Magnum Research Inc. (MRI) is a privately held corporation based in Fridley, Minnesota which manufactures and distributes firearms. The majority owners, Jim Skildum (President and CEO) and John Risdall (Chairman and COO), have been with the company since its founding in 1979.
MRI was responsible for the design and development of the Desert Eagle pistol. The design was refined and the actual pistols were manufactured by Israel Military Industries until 1995, when MRI shifted the manufacturing contract to Saco Defense in Saco, Maine. In 2000 MRI moved manufacturing back to IMI, which later reorganized under the name Israel Weapon Industries. Both Saco and IMI/IWI were strictly contractors: all of the intellectual property, including patents, copyrights and trademarks are the property of Magnum Research.
MRI offers custom gunsmithing services and has a line of guns that are coated with titanium nitride in artful patterns and designs. The newest TiN coated gun comes in a "Tiger Stripe" pattern which was developed by Molecular Metallurgy Inc.
Magnum Research imported the IMI/IWI Jericho 941 series of pistols under the Baby Eagle name until the end of 2008. Currently, the Baby Eagle name is used on a new series of striker-fired polymer-framed pistols. For a time they also imported the Barak SP-21 pistol, but it is no longer offered. Other products include the BFR series of single-action magnum revolvers, the Mountain Eagle rifle, Magnum Lite rifle, and Micro Desert Eagle.
