"Ask the Rabbi" by R. Mermelstein
QUESTION: Dear Rabbi
Mermelstein:
Just this evening I much enjoyed a TV program on the History
Channel covering Israeli small arms development. I would be inclined to
buy an Israeli weapon as a gesture of support (as I might buy an
Israeli car if they made one).
But, I have been disappointed by reports about unreliability, as well
as basic design problems (such as too heavy). The overall impression I
get is that IMI is manufacturing these weapons on more or less a trial
and error basis.
I watched the IMI factory video (on the program I just mentioned) and
can imagine that the same self supporting can-do attitude in Israel may
also be the explanation of why the weapons are somewhat unreliable. The
factory (recent footage) did have a small scale look to it, with what
appeared to be individual work on each weapon, as opposed to mass
production processes.
Reliability is a relative term. But when it comes to weapons, I become very conservative. Reliability is the number one issue.
I read a comment on a site. A person bought a Baby Eagle. He was about
as loyal to IMI as I can imagine possible. He explained that he fired
100 rounds through his weapon and it then jammed. He did some unjamming
and fired another 150 rounds through it, whereupon it became jammed
beyond unjamming by him.
He cheerfully continued to praise the weapon's accuracy, while
mentioning that he was going to have to find a specialist to make the
gun shoot.
In my way of thinking, a personal security weapon MUST fire. Forget
about accuracy, that is far down the hierarchy of gun needs. This
person's experience and his reaction to it, if true, is a pretty
amazing example of irrational loyalty to a brand -- or perhaps to
Israel. Nothing wrong with loyalty to Israel, of course, but a gun that
doesn't shoot?
Perhaps as a Rabbi and gun enthusiast, you have some comments on this. Thanks.
E Brooks
20 August 2004
ANSWER: Dear Mr. Brooks,
Anything manufactured in Israel, just as the country itself, is
continually being made on a trial and error basis. I found this to be
the case with Israeli household electrical appliances, both large and
small, too. Nobody will die if a steam iron quits at an inconvenient
moment, though, and the point is not lost on IMI. The Desert Eagle
series of gas-operated pistols was never designed for combat. My
brother-in-law, residing, working, and the father of a family in
Israel, is a reservist in the Israeli Defense Force. He tells me that
the IDF doesn't even issue sidearms to commissioned officers. If an
officer wants a handgun he must buy it with his own money. From this
information we can correctly deduce that any handgun made in Israel is designed for export as sporting equipment. See http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Israeli%20Military%20Industries
. There it states, "In the 1980's IMI subcontracted an American
firearms designer Magnum Research. Magnum Research is a company known
to manufacture very powerful, luxury- and lifestyle-oriented handguns
(both pistols and revolvers) under the Magnum brand. The power of
Magnum guns generally makes them unsuited for combat use. They are
mostly used as status toys, admired for their design. The result was
the Desert Eagle. The Desert Eagles a semi-automatic, gas-operated
pistol that is manufactured in Israel by IMI (Israeli Military
Industries) for Magnum Research, Inc. Magnum Research, based in the
USA, developed and patented the original Desert Eagle design, but the
refining was done by IMI. There are three different versions of the
Desert Eagle: the Mark I, Mark VII, and Mark XIX. The Mark I is no
longer produced, but was available in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. The
Mark VII is currently available in .44 Magnum, with .357 Magnum and .41
Magnum chamberings no longer being produced. The most recent, the Mark
XIX, is available in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .50 Action Express, a
very, very powerful, but somewhat impractical, handgun made famous by
Hollywood and First Person Shooters."
Nobody with any experience using a Desert Eagle pistol would consider
it a viable carry weapon even if it were reliable. It may be fun to
shoot at the range in spite of its bowling ball ergonomics. As a
hunting handgun, however, the requirement to clean it every fifty
rounds is not unreasonable.
As you already understand, there is no need to compromise your safety
by using a self-defense tool that falls short of 100% reliability even
if some of the money is funneled back into the Israeli economy that is
now in a state of depression due to the dramatic collapse of the
tourism industry.
Look elsewhere for handgun reliability. John Moses Browning got it
right. So did Gaston Glock. I wouldn't want my gravestone to read, "He
gave his life for the Israeli economy."
Sincerely,
R. Mermelstein
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