Many have already heard of the CZ 75, one of the most successful and copied handgun designs from the other side of the globe. CZ continues to make these pistols in a dizzying array of variations, anywhere from the tactical minded SP-01 to the colorful “Czechmate Parrot.” Yet, out of all of the Czech guns and clones there had always been one copy of the 75 series which spoke to me above the others. The one 75 to rule them all. This month I’ll be taking a deeper dive into the IMI/IWI Jericho, my favorite mutt of the 75 universe.
There’s a lot to get into with the Jericho but I’ll start with an explanation of its “mutt” status. The Jericho isn’t a true clone of the CZ but a sort of clone of CZ clones. It still uses springs from the 75 but some of its internal components are compatible with a different CZ clone, the Tanfoglio Witness pistols imported under EAA.
Magazines are … well to be honest I’m still working this one out for myself. I believe they’re also Tanfoglio compatible. Some online posters claimed a CZ 75B magazine would work in a Jericho, particularly the extended capacity ones made by Mec-Gar. This might be true but a flush fit 17 round Mec-Gar with metal baseplate didn’t agree with my example at all. The mag catch was positioned a little too low and the mag body was slightly shorter than a proper Jericho mag.
The earlier Jerichos which lack a frame accessory rail have been gaining popularity due to Israeli police issued surplus coming into the American market for several years and these guns have even more quirks. There’s the lanyard loop, an alteration which makes the “magazine brake pin” have a larger 1/8″ diameter over the CZ 75’s smaller pin. The Tanfoglio might be compatible here, I’m not sure! After a few failed attempts I ended up custom fitting a metal pin from a KelTec shotgun onto mine. These trade-in versions were also converted to single action only, many having special triggers which are designed to not go to full reset like the double action ones. Sure you can drop a double action trigger in there and it’ll work fine but any time you aren’t putting pressure on the trigger it will reset way forward, creating the world’s longest length of travel. Honestly it’s kind of funny.
Then again, you could always pick up two parts from the net and convert it back to double action. Or, I hear there are Tanfoglio single action only triggers which will work. Or you could take a standard CZ trigger and try drilling out the top pin hole to the correct diameter…
The earlier IMI marked guns use typical CZ 75 sights. This changed with the IWI rebrand which switched to a Novak style of sight which makes it far more difficult to find replacements. Perhaps the dovetail pattern is shared with other Novak sights? I don’t know yet. All I’ve found so far are newer Meprolight night sights which match the original style.
Trying to work on a Jericho is an interesting bag of unherded cats, for sure.
The Jericho had also suffered quite an identity crisis back in the day. First, the “941” comes from its original chamberings of both 9mm and with a factory barrel swap to chamber what had been a brand new .41 Action Express. Think of it like a different spin on the .40 S&W/.357 Sig which was vastly less popular. The upshot is that by having a gun which was made from the start to take a hotter cartridge it means these all steel handguns are over-built for a strict diet of 9mm, a fact you can tell by feeling the weight of these metal bodied Jerichos.
Besides being marked as both IMI (Israeli Military Industries) and later IWI (Israeli Weapon Industries,) the Jericho has also gone as the “Baby Eagle” and “Baby Desert Eagle” (or just the “Desert Eagle”) by Magnum Research (which had been part of IMI back in the day) and as the UZI “Eagle” for a short time, depending upon who was originally importing them into the States. Calling it a Desert Eagle isn’t such a huge stretch, either. Look closely at the frame and slide profile of the earlier Jericho guns. They do bear a lot of resemblance to the gas powered magnums! Especially the “R” series Jerichos with a slide mounted ambi safety/decocker rather than the “F” series which indicate a frame mounted safety.
I believe the F series uses a Tanfoglio safety, too. Get out your Bingo cards.
These days IWI still makes the Jericho 941 in both steel and polymer framed versions and with a few variations of barrel and grip length, plus a newer “Jericho Enhanced.” Chamberings include 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. I couldn’t begin to keep up with the types of finishes the Jerichos could be found in. Earlier versions seem to either be a satin chrome or some kind of black paint which was likely over a phosphate coating. I’ve seen very few examples in polished chrome and titanium nitride but I wonder if these might have been Baby Eagles which had gone through the custom shop much like the special finishes on Desert Eagles.
Earlier guns had chromed and polygonally rifled barrels while examples made after 2020 utilize button rifled nitrided barrels. Grip patterns are shared between Jerichos, Eagles, and Baby Desert Eagles, but not with CZ or Tanfoglio models.
Comparing the grip angle to the CZ’s the Jericho series might seem a little awkward, though honestly I think I like the Jerichos better once the (frankly awful) smooth polymer factory grips are swapped out. Once again I really have to give credit to LOK Grips, they make a variety of G10 replacements which are fantastic and help slim down an otherwise somewhat wide grip. Some minor fitting may be required though, as I quickly discovered.
Of course, I couldn’t write about the 941 without mentioning one of the platform’s biggest claims to fame. Not being an anime fan, I unexpectedly got into a series called “Cowboy Bebop” almost twenty years ago where one of the main characters, Spike Spiegel, carried an IMI Jericho 941 R as his primary sidearm. For many this had been their introduction to the gun from a series popular enough to spawn a recent live action Netflix series (sadly only one season long) and Bebop inspired grip options from LOK. In fact, if not for my excitement of seeing the Jericho being used in that series I may not have ever given the show a try.
Shooting an all steel Jericho is both wonderful and painful, but there’s a simple reason here. The all steel construction soaks up recoil and keeps the muzzle end down while the polygonal rifling in particular makes these guns dead nuts accurate. The problem is the trigger. Now, I like a nice curved trigger but CZ 75 and clones often have a habit of taking it to the extreme and the single action only converted 941’s are no exception. Really, all you need to do is drop in a new trigger and the problem magically goes away. CZ seems to have recognized this themselves as most newer 75 variants have more traditionally shaped triggers. The Shadow 2 in particular has one of the best production triggers I’ve ever felt in both single and double action, all with zero pain to the index finger.
For direct replacements of a Jericho trigger, Tanfoglio offers a few options of single action only triggers for around a hundred dollars. If you want to go the double action route then check out Cajun Gun Works for an IWI Jericho specific trigger which I can personally attest feels worlds better to shoot. The overtravel set screw was kind of a mess however between being too loose, far too long, and striking the inside of the frame at a very sharp angle that it began chipping away the original finish. It’ll run fine without this screw installed.
Depending on the options (condition, finish, barrel length, etc) these guns are still being imported in batches and can be picked up without spending a lot of money. If you’d prefer a frame mounted accessory rail then I think the newly made IWI Jericho 941’s are probably the most affordable all steel handgun you can buy which shoots far above its class. Regardless if new or used, the best way to get the most out of a Jericho is to hunt down some parts and swap them out but due to the complexities of parts compatibility and availability the 941s are more for an enthusiast. In addition, from what I’ve read they can be very difficult to find holsters for. Despite how well they run a lot of competitive shooters seem to pass on the Jerichos and go straight for purebred CZ 75’s.
As they come I find the Jericho 941 to be an awesome gun at a great price, though if you put a little more into a better trigger and grips these guns are immediately elevated to amazing. While the Sig P226 Elite may still be my favorite hammer-fired handgun ever, I’m thinking a very close second place may well be an oldschool 941 F. Playing into both the Desert Eagle angle and its ties to anime I’ve started affectionately calling mine the “Desert Spiegel.”
Easy come, easy go.
