IMI Jericho Model 941F

The call came in from a potential customer describing that his trusty "9mm ACP pistol" was no longer working properly. He told me that the hammer cocked back to the rear, but when pulling the trigger, nothing happens and the hammer wouldn’t fall. However, if he thumbed the hammer back from the cocked position, he could hear a "click" and then the pistol would fire. I received the pistol shortly thereafter to inspect, test, and finally provide the owner with an estimate of repairs.

Often this is a straight forward process, but on occasion, it isn’t so simple, as was in the case of this pistol. We’re talking about an IMI (Israeli Military Industries) Jericho Model 941F, 9x19mm pistol in satin nickel finish. These pistols are single-action only, have an all-steel construction, sport a 4.5" barrel and have a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. The sights are adjustable for windage only and are low profile.

The finish appears to be durable, looking and feeling much more like a hard-chromed finish rather than their stated satin-nickel finish. The gun feels very solid in the hand and has a very comfortable grip. Trigger pull is really good (when it works properly) and the gun in hand today appears to have been shot quite a bit.

These pistols are reported as being Israeli Police turn-in guns and are identified by a unique Police "star" marking or emblem etched or engraved on the right side of the frame forward of the serial number (the location on this pistol anyway). First and foremost, I began looking into the history of this pistol, along with parts sources, and to determine if it was under any current repair warranty. I like to begin there before opening up any firearm on the chance that the product is covered under an active warranty.

My research for the pistol first led me to IWI (Israel Weapon Industries, LTD) since the owner’s manual I had on file was printed by them. I spoke with a customer support representative that shared with me that the "IMI Jericho 941F" pistol on my bench had been imported into the United States by K. B. I., Inc. of Harrisburg, PA. And according to source records found, K. B. I. Inc. went out of business on January 29, 2010.

The service representative went on to say that the IMI pistols were not under any IWI warranty and that they don’t recommend utilizing IWI Jericho double-action pistol parts in the IMI guns, stating that they may not work properly since the IMI guns are single action only. After that phone call, I researched further and found that parts are still available for these IMI guns, with most being found on the Numrich (GunPartsCorp.com) website. You will need to look under "Kassnar" to find them.

I also found that in 2005 IMI sold its Magen division (small arms division) to an Israeli privately owned holding company called SK Group and renamed it Israel Weapon Industries. Continuing, I found engraved into the bottom of the trigger guard "C. A. I. Georgia, VT" and "Made in Israel". It could be that K. B. I. imported the gun, but the inscription on the trigger guard shows Century Arms International as being the import entry point. I can only report what I am seeing and finding in my research.

Continuing with my research on the pistol, I searched my American The finish on these pistols looks more like a hard-chrome rather than a matte-nickel finish. These pistols were imported from Israel by K. B. I. and C. A. I. The pistol show here has "C. A. I. Georgia, VT" laser etched on the bottom of the trigger guard. Gunsmith library and quickly found an article penned by the late Chick Blood in the January 2010 issue. This article covered the disassembly and reassembly of the K. B.

I. (IWI) Jericho 941 double-action pistol, which is in fact similar to the IMI Jericho pistol we are discussing today. I also noticed that AGM covered the departure of then-editor Keith Lawrence and introduced the new editor—John Buol—in that very same January 2010 edition. Hard to believe it has been 10 years now, John! I can’t [ believe it myself!–Ed.]

Getting back to this repair, I was pretty much now armed with some background of the pistol in hand and had a viable source for parts that were (mostly) still available. I opened the pistol up to see what was happening—or in this case, not happening. When working the slide (as if loading the pistol) I found that the hammer would stay cocked to the rear, but the trigger could be pulled

and released as many times as you cared to and the hammer would not fall. Even sharp raps to the cocked gun resulted in the hammer staying put. However, thumbing the cocked hammer ever so lightly to the rear from the fully cocked position created the clicking sound the customer had mentioned and the gun would then fire. I also found that cocking the hammer by hand with the slide attached, the trigger would move the sear and fire.

