Desert Eagle: The Pop Culture Icon Nobody Uses - Loadout

A heavy duty hand cannon with an imposing title and a big bang to match, the Desert Eagle is one of the most famous handguns in history. It appears in hundreds of movies and games, from The Matrix to Call of Duty, Max Payne to Austin Powers, but despite its prominence in our favorite media, it is seldom seen in the real world. So how did a gun that sees almost no serious use get so much pop culture attention? 

In this episode of Loadout, Dave Jewitt visits the Royal Armouries to talk to Keeper of Firearms & Artillery Jonathan Ferguson to find out why the Desert Eagle might not be the all-conquering weapon that games and movies would have you believe. 

[willcharters]

For those bothered by the weight, just remember the words of Boris the Blade: "heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it does not work, you can always hit them with it"

[Foddeur]

I especially like the Desert Eagle's portrayal in The Matrix - it's a subtle way of portraying the inhuman nature of the Agents by constantly showing them firing the weapon single-handedly.

[Tarumarugan]

“They built it because they could”
That’s gotta be the best explanation of this gun

[BryantAvant]

Owned mine for almost 15 years and it's been a conversation piece far more times than it's been shot.

[PitFriend]

The Desert Eagle is also a LOT easier to use in a movie than in real life as well. Blanks have considerably less recoil than live rounds as they both have lower powder charges and more importantly not throwing a projectile down range.

[Beegrene]

The Deagle is the Hummer of handguns. Loud, flashy, expensive, far too big for its own good, and mostly used by villains.

[sassyviking]

Honestly it really makes sense being large, powerful, expensive, and less practical for it to have such a pop culture footprint. It really comes across as the ultimate status symbol firearm.

[allwheeler]

My wife picked one out. It’s a lot of fun to shoot. But the BEST part is- sharing it at the range. Watching people shoot it for the first time and watching their reactions is worth the $2 pull!

[jamescorrall]

anti-polar-bear sidearm in Svalbard just in case you forget your hunting rifle? That's be most concrete real world use I can think of

[American-Templar]

As a Desert Eagle owner I can can confirm that they are heavy (weigh nearly 5lbs unloaded), impractical, expensive ($1699 and up) and awkward to handle for newcomers. However they are a fun range toy and can definitely be used in a self defense role.

Granted you'd probably take care of the threat in front of you and who ever was unfortunate enough to be on the other side of the wall behind them. The 357 variant is probably the most practical in terms of cost (ammo) and actual utility.

Unless you've got an out break of bears, T-rex, tigers (the tank) or the sudden urge to to dislocate your wrist whilst taking down that pesky government satellite.

[garethwilkins]

Bullet tooth tony is one of my favorite movie characters. His "Desert Eagle point five oh." Was iconic.

[yougbuck]

Imagine James Bond on a sneaky stealthy hideout mission pulling out desert eagle out of nowhere

[michaeldiaz]

It's definitely a hand gun that everyone would want if they have a gun collection but being the go to gun to shoot at the range is another story entirely.

[BloodDracolich]

As the proud owner of a desert eagle 50ae, I'm happy to say that I love it and is my most favorite possession that I own. But that being said, I can also attest to the fact that it is slow, heavy, and thus inaccurate (certainly at least if you don't have the strength and grip to steady it). Another problem with it that is rarely mentioned (a fact rarely covered with any gun) is the fact that it's high maintenance. I say that because I made the rookie mistake of not cleaning the thing for a while after using it and found out the hard way that if a gun gets too much powder in it, it can rust all the parts and lock it, which is especially bad considering that desert eagle has to be a pretty well tuned in order to handle all that power. But I managed to get it fixed and I'm happy to say it's working again, but I have come to say from experience though that it is certainly not a gun for everybody. Me on the other hand, I liked it for its power and appearance; and if power comes with a price this is one of those times I gladly paid it.

[StatutoryGrape]

After all these years of playing halo, I never put it together that the ce pistol was supposed to be a deagle. But it totally makes sense, now i won't be able to unsee it haha.

[finnmeister]

I always remember this gun from the boardroom scene in "Robocop". It was originally going to be used as Robo's sidearm, but they decided it wasn't big enough.

[icyknightmare]

3:30 Fun trivia: The M6D in Halo CE was directly inspired by the desert eagle, but because Bungie loves the number 7, they chambered their super pistol in 12.7x40mm by adding 7 to the 12.7x33mm .50 AE. S&W would later come out with a 12.7x41mm cartridge, which is the closest real approximation. If there's ever been a 12.7x41mm self loading handgun, I've never heard of it.

[adamp]

One of my dad's friends brought one of these to the range when I was a kid. It was like holding a 2x4. The grip is huge. It has to be in order for the magazine to hold magnum cartridges.

[qaryoko]

I have the chrome plated .44 magnum...another thing people don't realize, is just how heavy it is when it is fully loaded. Its hard to hold and aim for more than a few seconds with one hand. That is why you need to shoot it with two.

[godwarrior]

The gun's a novelty. A great one. People get it to say "I'm a big fan of big guns, " not "This will serve me the best."