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39-462: The Hermann Weihrauch company was founded in 1899 in Zella-Mehlis , the same small German town where several other famous gun manufacturers such as Walther and Anschütz also began. Hermann Weihrauch, Sr. was well known for making hunting rifles. His three sons, Otto, Werner, and Hermann, Jr., soon joined the family-based company. Several new models were introduced after World War I , including

78-625: A mechanic and later a gunsmith in Zella-Mehlis. Werner worked at Jagdwaffenwerk (Hunting Weapon Factory) in nearby Suhl . Hermann Weihrauch, Jr. moved to the little German village of Mellrichstadt in Bavaria . Here, he started the company again, mainly producing spare parts for bicycles. Weihrauch made their first air rifle, the HW Model 50V in 1950. This airgun had a smooth bore because of Allied Occupation Government rules. Finally, after

117-645: A sales sample to the Hy-Score Arms Company in the USA. The Hy-Score president, Steve Laszlo, had given it to his friend, Robert Beeman. He surprised Hans Sr. and Christel Weihrauch (the husband/wife directors of the new HW company) when they were visiting the Beeman home in San Anselmo, California , by showing them this Weihrauch airgun which was completely unknown to them. The close connection between

156-494: Is a single-action , gas-operated , semi-automatic pistol capable of chambering the .50 Action Express , the largest centerfire cartridge of any magazine-fed, self-loading pistol and famous for other large caliber chamberings. Magnum Research Inc. (MRI) designed and developed the Desert Eagle. The design was further refined by (and was also manufactured by) Israel Military Industries (IMI), until 1995, when MRI shifted

195-566: Is only for pushing the next round in the chamber), with the extractor on the right-hand side fitting where the fifth lug would be, and strongly resembles the seven-lug bolt of the M16 series of rifles, while the fixed gas cylinder and moving piston resemble those of the Ruger Mini-14 carbine (the original patent used a captive piston similar to the M14 rifle ). The advantage of the gas operation

234-417: Is primarily used for hunting, target shooting, and silhouette shooting . The Mark I, which is no longer produced, was offered with a steel, stainless steel, or aluminum alloy frame and differs primarily in the size and shape of the safety levers and slide catch. The Mark VII includes an adjustable trigger (retrofittable to Mark I pistols). The Mark I and VII are both available in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum;

273-555: Is required to convert a .44 Desert Eagle to the larger, more powerful, .50 AE round. The most popular barrel length is 6 in (152 mm), although a 10 in (254 mm) barrel is available. The Mark XIX barrels are machined with integral scope mounting bases, simplifying the process of adding a pistol scope. The Desert Eagle is fed with a detachable magazine. Magazine capacity is nine rounds in .357 Magnum , eight rounds in .44 Magnum, and seven rounds in .50 Action Express. The Desert Eagle's barrel features polygonal rifling . The pistol

312-422: 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 can clog

351-477: Is the only Mark XIX model approved for dealer sales to the public in the State of California. The California-approved version differs from the regular XIX models in that it has an automatic firing pin block and a two-slot Weaver-style rail for mounting optics. The Desert Eagle has been featured in more than 600 films, television shows and video games, making it well known in popular culture. The commercial success of

390-560: The German Shooting Federation ("Deutscher Schützenbund") was re-established, the allied government allowed the production of rifled barrels. However, because they were not allowed to produce firearms, they put their efforts into making sporting airguns. Even after the firearm manufacturing ban was withdrawn, the Hermann Weihrauch KG company continued to produce air rifles. The smaller HW 25 was made for

429-547: The short recoil Jericho 941 pistol under the Baby Eagle and Desert Eagle pistol names; these weapons are not directly related to the Desert Eagle, but share a similar visual design. The design for the Desert Eagle was initiated by Bernard C. White of Magnum Research and Arnolds Streinbergs of Riga Arms Institute, who filed a US patent application for a mechanism for a gas-actuated pistol in January 1983. This established

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468-410: The short recoil or blowback designs most commonly seen in semi-automatic pistols. When a round is fired, gases are ported out through a small hole in the barrel in front of the chamber. These travel forward through a small tube under the barrel, to a cylinder underneath the front of the barrel. The slide, which acts as the bolt carrier, has a small piston on the front that fits into this cylinder. When

507-529: The American market were a great success because a large majority of adult aigun shooters were involved in field shooting, as opposed to competition or group shooting. Field target shooting was the most popular of the American group airgun shooting sports, but even that involved much less than one percent of adult airgun shooters. Weihrauch began a cooperation with Theoben Engineering in England which resulted in

546-632: The Colt 1911 automatic pistol. Weihrauch then produced an under-lever spring piston rifle, the HW77. This gun opened fully for loading directly into the breech of the barrel, like a Feinwerkbau match rifle. This was a great improvement over under lever air rifles which utilized a loading tap from which the pellet had to leap into the barrel. The HW77 and HW77 Carbine, with their rigid barrel and easy cocking and loading, became extremely popular in countries with lower power limits. The field-style air rifle designs for

