Gun Review: IWI Jericho 941 ‘Desert Eagle’

“See you space cowboy,” – My friend the weeb. Listen, I don’t love anime, but anime delivered me a Jericho 941 pistol through a convoluted path. Well, it helped provide the review. My friend is a fan of Cowboy Bebop, where the main character wields a Jericho pistol. He’s enough of a fan of that show — and of guns — that he purchased a Jericho pistol, and kindly let me borrow it for this review.

As a CZ 75 fan, the Jericho series of pistols have always interested me. Like many, the Israelis sought to copy the famed CZ 75 series as they produced domestic firearms. The Jericho 941 series uses the DA/SA action and utilizes CZ 75 magazines. The Jericho series serves in both police and security roles in Israel and has also been exported in significant numbers.

At the cost of some ammo, I was happy to borrow this model for test and review. This particular model comes from IWI and is an older import gun. The Jericho series of firearms is a bit odd for a number of reasons. First, there are various models of the Jericho in different configurations with a variety of different names that do not always correspond to the different configurations.

The Weird World of the Jericho 941

The Jericho 941 moniker exists because original Jericho pistols were imported in 9mm and a new caliber called 41 Action Express.

Users could convert their IWI Jericho 941 pistols to 41 Action Express with little effort. 41 Action Express came to be right around the time the 10mm and 40 S&W crazes kicked off. It was a hot little cartridge that didn’t last long. These days the conversion kits and ammo go for a premium when found. These days the Jericho pistols come in all major calibers, and mine is a 9mm variant.

IWI sought to capitalize on the famed Desert Eagle name, and in the form of real-life SEO, they labeled Jericho pistols as Desert Eagles, and this model wears the Desert Eagle moniker. Other Jerichos are known as the Baby Eagle and the Uzi Eagle, but they are all the same gun. Jericho pistols come in a variety of sizes, including full size, compact, and subcompact. This is a full-sized model.

Other Jerichos feature polymer frames and the current crop of polymer frame Jerichos are made in Israel but sold by Magnum Research. Magnum Research also sells a steel frame model.

The Bul Storm and Cherokee are Jericho pistols by another name as well. As you can see, lots of people produce lots of Jerichos in various configurations. Heck, someone made a single 40 S&W variant that was Glock 19 size for one reason or another. If yours is different from mine, it’s to be expected.

Is Second Place Okay?

Personally, to me, this is the second-best Jericho 941 pistol on the market. The current production IWI pistols are the best models. They feature a steel frame, a rail, and a frame-mounted safety. Second best isn’t bad, and ultimately this is a rather nice pistol.

This particular model wears a rail and a slide-mounted safety, as well as its all metal frame. Original Jericho’s lacked a rail and utilized a frame-mounted safety. I think the polymer frame pistols look terrible, and the simplistic steel frame gives the gun an elegant look. That being said, the polymer frame guns reportedly perform very well.

Ergonomics

The steel frame Jericho 941 is a beast weight-wise, and according to my kitchen scale it weighs 37 ounces unloaded. The CZ 75 inspired grip is absolutely wonderful and fits my hand perfectly. The massive beavertail allows for a nice high grip, and the gun’s rather thick but comfy. The simple rubber grips don’t add much traction to the gun, but it works well enough.

The thick grip makes it quite a reach to the gun’s magazine release. My big hands make it work, but I’m betting those with average to small hands will struggle.

Like the CZ 75, the Jericho’s slide is mounted inside the frame, and therefore the slide is quite small. Like the CZ 75, this can make it tricky to rack the pistol and put it into action if you’re used to the big slides most pistols pack.

The slide-mounted safety isn’t the most ergonomic option for one-handed manipulations or small hands. This safety also doubles as a decocker and allows you to manipulate the slide with the safety on. Personally, I’d just carry safety off, hammer down if this was my gun.

Admittedly the slide-mounted safety works nicely when combined with the tiny slide. That ambidextrous safety provides wings to make working the slide a bit easier. Speaking of, the slide of the Jericho 941 glides rearward wonderfully. Like it’s on ball bearings, and it’s a very enjoyable experience.

To The Range With the Jericho 941

Since it takes CZ 75 magazines, it’s easy to find compatible options. From 26 round extended to the more tame 15, 17, and 19 rounders. The gun came with a 15 round magazine, but every CZ 75 option I had fit and functioned fine. At the range, I started with some slow fire to familiarize myself.

Recoil on the Jericho 941 is extremely pleasant. It barely moves rearward with minimal muzzle rise. The smaller slide means less mass racing back at you, so this creates less felt recoil. Also, the over two pounds of steel helps take some bite out of the 124 grain 9mm we were blasting off with. This particular model had a well-worn trigger that was also best described as pleasant.

The double-action trigger was surprisingly light. It’s not custom good, but close to it, almost like the Ruger LCR type trigger. It’s better than my CZ 75.

Oh man, the single action is brilliant. Super light, really touchy, but ultimately very nice. It’s 1911-like with the main difference being a slightly longer reset.

As you’d imagine, the light trigger and low recoil made this gun very pleasant to fire rapidly and also very easy to fire rapidly and accurately. Accuracy wise we were initially concerned the gun kept hitting far to the left, too far to be a slight skill mistake at ten yards. After an examination, we realized the previous owner drove the rear sight quite far to the left.

With a little Kentucky windage, we figured it out, and I dropped a nice headshot group at 25 yards. It’s plenty accurate, and it makes me want to get a Jericho 941 and mill it for an optic.

Ticking Away

Between the two of us, we dumped 600 rounds through the gun as we baked in the hot Florida sun. It was all FMJ. He brought an ammo can that was a bit of a hodgepodge of ammo, and I brought 124 grain Browning value packs. The gun and both of us got nice and hot, but it never mattered. Even with ProMag brand CZ 75 magazines, it ran fine.

The only issue came from a round clearly seated too far into the case. We took it out of the ammo can and knew it might be an issue. As you’d imagine, it didn’t feed, so we moved on. Ultimately my friend was quite pleased with his Jericho 941 purchase, and now it’s driven me to want my own. However, I plan to get the latest production model and wear that trigger in myself.

It’s a fantastic pistol that’s sadly underrated in a polymer frame marketplace. If you like the CZ 75 style pistol, then you’ll like the Jericho 941 series of pistols. If you’re a DA/SA fan, then you’ll like these guns. If you’re a striker-fired fella or gal, then it’s not gonna be the pistol to convince you to fix yourself.

Specifications: 

Caliber – 9mm
Weight – 37 ounces
Length – 8.2 inches
Barrel Length – 4.4 inches
Capacity – 16 rounds
MSRP – $655.00 (New models form IWI)

Ratings (Out of Five Stars)

Accuracy * * * * 
It’s an easy shooting gun, and it’s easy to get rounds where you want them to be consistently and with speed. It’s no Czechmate, but for a duty-grade pistol, the Jericho 941 provides plenty in the accuracy department. (Although my friend needs a sight pusher.)

Ergonomics * * * 
For me, the ergonomics are perfectly suitable. I have big hands, though, and even then, some of the controls feel a little far to reach. Also, not a huge fan of slide-mounted safety.

Reliability * * * * *
Not a single reason to hate on it. Even with a variety of mags from a variety of companies, it fed, fired, and functioned without issue.

Overall * * * * 
I really enjoyed this pistol. I’m the “gun guy” in my friend group, so I handle a variety of pistols purchased by friends. This has been the first time one has driven me to go on the prowl for my own variant. Now I just gotta navigate the weird world of Jericho pistols.