I removed the slide assembly and performed hammer cocking tests, resulting in the hammer cocking back and the gun working—without the slide on it. However, with the slide assembly removed, pushing the trigger bar down so the two top protruding ears on the trigger bar were positioned below the slide The magazine plate shown has loops on both ends that are captured at the top by the magazine plate pin and at the bottom by the hammer spring cup and pin.

The bottom loop shown on the magazine plate fits into the groove in the hammer spring cup and the lanyard loop pin secures them to the frame when reassembled. rails and then cocking the hammer, the gun would not work. So when the slide is on the frame, it pushes the trigger bar downward enough to prevent the sear from fully connecting with the hammer when cocking it to the rear. At this point, functioning tests were pointing directly at the sear engagement.

I noticed that pushing the trigger bar downward while cocking the hammer to full cock, the trigger bar would not come back upward or reset when releasing the trigger. In other words, pulling the trigger (connected to the trigger bar) rearwards, the trigger bar stayed below the slide rails and would not release the sear to drop the hammer. Only when either cocking the hammer rearward a tiny bit more or lightly pushing down on the top of the sear leg did the trigger bar release and allow the gun to go into battery.

Far All that is left attached to the slide is the extractor, extractor pin, and extractor spring. Care should be taken when removing this type of roll pin and one should think carefully before removing any of them as they can be damaged easily. Because this pistol appeared to be well-worn, I contacted the owner to ascertain if he wanted me to move forward with repairs or to stop, due mostly to the estimated costs of getting the pistol working again.

My experience has shown that when you think that one or two parts will repair the malfunctioning gun, it can (and often does) result in having to replace many more parts. And this costs money. So I wanted my customer to know up front the potential "rabbit hole" of this repair turning into a potentially stacking increase in parts and labor costs, depending on what all had to be replaced. He gave me the green light to push forward.

I began by ordering in anew sear, sear spring, and sear pin to determine if those parts corrected the issue. Since the article in the January 2010 article covered the IWI Jericho 941 double-action pistol, I felt it was prudent to cover the complete disassembly and reassembly of this particular pistol, even though the procedure is almost identical to the IWI pistol.

With ten years passing by since that original article was printed, I figured a current one would be beneficial; especially since there are many of these IMI guns floating about the United States now. Disassembly During my research for a schematic and parts listing, I ran across three different variations that included only partially correct information about this particular pistol. One was

found with the proper parts names but had a different pistol shown in the schematic. Another had the correct schematic but the parts were to a different model pistol. To make the attached schematic and parts list correct, I used the official schematic from the owner’s manual and typed out all parts by number based on the seven pages of parts listed in that same manual. Therefore, the schematic and parts list now match and are correct for this particular make and model pistol.

You may want to copy and save it in your files just in case one comes into your shop. With that said, let’s get started with the disassembly. Since this pistol was extremely dirty with powder fouling and residue, I completely disassembled it for the deep scrub it deserved. Begin by removing the magazine (not listed or shown in the accompanying schematic and parts listing), pulling the slide fully to the rear and inspecting the chamber to ensure it is unloaded and that no live round are in the chamber.

With that visual inspection done, close the slide. With the hammer still cocked, use your weak hand to move the slide (4) rearward until the dot or dimple located at the left rear back of the slide aligns with the dot located at the back of the receiver just below it. Use your strong hand finger to push the slide catch (47) from the right side of the frame towards the left, removing it completely.

This allows you to simply pull the slide and Below the trigger guard is the trigger bar plunger, trigger bar plunger spring, and safety pin that applies upward spring tension to the underside of the trigger bar. This will come out after the trigger and bar barrel assembly forward and off of the receiver. This completes disassembly for routine cleaning other than removal of the recoil spring and rod assembly (1 & 2), the barrel (3), and the grip panels (35 & 38).

While I am on the topic, I see so many pistols and revolvers that are kept very clean—except for under the grip panels. This area grabs oil, water, perspiration, debris, salt, and just about every contaminant known, trapping them under the grip panels and resulting in corrosion, rust, pitting, and permanently damaging the frame(s). And this pistol was no exception as it had pits in the frame in the outline of the grip panels on both sides.

