AK-47 Draco Pistol Review

Categories: Outdoor, Reviews, Shooting

The Avtomat Kalashnikova Model of 1947, of AK 47 for short, is the world’s most well-known assault rifle. It’s seen service in more countries than the Marine Corps. It serves in the hands of enemy and ally and has been used by trained professional and child soldier alike. This Russian designed rifle will always have a place in infamy among westerners. It’s often the rifle soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors faced in combat.

The rifle’s popularity is due to the fact it’s one of the most reliable rifles ever created. A well made AK 47 can fire full of sand, dirt, snow, water, and mud. You don’t have to do much to care for it, and the controls are simple enough to understand. The rifle is also chambered in the potent, but controllable 7.62x39mm round. There are enough variations of the basic design to fill their own book, and they have.

The variant we are looking at today is an AK pistol. Yes an AK pistol exists. All you gotta do is cut off the barrel and stock and we can call it a pistol. Kind of, in reality, the barrel is purposefully short and the rear of the pistol is lacking a stock adapter on the rear trunnion. This particular model is the famous ‘Draco’ pistol from Century Arms. This miniature AK 47 is made in Romania before being imported by Century. These are actually made in the same factory as Romanian military rifles.

It features a 12.25-inch barrel comes with wood furniture and the shortest sight radius on an AK I’ve ever seen. It does happen to be equipped with an SB Tactical brace. Recently the ATF was polite enough to finally allow us to shoulder these braces or really use them in any way we desire.

On the Range

On the range, this little AK is hot to handle. I’d imagine the Draco namesake came from the massive amount of muzzle blast and flash you get from the 12.25-inch barrel. Oh man, without a muzzle device this thing just roars. That roar is part of the fun.

Surprisingly the 7.62×39 round doesn’t actually have a massive performance loss from a short barrel. It actually only loses about 200 FPS from the short barrel. It’s much more ballistically capable when compared to a short barreled 5.56 rifles.

It’s important to remember the 7.63×39 round was designed for use at 300 meters and less. With the shorter sight radius on the Draco pistol, it’s going to be even harder to hit targets at long ranges. That said within its effective range this thing is a hammer. It’s a great round for home defense due to its close quarter’s potency and the weapon’s short size.

Recoil is actually pretty minimal with the gun properly braced against your shoulder or on your arm. It’s easy to control, and you can pop off double taps, Mozambique drills, and more with ease. Muzzle rise is certainly there, but controllable. A muzzle device would certainly help tame this beast.

Ergos

The AK as a rifle has very 1940s ergonomics, which you know makes sense seeing as how it was designed in 1947. The charging handle is located on the right-hand side and with proper technique you can easily charge the weapon with your left hand. The magazine release is actually an ambidextrous paddle located directly behind the magazine. While it isn’t terrible it’s something you certainly have to learn to use properly for tactical and speed reloads.

Of course, the safety is the worst part of the AK design. The large sliding paddle is on the right-hand sight and to make the weapon ready to fire you have to slam that thing downwards. It’s a hassle to do with your nonfiring hand, but can be done if you are willing to train for it. Overall the controls are nowhere near as intuitive as the AR 15, or really any western rifle.

With the SB Tactical Brace, the gun is actually pretty easy to handle. It’s lightweight, short and compact, and very easy to maneuver and fire. Without the brace, this is a clumsy and heavy weapon that’s hard to fire accurately. You definitely need the SB Tactical brace to handle this little AK effectively.

Reliability

Of course, it’s reliable, it’s an AK. These things chug along without a cleaning for hundreds if not thousands of rounds. When the trigger is pulled the gun goes bang. It’s as simple as that. The Draco AK pistol is like any other AK, regardless of how short the barrel is. Mikhail would be proud.

Purpose

Does an AK this short have a purpose? Well, it’s exceptionally short which makes it easy to use in close quarters. Inside the home it’s length is perfect and if you have the SB tactical brace and can brace the pistol and actually control it and use the sights. The round is substantial, and when fed from a 30 round magazine you have plenty of power to keep the things that go bump in the night at bay.

Outside of home defense, this is a gun that’s perfect to turn money into noise. It’s a fun gun, it’s a loud gun, and it’s an excellent means to defend yourself. Plus it’s an AK, and it’s always a good day to own an AK.