Magnum Research, the Minnesota-based company that most notably gave the world the Desert Eagle pistols in .44 Mag and .50 AE, has introduced a new pistol bearing the Desert Eagle name. This one is a bit more traditional, a bit more familiar-looking. That’s right—it’s the Desert Eagle 1911.

“What? A new 1911? How radical!” Yeah, okay, there are a bunch of them on the market, but is that ever a bad thing? When I think of the 1911, I think of Acapulco’s cliff divers. They always execute the swan dive—always. Why? Because it’s classic, effective and—arguably—perfectible.

A design that’s been around for almost 100 years has pretty much had most of the bugs worked out of it. Of course, once a gun’s been around that long, tinkerers have often inserted a few new bugs into it.

Magnum Research, which was recently purchased by Kahr Arms, will introduce two sizes of the new pistol this year: a 5-inch Government Model-sized gun dubbed the Desert Eagle 1911 “G” and an approximately Commander-length version called the Desert Eagle 1911 “C.” We received one of the former for test and evaluation.

Gun Details
The first thing you notice about the Israeli-made pistol is its good looks. It has a matte finish of black oxide. The high sweep beavertail grip safety, though, is polished and left “in the white” for contrast. It’s an unusual but not an unappealing decision. It matches well with the three-hole aluminum trigger and the shiny, exposed steel of the grip screws, muzzle and recoil spring plug.

The grips are visually pleasing, too. They appear to be cocobolo and are checkered in the double-diamond pattern. The aforementioned screws holding them in place are Allen heads; a good choice for those concerned about scratching the nice wood.