I realize that not everyone has hollow ground screwdrivers in their tool boxes but removal of the grip panels or grips depending on what firearm you have is paramount in keeping any firearm in like-new condition or at least preventing corrosion and damage to the frame. This is more important for nickel plated guns.

To me, it is worth either buying the correct hollow ground screwdriver or grinding down (hollow grind) one cheap screwdriver to fit the grip panel screw head so those areas can be properly cleaned and wiped down without damaging the screw head. assembly are lifted out of the frame. Note the position of the trigger spring (long leg) and where it seats in the frame during reassembly. The sear spring is also shown with the short leg in position up against the back of the sear.

The long leg is difficult to see but is in the safety lever leg groove where it captures the safety lever to the sear housing and frame. Also shown is the ejector (part of the sear housing unit) and single leg sear.

Continuing, completely disassemble the slide assembly, invert the slide on your bench, and depress then remove the recoil spring guide and spring assembly (1 & 2). You will notice this is an assembled (self-contained) unit. To remove and/or replace the recoil spring or rod, drift the spirol spring-type roll pin that secures the small rear washer to the rear end of the recoil guide rod. This will then release the spring tension on that washer so that you can replace the spring or rod. Reassemble in reverse order.

Take note that almost every pin found in this pistol is the spirol roll pin type. Therefore, before you decide that it is absolutely necessary to remove one or more of these pins, you need to know that the spirol or spirol-type roll pins are fragile and can be damaged very easily during removal and/or installation. You might want to perform a search for the replacement roll pin first, before executing the removal of them.

Removal of this allows for the removal of the sear housing inside the frame as the leg on the safety secures the unit in place. Be careful when removing the safety lever as there are two small parts that are easily overlooked or lost attached to the back side of the safety lever plate shown. With the recoil guide rod and spring assembly disassembled and removed, lift the rear of the barrel (3) and pull it out from the underneath of the slide (4).

Note that the barrel lands are polygonal or without sharp cut lands and grooves, therefore, cast bullets might result in poorer accuracy. Continuing, use a pin punch to depress the firing pin (14) at the back of the slide inward until you can pull down on the rear firing pin plate (5) to remove it. Go slowly as the firing pin is under spring tension and can fly away if not contained during removal of the rear plate. Once the rear plate is out, withdraw the firing pin and firing pin coil spring (13).

With the firing pin and spring removed, pull downward on the firing pin blocker (7) and remove it from the underneath of the slide. It has a Far The slide catch spring pin holds the spring in place. Removal of that small pin released this spring from its groove in the frame. This clearly shows the correct position of both the sear spring and trigger spring when assembled correctly in the frame.

This pistol has a fairly simple yet effective design. very small coil spring attached, called a firing pin blocker spring (6), so be careful not to lose it. To complete disassembly of the slide, drift the spirol roll pin located on top of the slide over the extractor (9) downward towards the bottom of the slide to release the extractor (10) and extractor coil spring (11). Only drift this pin downward enough to remove the extractor and extractor spring as you don’t need to fully remove it.

Reassemble these components in reverse order. Moving onward to the receiver (50), begin by removing the grip panel screws (37) and then the grip panels (35 & 38). No parts inside of the frame will fall out, so this is a straight forward grip removal. Looking inside the frame, note along, flat, wide spring called the magazine plate (41). The top of it is retained in the frame by a small straight pin called a magazine plate pin (42).

Depress the "plate" near the pin and push the magazine plate pin out of the frame (either direction). De-cock the hammer (31) so that it is fully forward to take pressure off of the hammer coil spring (40). Holding the frame in the upright position with your weak hand, push downward on the bottom of the frame where the hammer spring cup (39) is protruding to take spring pressure off the hammer spring cup pin (49) that has a loop on the left end of it (located at the bottom of the grip frame).