585-489: The HW 35, and all occupy the same approximate market segment. However, Weihrauch did not follow the conventional and expected practice of retiring its older sporter rifles to make way for newer models. Instead, the HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were simply added to the product lineup as they were introduced. This sometimes results in confusion among buyers, many of whom are not familiar with the history of Weihrauch products. The meanings of

624-576: The HW 45 (sold in the US as the Beeman P1). Although the Beemans provided the full specifications and design features of this pistol, there was an initial misunderstanding about the external appearance. The factory presented a rather bulky, high top, " Desert Eagle -like" design which the Beemans did not think would appeal to the American market. They felt that it should follow the very popular and trim lines of

663-536: The HWZ 21 smallbore rifle (HWZ stands for Hermann Weihrauch, Zella-Mehlis). This was the first mass-produced German .22 rimfire rifle and soon developed an excellent match record. They also produced double and triple barrel shotguns, over and under shotguns, and large bore hunting rifles. In 1928, Weihrauch began international sale of bicycle parts and mechanical door closers. During World War II , Weihrauch continued production of spare parts for bicycles. Otto Weihrauch became

702-617: The Mark VII has been chambered for .41 Magnum. The barrels have a 3 ⁄ 8 in dovetail, to which an accessory mount can be attached. Later Mark VII models were offered in .50 Action Express with a 7 ⁄ 8 in Weaver-pattern rail on the barrel; the .50 Mark VII later became the Mark XIX. Barrel lengths are 6, 10, and 14 inches for .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum, but only 6 or 10 inches for .41 Magnum. The most recent model,

741-463: The Mark XIX, is available in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .429 DE (introduced in 2018) and .50 Action Express. This model comes in a variety of different finishes, such as brushed chrome or titanium gold . Magnum Research offered this model in .440 Cor-Bon caliber, a .50 AE derived case. There were fewer than 500 original .440 Cor-Bon Desert Eagles imported into U.S. in December 2000. These are marked by

780-559: The US as the Weihrauch HW 80 in a lower-power version with a more European-style stock). Due to delivery problems with the longer, more complex R1 stock, the first HW 80 rifles were available some weeks earlier than the R1. This led to the incorrect conclusion made by some that the R1 was a copy of the HW80. Almost the same thing happened with the introduction of the next Weihrauch air pistol,

819-473: The acquisition of Beeman Airguns by SR Industries, the HW 77 and HW 77 K were briefly marketed as the Marksman 60 and Marksman 61. The HW 35 was Weihrauch's first mass-market, high-powered, spring-powered sporter air rifle. However, with time, the HW 35 became technically obsolete as newer, more advanced air rifles entered the market. The HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were all designed as evolutionary replacements for

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858-408: The basic layout of the Desert Eagle. A second patent application was filed in December 1985, after the basic design had been refined by IMI Systems (Israel Military Industries) for production, and this is the form that went into production. The pistol is fired by a single-action hammer and has a manual safety switch on the slide. The ambidextrous safety switch rotates a drum mechanism that sits over

897-463: The case, until the case is free of the chamber and the tension from the ejector is released, causing the case to eject, breaking free of the extractor in the process. The slide reaches its rearmost position, and then moves forward again under the tension of the recoil springs. The bottom lug of the bolt pushes a new round into the chamber, then the bolt locks up and the gun can be fired again. The rotating bolt has three radial locking lugs (the fourth lug

936-465: The company's range, almost unchanged to this day, although no longer imported to the US by Beeman. The Rekord two stage trigger was first used at some point in the 1950s, likely around 1955, on either the HW 35 or HW 55. Both of these models were originally made with non-Rekord triggers, labelled as "Burgo". After Hermann Weihrauch, Jr. died in 1967, a new era in the company began under the leadership of Hans Weihrauch, Sr. The company celebrated 1970 with

975-422: The conclusion of World War II caused both companies to move. In January 2019, the former municipality Benshausen was integrated into Zella-Mehlis, expanding the town's jurisdiction. Zella-Mehlis is twinned with: This Schmalkalden-Meiningen location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Desert Eagle Mark XIX Mark XIX The Desert Eagle or simply Deagle

1014-427: The firing pin, causing the firing pin to lock in, which prevents it from moving forward and reduces the possibility of the gun discharging accidentally. With the safety off, pulling the trigger releases, allowing the hammer to fall downward, hitting the firing pin, and causing the chambered round to discharge. The Desert Eagle uses a gas-operated ejection and chambering mechanism normally found in rifles, as opposed to

1053-405: The gas release tap, preventing proper function. Switching a Desert Eagle to another chambering requires only that the correct barrel , bolt assembly , and magazine be installed. Thus, a conversion to fire other cartridges can be quickly accomplished. The rim diameter of the .50 AE (Action Express) is the same as the .44 Remington Magnum cartridge, consequently, only a barrel and magazine change

