desert Eagle make this gun more favorable for a .44 Magnum handgun in regards to taming recoil. Diverting gases helps to ease the recoil. A famous gun reviewer mentioned that “Shooting this .357 Magnum is no worse than pulling the trigger on a Glock 19.”
The manufacturing history of the Desert Eagle was tumultuous. While first made by Israeli Military Industries (IMI) for Magnum Research, it was moved to Saco Defense in Maine, back to IMI in 1998, and finally established at Magnum Research in Minnesota in 2009. In 2010, Magnum Research itself was bought by Kahr Arms, though production of the Desert Eagle continued in its facility.
The Desert Eagle is also available in the .44 Magnum, which uses an eighth-round loader and is dimensionally the same as the .357 model, and the .50 Action Express, which maintains the same dimensions but only loads seven rounds. The .50 AE, made since 1988 was the world’s largest handgun caliber for more than twenty years. With a bullet diameter of .500 inches, the .50 AE has a tapered case that can be used to great effect by any Desert Eagle owner to switch from .44 Magnum to .50 AE in their pistol, with just a magazine and barrel swap.
Although having scant actual application, the Desert Eagle has become one of the preferred sidearms present in many current video games, even being lovingly referred to by gamers as “Deagle.” It is known to have appeared in over a hundred motion pictures, TV shows, and video games, including “The Matrix” and the “Call of Duty” series.
In hunting, a reliable backup firearm can be very important, and the Desert Eagle can be the deciding factor in such a case of a charging animal behind you following a rifle malfunction. This frame and powerful cartridges make it a fearsome sidearm for hunters and enthusiasts alike.
The Desert Eagle is a celebrity gun, with very little practical usefulness. Of course, that has not stopped it from being hugely popular, and the Desert Eagle with its large frame has become synonymous with the idea of a big handgun. It’s another of those big, broad, sweeping lines that say “speed” to the viewer. It isn’t going anywhere in a hurry.