Kahr Arms Acquires Magnum Research (Desert Eagle Maker)

Kahr Arms has acquired firearms manufacturer, Magnum Research, Inc., of Minnesota. Magnum Research, founded in 1979, is best known for its super-sized big-bore Desert Eagle pistol, but it also sells a 1911-style pistol, compact “Baby” and “Micro” Desert Eagle carry pistols, BFR revolvers, and the Mountain Eagle™ MagnumLite® line of rifles. The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the USA, and manufactured primarily in Israel by IWI (Israel Weapon Industries, formerly Israel Military Industries, IMI). The Baby Eagle is based on the CZ75 design, updated by IWI.

Kahr Arms currently sells mostly striker-fired semi-automatic pistols, aimed primarily at the personal defense and concealed carry markets. The acquisition of Magnum Research gives Kahr a line of traditional hammer-fired pistols and revolvers. Now Kahr can also expand into the hunting and varminting markets with the Mountain Eagle series of rifles. These feature carbon-wrapped barrels fitted to “custom-tuned” Rem 700 actions in H-S Precision or Hogue stocks. The MSRP on Mountain Eagle rifles is $2173.00 — that’s expensive compared to a factory Remington, but the price is half what Christensen Arms charges for similar rifles with carbon-wrapped barrels. No doubt Kahr hopes to steal some of Christensen’s customers.