My BIL recently did some work and as partial payment received this DE in 40SW. He is not much of a pistol guy and I don't know much about the DE. Can someone give me a rundown on this pistol.

It's actually a Baby Eagle AKA Jericho. My first handgun purchase was a full sized .45. They're good to go. Some people hate the slide safety, but I don't have any issue with it.

Thats a baby DE. I have one in 9mm. Based off CZ-75 design and should accept those mags. Its a simple and rock solid design. One of my more accurate and favorite handguns.

Not a Desert Eagle; but a Jericho 941.

Its a Baby Eagle, or Jerico 941.

It's a Jewish CZ 75, so its good to go. I believe that those use CZ magazines, too.

Any idea the age of this pistol? First 4 of the SN are 9930.

Its kosher

Either an IWI/IMI or BUL derivative from the 941.

It's a Tanfoglio, not CZ, clone.

That's a cold blooded baby killer.

Indeed.



They're nice pistols too.



 

It's not actually a CZ clone, but a clone of a Tanfoglio, which is a clone of the CZ.  But all 3 are 75s.

The Tanfoglios and 941s have a coil-spring plunger under the trigger bar; this also retains the mag catch.

CZs have a bent wire spring that pushes up on the trigger bar, and it doesn't retain the mag catch.  There are a few other small differences too - like the short length of some Tanfoglio hammer springs and the trigger pin diameter.

OP: the early 941s had frames and slides made in Italy by Tanfoglio and finished in Israel by IMI.  Later, I believe all components were made in Israel.

Some 941s feature hammer forged, polygonal rifling like Glocks; go easy on bare lead bullets with those barrels.

Overall, the 941s are excellent reliable guns.  They work best with OEM or Tanfoglio magazines.

Its been tested on Palestinians, so what's not to like?

Slide says "Magnum Research" - so it looks like an earlier gun as made by IMI (Israel Military Industry) vs later guns made by IWI (renamed but same company).

No major chages to the gun.

It's a "compact" version BTW.  And in Israel, I've seen these carried many times by security & IDF forces.  It's a common and trusted gun over there - though they generally carry the 9mm version.

It's a close copy of Tanfoglio TA90, but with a better balanced frame and slide, and also much better workmanship and fit with the Israeli made guns. Also the trigger tends to be better (which means it's also much better than early CZ with the mile high hammer hooks).

It should be noted that it has nothing to do with the real Desert Eagle, a gas operated rotating bolt gun. The Baby Eagle/Jericho 941 is more a service pistol than a revolver caliber hunting pistol or curiosity like the real DE.

IWI has improved the Jericho over the years and now makes many variants, including polymer framed and compact models. Of the various CZ service pistol copies and the originals as well, I would take a Jericho over pretty much anything (Sphinx excepted, even though I have only shot their race versions). In terms of evolution for carry/race applications, I think Tanfo and CZ is where the most development is at.

You have a Baby Eagle steel frame from IMI.  Its NOT a Jericho 941.  The IMI ones didn't have a rail on the frame.  After IMI became IWI, they started adding the rail.  The Jericho 941 from IMI was 9mm and convertible to .41AE with a barrel swap.  Yours is just .40.  They're super reliable, incredibly underrated.

Jericho 941 title was revived under IWI, and then carried on by BUL when Magnum Research contracted with them for production, but under IMI, they were just Baby Eagle OR Jericho 941 with swappable barrels.

Considering it's marked "Desert Eagle Pistol" both are right. I've also seen them marked UZI Eagle, with an eagle head on the front half of the slide.

ETA-OP, for age email Magnum Research. They usually respond fast.

It's a Desert Eagle Baby Eagle.

I know, just commenting that calling it a DE is correct(or the company wouldn't have put the marking there), it's just not the MKI/VII/XIX that everyone thinks of.

I've got a Baby Eagle II (has a rail) in .40 and it's a great gun.

And as mentioned before the one in the OP is a compact model.

It's what it says on the slide. But it's the same pistol as IMI/IWI Jericho 941 with just different markings, so it's not incorrect to call it a Jericho either. The rails or frame material are not distinguishing features either, the Jericho has also been made with different features over the years, most of which have appeared under the Baby Desert Eagle brand. The same goes for many firearms manufactured elsewhere and exported to USA. Most of the Tanfoglio models are named differently when they are branded EAA as well. I think it's really a matter of perspective, whether you want to follow the branding and buy into the brand image (such as the DE styling and a name on a pistol that has nothing whatsoever mechanically to do with the original DE) or discuss the design acknowledging the origins.

Take for example “Springfield” XD, which is really a HS-2000 made in Croatia. The later versions HS-9, HS-40 and HS XDM-9, etc. also have slightly different US branding.

I think it's entirely fair to say that the Baby Eagle is not a real Desert Eagle, just in name only. It doesn't really need a fancy name borrowed from a hand cannon, the quality of it speaks for itself.

The Israelis call it the Jericho internally. That's the proper name for the gun.


To be fair, the frames do provide a convenient way to determine whether it's a BDE I or II. Full-size gen 1 metal frames don't have rails, and full-size gen 1 polymer frames don't have finger swells. (I am unaware of the polymer or metal compact frames getting a Gen 2 upgrade, but that's a different story.)


Yes, it's a terrific gun that doesn't always get the credit it deserves... hopefully IWI-US will be more successful with the current line of imports.

The 9mm guns are excellent handguns. OP has a good piece.

As other's have stated, it is a Jericho pistol, which have been marketed as "Baby Desert Eagle", "Uzi Eagle", "Desert Eagle" and probably some others.  I would contact Magnum Research with your details to see if they can date it.  

I have a 9mm version that was my first pistol.  I still have it.

Jericho pistols are bulky and heavy, but they are tanks.  Mine has been chugging along for 20 years, and has devoured everything I've ever loaded into it.  And it was my only pistol for many years during college and grad school, so for many years it only shot the cheapest of the cheap.

What was the approximate partial payment value this pistol "replaced"?

It's a shame it wouldn't fit in the magwell, because that Baby Eagle would make an awesome 10mm.

My example was imported by MR, under the "Uzi" name, as a "baby desert eagle."

The gun has nothing whatsoever to do with the DE or the various Uzi firearms.

It is known (and has always been known) as the Jericho pistol - where it's made - in Israel.  So it is not incorrect to call it a Jericho 941.  

Mine also has a frame-mounted safety.  I bought a wider safety in Israel at a gun shop down near the bus station in Tel Aviv.

The number "941" comes from the original idea to sell some versions with BOTH the 9mm barrel, and a barrel in the now-obsolete "41 AE" or 41 Action Express caliber.  

The 41 AE was an early (1986)attempt to improve on the 9mm performance without being a 45ACP or needing the extra frame length of the 10mm; it was also aimed at the emerging sport of combat pistol shooting, or "IPSC" - now known as USPSA in the USA (though Wikipedia left out the IPSC part).  

The 41AE can be thought of as a sort of early 40S&W with a rebated, 9mm rim, and using .410" bullets instead of .400" bullets, and loaded hotter than the 40 S&W.

You can read about it here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.41_Action_Express