Additional Swiss Arms 941 (Non-blowback) Air Pistol Photos

History behind the firearm that inspired the Swiss Arms 941 Air Pistol

The Jericho 941 is a double-action/single-action semi-automatic pistol developed by Israel Military Industries (now: Israel Weapon Industries) that was launched in 1990. It was first imported into the US in 1990 by K.B.I., Inc. of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was later imported by O.F. Mossberg & Sons and named the Uzi Eagle and by Magnum Research, Inc. as the Baby Eagle until the end of 2008. Some pistols from Magnum Research are marked Desert Eagle Pistol.

Despite these names being used in the US market, the Jericho 941 is not related to the IMI Desert Eagle other than its manufacture and design by IMI, and bears only a slight cosmetic resemblance to the larger pistol. From January 2009 until they ceased business in January 2010, K.B.I., Inc. (which also imported Charles Daly firearms) imported the handgun as the Jericho. Magnum Research, now a division of Kahr Arms, announced a renewed importation of the Jericho. In December 2014, IWI US, Inc. announced they would begin importing both the steel and polymer versions of the Jericho 941 in early 2015.

The Jericho 941 is issued in current service throughout the Israeli Security Forces, and Israel Weapon Industries lost a 1.2 Billion Pesos bid for the Philippine National Police's 60,000 handgun procurement on July 11, 2012.

Design Details

The original Jericho 941 was modeled on the well-respected CZ-75 pistol designed and produced by Česká zbrojovka (CZ) of the Czech Republic and built using parts supplied by the Italian arms house Tanfoglio, which had been making their own CZ-75 clones. Using a well-tested design allowed IMI to avoid the teething problems most new pistol designs experience, and subcontracting much of the basic fabrication work to Tanfoglio allowed IMI to quickly and economically put into production a pistol that would have enough Israeli content to satisfy government contract requirements.

While the R-versions of Jericho 941 feature a combined safety/decocker (the decocking lever also acts as a safety and remains on "safe" when actuated), the decocker version of the CZ-75 (CZ-75BD) features a simple decocker (the pistol is always ready to fire in double-action mode when decocked). The barrel of the CZ-75 is traditionally rifled, while the Jericho 941 features a polygonal barrel, furthermore the Jericho 941 is substantially heavier. These differences translate into substantial differences in the condition in which the gun is carried. Magazines for the CZ-75 and Tanfoglio T95 will function in the Jericho 941.

One innovation by IMI was a new, much "hotter" cartridge, the .41 Action Express (see below) to go along with the Jericho 941. The difference between 9mm and .41 AE is the same as .44 Magnum and .50 AE. The AE cartridges have rebated rims which are the same diameter as the less powerful rounds, but the case is wider, providing more power. This allows these pairs of calibers to be used in the same firearm with only a change of barrel, recoil spring and magazine.

The .41 AE was less commercially successful than the 10 mm, and was soon discontinued. Experience with heavily loaded rounds gave IMI a considerable lead, however, in chambering for the soon-to-be successful .40 S&W and also allowed the Jericho to "up-chamber" to the very popular .45 ACP. The Jericho 941 design has been modified to include accessory rails on the frame for mounting lasers or flashlights, a feature found on many current-generation semi-automatic handguns.