This lanyard-type loop hammer spring cup pin (49) se-

So much of that engagement was removed that it would not cock the hammer into battery when firing or racking the slide. Don’t forget to inspect those areas for abnormal or excessive wear when trying to isolate malfunctioning issues. cures the hammer spring cup and assembly to the receiver. It also secures the bottom of the long, wide magazine plate (41) that is still connected to the hammer spring cup. Depress the hammer spring cup until you can pull out and withdraw the lanyard loop end cup pin (49).

You can use a small pin punch to pull this pin out by inserting the punch inside the lanyard loop hole. Once that end cup pin is removed, get a larger pin punch (preferably brass so as not to scratch) and depress the hammer spring cup (39) inward into the bottom of the frame until you can pull the singlelooped end of the magazine plate out and clear from the groove for it located in the hammer spring cup.

Once that "magazine plate" is removed, remove the hammer spring cup and hammer coil spring from the bottom of the frame. The hammer spring (40) is a coil spring and it just fits into a seat made for it on the top end of the hammer spring cup (39). To separate the spring from the spring cup, twist it back and forth and pull it out of the seat. Remove the sear housing assembly (27). Notice this assembly is similar to the one found on CZ pistols and it comes out as a unit.

Begin by rotating the hammer rearward, then lift the long leg of the sear spring (26) that is resting in a slot on the safety lever leg (44) out of that notch and rest it on the sear housing next to the sear leg (28). Moving this spring leg out from that notch frees up the safety lever leg so that you can remove it from the frame. Go ahead and rotate the safety lever up and down while pulling on it until it comes out from the left side of the receiver.

Take note that there is a very small coil spring (45) and plate (46) called the safety knock spring and safety knock (small flat plate) attached to the inside of the safety lever (44) plate. Take care not to lose them during assembly or cleaning. Once the safety lever comes out, the sear housing (27) will jump up under spring pressure from the trigger bar (23) but it comes out as an assembled unit. Set the sear housing assembly aside for now as we will cover it at the end of this article.

You can now remove the hammer (31), if needed. However, it is also retained by a larger spirol roll pin that can easily be damaged during removal or reinstallation. Unless you must remove the hammer, it is best to leave it in the frame as you can clean around it. To remove if needed, drift the spirol roll pin (48) out from right to left to remove the hammer and hammer rod or strut (30) assembly. To remove the trigger (22), drift the small spirol roll pin (43) out that retains it to the frame.

This pin is drifted out from left to right. Take note before you do this as the trigger spring (21) is captured by this roll pin. The long leg of the trigger spring points forward and up, resting in a groove in the frame forward of the trigger. The short leg of this same spring rests on the trigger (back right side) during reassembly. Once the spirol roll pin holding the trigger is removed, lift the trigger (22) and trigger bar (23) out from the top of the receiver.

Note, there is a plunger and spring assembly called the trigger bar plunger head (15), trigger bar plunger spring (16), trigger bar plunger (17) and safety pin (18) that applies upward spring tension to the underside of the trigger bar (23). As you lift the trigger bar out, you can then remove the trigger bar plunger head, spring, plunger, and pin that is housed in a frame hole directly behind the trigger.

To separate the trigger (22) from the trigger bar (23), drift out yet another spirol roll pin (24) called the trigger bar pivot that retains the two parts. And again, don’t do so unless absolutely necessary (unnecessary for deep cleaning). To remove the slide catch spring (19) located on the inside right of the frame, use ascribe to depress this long wire spring downward at the point nearest to the slide catch spring plunger (20) that retains the spring in the frame.

That will allow you to push that pin (20) out of the frame (either direction but from inside the frame to out is best). This pin has a groove in the center where the slide catch spring will seat into it in order to retain it inside the frame. With that pin removed, lift the slide catch spring (19) out. Take note on how it is in place prior to removal. The dog-legged end of that wire spring points downward and it faces towards the front of the frame during reassembly.