1092-415: The gases reach the cylinder, the piston pushes the slide rearward, with a large pin inside the camming surface in the rear of the bolt causing the bolt to rotate and unlock. A mechanism on the left side of the bolt prevents the bolt from rotating freely as the slide moves, forcing it to remain aligned correctly with the barrel while the breech is open. The spring-loaded ejector is continually being depressed by

1131-504: The introduction of the HW 70 air pistol. The company had begun plans, and first production, of a repeating air pistol before World War II, but the war aborted its regular production. Although pre-war HWZ sales literature shows an illustration of that thirty-shot top-lever spring piston air pistol, only one specimen of that HWZ LP-1 air pistol is now known. It had survived both the war and the Russian occupation by having safely gone overseas as

1170-642: The introduction of the Weihrauch HW 90 (the Beeman versions are the RX, RX-1 and RX-2). This was the first Weihrauch rifle using the patented Theoben gas-spring system. These new rifles sold very well in Great Britain and the United States for small-game hunting. The great optimism of that period of the company's development was dampened by the unexpected death of Hans Weihrauch, Sr. on 3 April 1990 aged 63. His business accomplishments were so admired that he

1209-574: The left, right and top sides of the barrel. All .44 Magnum barrels have flutes on the left and right side only, not on the top. The .50 AE barrels have no flutes. All current-production Mark XIX models except for the CA approved models have Weaver rails along the top of the barrels, as opposed to the Dovetail rails on previous models. Selected Mark XIX models have ported barrels or under-barrel picatinny rails. The DE44CA (Desert Eagle .44 Magnum California)

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1248-475: The manufacturing contract to Saco Defense , in Saco, Maine . In 1998, MRI moved manufacturing back to IMI, which later commercialized its small arms branch under the name Israel Weapon Industries . Since December 2009, the Desert Eagle pistol has been produced in the United States at MRI's Pillager, Minnesota , facility. Kahr Arms acquired Magnum Research in 2010. Magnum Research has marketed various versions of

1287-495: The number 440 on the left lower side of the barrel, in numerals twice the size of other calibers, and without the preceding period. A number of .44 Magnum barrels were re-chambered to produce .440 Corbon barrels, but these can be identified by the off-centered ".440" (with period) produced by adding the final 0 to the original barrel mark. Mark XIX barrels are available in 6-inch (150 mm) and 10-inch (250 mm) lengths only. All .357 Magnum barrels have exterior barrel flutes on

1326-487: The owners of the Weihrauch company and Beeman Precision Airguns led to an early joint venture between a German-based manufacturer and an American airgun distributor. After a period of importing Weihrauch-designed airguns, the Beemans had decided that they needed to introduce a German-made air rifle with American styling and features. They had determined that their main need for the American market, in addition to new styling,

1365-747: The suffixes used by Weihrauch for air rifles are as follows: [REDACTED] Media related to Weihrauch at Wikimedia Commons Zella-Mehlis Zella-Mehlis is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, located in Thuringia , Germany . It is situated in the scenic Thuringian Forest , approximately 5 km north of Suhl and 20 km east of Meiningen . The town was notably home to Walther and Anschütz , two of Germany's most notable firearm manufacturers, both of which were originally founded in Zella-Mehlis. They operated there until Soviet occupation of Eastern Germany at

1404-452: The youth market while versions of the HW 30 and HW 50 continued as solid mid-market air rifles. The HW 55 was one of Europe's leading barrel-cocking target rifles. The rather uncommon HW 55T version with its ornate Tyrolean-style stock, usually sporting walnut, has always been a favorite among offhand shooters and collectors. In 1951 they introduced a full size sporting air rifle, the HW35 which

1443-534: Was an increase in power. They had been very impressed with the quality of the long running HW 35, but puzzled by its power, which was lower than that of the Feinwerkbau Model 124, for which Beeman had developed a large market in the U.S. Based on their computer simulation studies, the Beemans proposed a rework of the HW 35. This cooperative development program resulted in the Beeman R1 (sold outside of

1482-671: Was posthumously decorated with the Federal Cross of Merit . His wife, Christel, and sons, Stefan and Hans-Hermann, took the reins of the company. Christel Weihrauch had shared the management of the firm for decades and the preparation of the two sons for their expected future management roles was well advanced. Both had been involved with the company all of their lives and had nearly finished their engineering and marketing training as well. Several variants were produced, with each variant defined by stock style. Production started in approximately 1955; all versions have been discontinued. Upon

1521-492: Was to become their most successful model and was the first to feature the famous Rekord two stage sporting trigger developed from the target trigger of the HW55T, a trigger design that remains across the range unchanged to this day. The HW35 also has a locking barrel catch and an automatic safety located at the rear of the cylinder, the HW35 was such a successful model that despite its relatively modest power output it still remains in

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