Desert Eagle .44 Mk1 Weird markings on slide

Snek123 · April 19, 2025, 05:57 AM

Hello,

Ive bought an old MK1 Desert Eagle .44 and everything seems OK but on the right side of the slide, where all other guns have the markings "Magnum Research Inc. Minneapolis Minn." and below that "Made in Israel" my gun only has "Made in Israel" which is more forward placed than on other guns and the "Magnum research..." markings that is on top of that on other guns is missing completely. When asking AI prompt Ive been told some guns came like this, especially early Israeli Mk1 models maybe some special contracts or guns that were not meant for export to the US. S/N is around 27xxx.

Any ideas? Thank you.

dogtown tom · April 19, 2025, 02:51 PM

Who, when and where the gun was made dictates the markings.
From Wikipedia:
"....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 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.[5] Kahr Arms acquired Magnum Research in 2010."

ATF regs require both manufacturers name and location be marked and if imported, the US importers name, city, state. It is not unusual for the importers markings to be tiny and located in odd places on the firearm.

Simpsons Ltd will even engrave inside the mag well.

Snek123 · April 19, 2025, 02:53 PM

In conclusion, my gun is legit original state and is probably one of the few on the market, that werent imported to the US, hence the missing markings?

dogtown tom · April 19, 2025, 02:54 PM

Well, if you are holding it, it WAS imported to the US.

Edited to add:
No importer mark doesn't mean much. It not uncommon to have the US importer miss a few.
And some importers will have the same name as the manufacturer.

Snek123 · April 19, 2025, 03:04 PM

Im not in the US friend, im in EU ;-)

**Mal H** · April 19, 2025, 10:24 PM

That information would have been useful from the beginning.

**44 AMP** · April 19, 2025, 10:37 PM

Any ideas?

Possibly, your gun wasn't made for, or imported into the United States.
or
possibly the lack of the importer line is the result of a mistake. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Third possibility, extremely unlikely, is that the gun has a replacement slide, and lacks the importer line because US law does not require it on parts.

US law requires the maker or importer's name and address (city/state for the importers) marked on the gun. Its been the law since 1968.

Personally I would go with the first choice, the gun was never meant to be imported into the US, and so wasn't marked the way US law required.

I have a .44 Mag Desert Eagle (not marked as a "Mark I", none of them were, mark I was the name given the original guns after later developments).

My gun has Magnum Research Inc Minneapolis MINN on the right side with Made In Israel under that.

My gun is ser#24xxx bought new in Feb 1990.

(for $650 which was spendy at the time)

Skans · April 21, 2025, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dogtown tom

Who, when and where the gun was made dictates the markings.
From Wikipedia:
"....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 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.[5] Kahr Arms acquired Magnum Research in 2010."

ATF regs require both manufacturers name and location be marked and if imported, the US importers name, city, state. It is not unusual for the importers markings to be tiny and located in odd places on the firearm.

Simpsons Ltd will even engrave inside the mag well.

This is great information. I didn't know the extensive history of the DE.

April 19, 2025, 02:54 PM	#4
dogtown tom Senior Member Join Date: January 23, 2006 Location: Plano, Texas Posts: 3,221	Well, if you are holding it, it WAS imported to the US. Edited to add: No importer mark doesn't mean much. It not uncommon to have the US importer miss a few. And some importers will have the same name as the manufacturer. __________________ Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers) Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE

April 19, 2025, 10:37 PM	#7
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 30,350	welcome to TFL Any ideas? Possibly, your gun wasn't made for, or imported into the United States. or possibly the lack of the importer line is the result of a mistake. Unlikely, but not impossible. Third possibility, extremely unlikely, is that the gun has a replacement slide, and lacks the importer line because US law does not require it on parts. US law requires the maker or importer's name and address (city/state for the importers) marked on the gun. Its been the law since 1968. Personally I would go with the first choice, the gun was never meant to be imported into the US, and so wasn't marked the way US law required. I have a .44 Mag Desert Eagle (not marked as a "Mark I", none of them were, mark I was the name given the original guns after later developments). My gun has Magnum Research Inc Minneapolis MINN on the right side with Made In Israel under that. My gun is ser#24xxx bought new in Feb 1990. (for $650 which was spendy at the time) __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

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April 19, 2025, 02:51 PM	#2
dogtown tom Senior Member Join Date: January 23, 2006 Location: Plano, Texas Posts: 3,221	Who, when and where the gun was made dictates the markings. From Wikipedia: "....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 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.[5] Kahr Arms acquired Magnum Research in 2010." ATF regs require both manufacturers name and location be marked and if imported, the US importers name, city, state. It is not unusual for the importers markings to be tiny and located in odd places on the firearm. Simpsons Ltd will even engrave inside the mag well. __________________ Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers) Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE

April 19, 2025, 02:53 PM	#3
Snek123 Junior Member Join Date: December 19, 2022 Posts: 3	In conclusion, my gun is legit original state and is probably one of the few on the market, that werent imported to the US, hence the missing markings?

April 19, 2025, 03:04 PM	#5
Snek123 Junior Member Join Date: December 19, 2022 Posts: 3	Im not in the US friend, im in EU ;-)

April 19, 2025, 10:24 PM	#6
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 17,063	That information would have been useful from the beginning.