GUNS & AMMO
MRI’s Baby Desert Eagle III
Pistols
2
016 marks the 30-year anniversary for Magnum
Research Incorporated (MRI), a company best
known for its iconic Desert Eagle pistol. But the
Minnesota-based company offers shooters more than
just an incredibly powerful semi-automatic handgun.
MRI produces a line of rimfire rifles, center-fire bolt guns
and single-action revolvers chambered for incredibly potent cartridges like the .45/70. MRI also imports several
different styles of semi-automatic pistols including the
Baby Desert Eagle III. Built by the Israeli firm BUL Ltd,
the Baby Desert Eagle III pistols were inspired by the
CZ-75 pistol with a couple of cosmetic differences and
one important mechanical change. When MRI first offered Baby Desert Eagle pistols Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) built the guns. The relationship between MRI
and IWI dissolved in December 2014 when their contract
expired. IWI decided to set up its own U.S. distribution
for its products through IWI US and MRI turned to BUL.
Bul engineers trimmed and slimmed the Baby Desert
Eagle and also re-profiled the gun to make it look more
like its namesake big brother. The result is the new Baby
Desert Eagle III. I received a full-size and semi-compact
version of the gun, both chambered in .45 ACP.No one
will mistake these guns for lightweights. Both the frame
and slide are machined from high-quality carbon steel.
The full-size gun runs a stout 35 oz. and the semi-compact about an ounce and a half lighter. In terms of size,
both guns have the same grip length and use the same
10-round magazine but the semi-compact’s slide, barrel
and frame’s dustcover are about .58” shorter. The ergonomics of the pistol are excellent and the graceful arch
of the backstrap lock the shooter’s hand into a comfortable firing grip. There’s an upswept beavertail to protect
the web of the hand and the thin synthetic grips prevent
the frame from feeling fat. The trigger guard is undercut
where it meets the frame, allowing the shooter to get a
very high hold on the frame. Both pistols feature standard Picatinny rail on the frame’s dustcover to allow the
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