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There is nothing diminutive about the Magnum Research Baby Desert Eagle (aka Baby Eagle), the hammer-fired DA/SA semi-automatic pistol available in 9 mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP calibers. It’s actually now the third generation Baby Eagle III, and as such, it adapts some of the company’s larger Desert Eagle features.

The Baby Desert Eagle III uses the same magazines as the Baby Eagle II. The designers thought to include a four-slot accessory rail below the muzzle, make the magazine catch reversible, include an ambidextrous decocker atop the back of the slide, and incorporate a 6-groove match barrel with a right-hand twist. The trigger pull has been refined to be smoother than before. The Baby Eagle III can be had in either a steel or polymer frame. In either guise, it has a nice matte black finish.

Compared to the Baby Eagle II, the new Baby Eagle’s slide is further cut down. The carbon steel frame has a square corner on the trigger guard’s front, but inside is a perfect racetrack oval and a beautifully designed crescent trigger. The Baby Eagle IIIs have low-profile three white dot fixed sights dovetailed into the slide.

The trigger is double-action/single-action (DA/SA). Trigger pull is 4 pounds for SA and 12 pounds for DA.

The full-size carbon steel gun’s barrel is 4.43”, height is 5.375”, slide width is 1.31” and overall length is 8.0”. The steel-frame .45 ACP weighs 35.8 ounces while the 9 mm and .40 S&W both weigh 38 ounces.

Interestingly, the polymer frames are not only a different material, but they have different grip designs. Eschewing the straight verticals of the steel frame’s front face, the semi-compact polymer gun has three deep finger recesses with horizontal stippling and three corresponding contours on the grip sides. One last difference: you can’t get .45 ACP in the polymer frames.

The grip has vertical serrations in front and horizontal ones in back with nice texturizing on the side panels in between.

The full-size polymer version has the same 4.43” barrel. However, height is 5.75”, width is 1.53”, overall length is 8.375 and weight is 28.6 ounces for both models.

There is also a companion semi-compact frame Baby Eagle. It is essentially the same except in its dimensions. The semi-compact has a 3.85” long barrel. In steel frame guise, it has a 5.375” height, 1.31” width and 7.5” overall length. The.45 ACP weighs 34.2 ounces while the 9 mm and .40 S&W both weigh 35 ounces.

The polymer semi-compact frame gun has the same 3.85". Height is 5.75”, width is 1.53” and overall length is 7.825”. The 9 mm weighs 26.3 and .40 S&W weighs 25.0 ounces.

Regardless of frame material or size, each Baby Eagle III comes standard with two magazines. Each caliber can be had with a pair of 10-round magazines. The various 9 mm models also have a two 15-round magazine option while the various .40 S&W have a two 12-round option.

These guns are Made in Israel by BUL Ltd.

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