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The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the U.S., and manufactured primarily in Israel by IMI (Israel Military Industries, now Israel Weapon Industries). Manufacturing was moved to Saco Defense in the state of Maine from 1996 to 2000 which carried the XIX designation, but shifted back to Israel when Saco was acquired by General Dynamics. The Desert Eagle has been featured in roughly 500 motion pictures and TV films, considerably increasing its popularity and boosting sales. This handgun is alos featured in the Call of Duty video game series pushing it's popularity to the top. |
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| The Desert Eagle was originally designed by Bernard C. White of Magnum Research, who filed a patent on a mechanism for a gas-actuated pistol in January 1983. This established the basic layout of the Desert Eagle. The Desert Eagle was originally designed as a revolver, but was later reshaped into a semi-automatic pistol. A second patent was filed in December 1985, after the basic design had been refined by IMI for production, and this is the form that went into production. |
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The advantage of the gas-operation is that it allows the use of far more powerful cartridges than traditional semi-automatic pistol designs. Thus it allows the Desert Eagle to compete in an area that had previously been dominated by magnum revolvers. Downsides of the gas operated mechanism are the large size of the Desert Eagle, and the fact that it discourages the use of unjacketed lead bullets, as lead particles sheared off during firing could clog the gas release tap, preventing proper function. |
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