Finally, remove the magazine catch assembly (32, 33 & 34). To remove it, use a small pin punch and insert it into the right side of the magazine catch to depress the magazine catch plunger (34) and

IMI Jericho Model 941F (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 1 Recoil Spring Guide 2 Recoil Guide Spring 3 Barrel 4 Slide 5 Firing Pin Plate 6 Firing Pin Blocker Spring 7 Firing Pin Blocker 8 Front Sight 9 Extractor Pin 10 Extractor 11 Extractor Spring 12 Drifted Rear Sight 13 Firing Pin Spring plunger spring (33) that holds the unit in place. Remove the assembly from the frame. Reassembly of the frame is performed in reverse.

Turning our attention back to the already-removed sear housing assembly (27), notice the sear spring (26) has along and short leg. The longer leg of the spring, with the bend facing upward, rests in the notch for it located on the safety lever leg (44) when reassembled. That longer leg retains the safety lever and prevents it from coming out of the frame during use. The short leg of the sear spring seats up against the back of the sear (28) pointing upward.

On this pistol I replaced the sear (28), sear pin (pivot) (25), and sear spring (26). It wasn’t known at first if the safety lever (44) would work 14 Firing Pin 15 T. B. Plunger Head 16 T. B. Plunger Spring 17 Trigger Bar Plunger 18 Trigger Bar Safety Pin 19 Slide Catch Spring 20 S. C.

Spring Plunger 21 Trigger Spring 22 Trigger 23 Trigger Bar 24 Trigger Bar Pivot 25 Sear Pivot 26 Sear Spring 40 Hammer Spring 41 Magazine Plate 42 Magazine Plate Pin 43 Trigger Pin 44 Safety Lever 45 Safety Knock Spring 46 Safety Knock 47 Slide Catch 48 Hammer Pin (Steel) 49 Hammer Spring Cup Pin 50 Steel Frame 27 Sear Housing 28 Sear 29 Cocking Sear 30 Hammer Rod (Strut) 31 Hammer 32 Magazine Catch 33 Magazine Catch Spring 34 Magazine Catch Plunger 35 Right Grip 36 Serrated Lock Washer 37 Grip Screw (2) 38 Left Grip 39 Hammer Spring Cup properly with this new sear but it did.

I need to point out that during my safety checks, I found that when the hammer was cocked and in battery, and the safety lever was placed in the ON position and the trigger was pulled, the hammer would not drop. However, after placing it to the OFF position, the hammer would sometimes fall; especially when using the slide catch to release the slide from the locked open position. With the sear housing removed from the pistol, remove the sear pin to remove the sear and sear spring.

The new sear was first test fitted to ensure it would fit into the confines of the sear housing and with light fitting, it did. The rear leg of the sear spring was found to be too long, so half of that was removed so it wouldn’t interfere with the bottom of the slide. The new sear pin and the sear fit together very well, virtually eliminating the loose movement between the two parts. The original sear pin to sear fit was really loose from wear overtime.

Some light fitting adjustments were done to the sear where the hammer hooks lock onto it. After a few trials, the pistol worked flawlessly. This took care of the hammer not locking and going into battery when racking the slide. Further, the hammer would not drop when closing the slide with the slide catch from the full locked back position, nor would the hammer drop when cocking it to the rear, applying the safety, pulling the trigger hard rearward, and then placing the safety in the fire position again.

Basically, the pistol passed all functioning and safety checks and tests at the bench. I took it to a range and live fire tested it afterwards and it worked great. No safety issues were found or noted and I was unable to make the pistol unsafe working the safety, slide, etc. Fortunately, this pistol was in decent shape, except for the sear. When inspecting the sear, look for signs of excessive wear. The areas where the hammer hooks lock onto the sear in this pistol were worn down way too far.

And this is most likely what caused the hammer to cock back but not go into full battery. This condition may not always be corrected by a sear replacement, so you will have to look closely at the wear indicators found on the sear, sear pin, and even the safety lever leg to ensure you have isolated the malfunctioning issues at hand.

Hopefully this information will assist you the next time one of these IMI pistols lands on your bench; whether completely disassembled and already in a baggie, missing parts, or not working properly. If it has a similar diagnosis as what I found herein, the sear is the obvious place to begin. AG