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Romania Copies the Jericho: Cugir Models 95 & 98 (Ad-free)
🕑 Added 2024-05-10 12:00:02 +0000 UTCBy the end of communism in Romania in 1989, the standard service pistols for the army and police were still the old Tokarevs and the Cugir Model 74 "Carpați" Walther PP copy. These were obviously outdated, and as it moved more towards the West, the Romanian military wanted a modern handgun. In 1992 they assessed what was available, and decided to make a domestic copy of the IMI Jericho, with a few minor tweaks. The process of reverse engineering the design took until 1995, when production began on an order of 10,000 for the Army as the Model 95.
The guns performed well, but were considered too heavy. When the Romanian police decided to adopt the pistol in 1998 and placed an order themselves, they asked Cugir to reduce the weight. This was done by eliminating metal in several different places, most notably shorting the full-length frame dust cover and replacing the steel grip backstrap with a more skeletonized design covered by a wraparound grip. This shaved a few ounces off the gun, and 5,000 were made as the Model 98. In addition, a few manufacturing changes were made during this production run, most notably moving from chrome-lined barrels to hard nitrided barrels.
Production of the guns ceased in the mid 2000s, until the Army requested another small batch in 2021. By this time Romanian industry had moved form Russia material standards to Western ones, and much of the TDP had to be reworked to accommodate the materials now available. Once that was done, 1100 were produced - 1,000 for the Army and 100 as a commemorative batch for ANCA, the Romanian national arms collectors' association. These remain the standard service pistol for Romanian army and police forces, although they have not entirely replaced the Model 74 today.
Thanks to Uzina Mecanica Cugir S.A. for giving me access to these pistols for filming, and to A.N.C.A., the Romanian national firearms collectors' association, for organizing the trip that made this video possible!
Comments
Paul Ingraham
I have one of those Jericho pistols and it is indeed, heavy. Haven't shot it as the sights are missing and I haven't come up with replacements. I was amazed at the weight of this pistol and that IMI actually used it. Not exactly a decent military weapon in my opinion.
Guido Schriewer
only that Jericho 941. 9mm and 41AE. right. well there are SO many one hit wonders.. calibers never to be seen again after being the latestgreates.
Christian D. Orr
In 35 years of shooting a whole gamut of calibers, I have NEVER come across a firearm chambered for .41 AE.
Christian D. Orr
Buna, Multimesc! 😎🇷🇴🔫
Glenn Miller
Any legal or ethical issues with just copying a firearm? I realize Jericho patents may not apply in Romania, but 'cmon. Also, was it really less expensive to reverse engineer the pistol, especially for such low total production runs. Great video, thanks.
Mark Farris
With the steel version of the Jericho going away these would be a cool to have on the US market.
Mrgunsngear
Those look like solid well built guns for sure
Alan Lippiatt
Why is the A.N.C.A. badge crossed BSA Martini Internationals?
Guido Schriewer
wasn't aware they did. though the imi's are surprisingly often on the market. though I seriously doubt ANYBODY still even reloads 41AE. ain't exactly a bad design. then again a 80s wonder9. nothing exciting either.
Mihnea Serbanescu
Very interesting episode, the model 95 from the video is a pre-production model judging by the serial number, ”SZ” stands for ”Serie Zero” (Series Zero) meaning pre-series. Normal serial number for the model 95, is two letter prefix followed by 5 digit number (I have only seen ”AA” prefix and 0XXXX) so probably the entire army order had AA prefix. Interesting that the model 98 is ”AC” prefix and only 4 digit number, but it might fit with an order of 5000 for the ministry of the intern.
