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Magnum Research Baby Desert Eagle
Magnum Research, a subsidiary of Israel Military Industries (or IMI, as it is commonly referred to) manufactures high-end, high profile handguns such as the multi-caliber Desert Eagle. These handguns are quite powerful and have a lot of aesthetic and media appeal, though there are issues regarding their utility in situations other than target shooting and hunting. This is because the Desert Eagle is a rather heavy handgun that reportedly does not balance properly in the shooter's hand when it is an unloaded condition.
The Magnum Research Baby Desert Eagle is a smaller, handier handgun than the Desert Eagle. But one should refrain from calling it a scaled-down, more compact version of the legendary 'hand cannon' - there are very few similarities, apart from the calibers they accommodate. It was originally marketed as the Jericho 941 and was given the 'Baby Desert Eagle' name to capitalize on the Desert Eagle's high profile. The Baby Desert Eagle is, in fact, a double-action handgun that operates on the short recoil system. The Desert Eagle is a single action pistol that utilizes direct impingement gas-operated technology.
The Baby Desert Eagle features an innovative interchangeable barrel-system that allows the handgun to be adapted to either 9 mm Luger, .40S&W, .45ACP or .41 AE rounds simply by changing the barrel. The .41 Action Express, or .41 AE was a new kind of ammunition that was specifically designed and developed for the IMI Jericho 941. It used the same bullet diameter as the .41 Magnum and had velocities that could match that of the much more powerful .357 Magnum. Unfortunately, this concept was way ahead of its time and the .41 AE round eventually sank into obscurity and disuse.
The handgun itself is 192 mm in length, with a barrel length of 96 mm. It weighs 920 grams in an unloaded condition and incorporates magazines that can accommodate either16 rounds of 9 mm caliber ammunition, 12 rounds of .40 ammunition or 10 rounds of .45 ammunition. It is crafted in stainless steel. The Magnum Research Baby Desert Eagle is based on the design of the Czech CZ-75 pistol and parts of it are imported from Italy's Tanfoglio armament company. However, the Baby Desert Eagle is much heavier than the CZ-75 and is also has a heavier trigger pull because the slide is much shallower. It features high visibility fixed sights with white dot inserts. It sports a very appealing matte black finish on all exposed surfaces.
It was designed to be a more practical and handy weapon that the Desert Eagle and it seems to have achieved that objective to a certain extent. It did, to a certain degree, retain some of the better aspects of the Desert Eagle's ergonomic features. It is reported to be a reasonably reliable and accurate pistol. It is very easy to disassemble for maintenance. One of the main drawbacks reported about the Magnum research Baby Desert Eagle is the fact that its factory-supplied magazines are substandard. It is said that a 10-round magazine can actually only accommodate eight rounds, because the spring gets overloaded with more and tends to jam.
In fact, some say that the Baby Desert Eagle has an inherent propensity to jam after a certain number of rounds are fired. This, of course, depends on how it has been used and the degree of professional maintenance it has received. Many other users report flawless operation even after shooting 800 rounds or more. There seem to be certain issues about the safety of this handgun, too - some users report that the auto-de-cocker, which paradoxically has been incorporated to allow the hammer to be dropped safely without touching the hammer or trigger occasionally fires off rounds on its own.
The Magnum Research Baby Desert Eagle is, by market consensus and popular opinion, an excellent target pistol, thanks to its high accuracy, but trusting it for purposes of self-protection and armed combat would be pushing one's luck. The Baby Desert Eagle commands a retail price of approximately $450.
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Baby Desert Eagle
- Firearm Type: Pistol
- Manufacturer: Magnum Research
Technical Specs
- Ammunition: .40 S&W, 9x19 mm Luger
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Comments
NICE
I always wanted a Desert Eagle but the frame was too big for my small hands (.44 mag). I was out shopping for a .45 and came across a Baby Eagle .45. It fit my hand perfect and I was impressed with the way it was made. I bought it and a box of ammo and headed for the hills to try her out. 1st round popped off just fine. Squeezed the 2nd and nothing happened. Dumbfounded I keep the muzzle down range and looked it over. The slide had failed to come to battery. I pulled on the slide and it wouldn't move. I tried to pound it forward with the heel of my hand. That smarts! There I stood, one in the pipe and a frozen slide. I couldn't go home with it like that so I used a persueder ( a big stick). That was the last thing I thought I would have to do to a new gun. The slide went home and I reluctantly pulled the trigger. It fired and ejected fine. I unloaded and striped it down expecting to find something broken. Could not see anything obvious and put it back together. Reloaded and tried it again. Same thing happened. Pulled the mag, gave it another pounding and fired. This is Bull**** and went home. I've been a machinist for 30 years and no piece of steel is getting the better of me. Back at the bench, I started analyzing the problem. Without ammo it cycled smooth as glass. I made some dummy rounds (without powder or primers)and cycled a round. It hung up about 1/16" before coming to battery. O.K. the round is hitting something. I tore it down and removed the spring, put a dummy round in the chamber and moved the barrel thru its uplink cycle in the slide. Just before the barrel would lock in its grooves it stopped. I saw that when the case head made contact with the extractor it jammed. That's not right, the little hook is supossed to snap over the lip on the case head! I pushed and tapped on the barrel and it wouldn't snap over. I held it up to the light so I could see where it was making contact. Those #%!'s had either miss drilled the extractor pivot hole or had not cut enough angle on the end of the extractor. There is no excuse for poor workmanship. When you machine a part, always check your work. The end had a flat and the angle was not past where the edge of the case head would touch. So when the case hit the extractor, it acted as a stop. So I got out my trusty jewlers files and went to work. I cut the angle back so it was about .015 past the outside diameter of the case head. If you try this at home, don't thin the tip of the hook. I put it back together and tested it with dummy's. It cycled just fine. Alright! back to the hills. I fired serveral rounds and it did it again. Damn it all! This time it only took a bump with the heel of my hand to send it home. Still not right. Back home I put it in the safe and left it there for a couple of months. I got curious as to the problem, so I took another run at it. I broke down my P90 and noticed how easy it was to snap the extractor over the case head. Broke down the B.E. and it was a lot harder to snap over. Why, I asked myself. Of course I had to take it all the way apart to see how it worked. They had a spring in there that I could barley compress with my fingers. Well, if I screwed it up, the worst I would have to do is buy a new spring. So I got my pliers and sniped off one coil of the spring. Now with the recoil spring in the slide, I can pull the barrel back about 1/2" and let go and it snaps over the case head. No more problem, and what a brass eating machine. Accurate too. Anyway, if you know of anyone having a similar problem, have them read this. Maybe it will help.
Hey Robert003, That's bloody brilliant advise.
I had a quiet chuckle while reading it, 'cos thats exactly the sort of thing I do....Swear, Hit it with a stick (or heave the bastard out into the neighbours paddock), Roll a ciggarete, Find it again, Glare at it for a bit, leave it on the bench (or safe, depending on value) untill the solution comes to me (sometimes at 0300, a month later)
'LEST WE FORGET'
Great post Robert003! I was very impressed! As a federally certified millwright, I know a few very good machinists just like ya. Way to go, and welcome to R&G.