IMI Desert Eagle

The Desert Eagle handgun is a powerful gas-operated, semi-automatic handgun capable of firing the .50 AE (Action Express) caliber round, though minor field adjustments can allow the latest production model of the Desert Eagle to fire the .357, .41, .44 and .440 rounds. The Desert Eagle was devised by the firm of Magnum Research, Incorporated in the United States of America, and furthered by Israeli Military Industries (which went on to produce the somewhat similar Jericho 941, or "Baby Eagle" as it is marketed in the US).

The Desert Eagle .50 caliber handgun uses a special rifling technique in the bore to minimize the wear and tear of bullet exit, thus extending the life of the weapon. It also utilizes a concept commonly found in rifle mechanics, featuring a rotating lock and bolt as opposed to the standard blow-back technique. The Desert Eagle can fire up to 7 rounds of .50 A.E. ammunition (8 rounds of .41 and .44 and 9 rounds of .357) to which the system then slides into the recoil position (much like the action found in other semi-automatic handguns) until a new round is chambered.

The size of the round, particularly the .50 caliber Action Express, reports a high level of recoil - expected when firing a round this large. The actual auditory sound produced by the pistol itself requires special heavy duty hearing protection when fired from indoors and does take a certain amount of getting-use to when firing outdoors. For this purpose, the Desert Eagle handgun is better suited to the life of big-game hunting, though Hollywood would have the reader believe it to be much more.

With out a doubt, the Desert Eagle, particularly the .50 AE, is a very powerful handgun. It comes at a steep price tag to owners and the ammunition also does not come cheap. For some owner / collectors, simple ownership of this large caliber handgun is enough, that is if your hands are large enough to hold it.

Variants of the Desert Eagle include:

Desert Eagle Mark I
Desert Eagle Mark VII
Desert Eagle Mark XIX - Latest production model capable of various chambered ammunition sizes.

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