About 20 years ago when I was hustling around the back 40 in Afghanistan, I picked up an AK-47 thanks to a little battlefield recovery, and sent it off to Kandahar for some customization. I was a Special Forces team leader at the time and I wanted a super-short foldable rifle that looked something like what our militia carried. I gave some instructions to a local gunsmith to “make it into a 7.62x39mm Krink” and waited patiently for it to arrive. What showed up at our firebase several weeks later looked like an old-school version of Century Arms’ new Draco Tactical. Spoiler alert: I would have given my eye teeth to have this Draco back then.
While some might question the utility of a 7.5-inch barrel shorty “AK”, I loved the one I carried overseas. It was small and easily transportable. However, it also offered far more firepower than any pistol, pistol-caliber carbine, or submachinegun. It sat comfortably in my lap as I traveled around our area’s worst neighborhoods in search of the Taliban, and it displayed excellent terminal effects out to 150 yards when called into action. My shorty had a few areas that needed a lot of improvement and, as if Century Arms read my mind 20 years ago, they fixed everything on the shorty AK that I once carried.
This new Draco Tactical has a new handguard from US Palm that attaches just forward of the receiver and runs to about to about the muzzle device’s midpoint. Unlike my old-school shorty, this handguard makes the entire length of the short barrel a useable location for the support hand. It also does an excellent job of keeping the support hand away from any part of the hot barrel and gas system. The muzzle device did a better job than I expected of taming the muzzle blast. There is no getting around the prodigious fireball that exits the muzzle, but the muzzle device channels all of the blast downrange and away from the shooter.
Sitting atop the US Palm handguard is the Ultimak Picatinny rail. This little number has a small channel cut down the middle so that the front sight is still usable while also accommodating a red dot sight. It is far superior to being limited to just crude iron sights with a short sight radius. Where my old friend was good for “minute of man” the Draco Tactical will actually shoot groups. The trigger in the Draco is the Rak-1 and it is an excellent AK trigger that has minimal creep and light pull weight. The safety on the side of the Draco has the cut that functions as a bolt hold-open, so letting the little thing breath after a workout is a snap. The folding brace is from Strike Industries and it folds to both the right- and left-hand sides. Push a button to fold and then just pull it open to lock it in place.
Advertisement
The Draco Tactical isn’t the most practical firearm for general purpose use, but as I learned 20 years ago, it does bring a lot of comfort when touring the world’s worst neighborhoods. The Draco is a powerful rifle that measures 27.5 inches long when folded and it fires heavy bullets at lethal velocity out to at least 150 yards. If a lot of firepower in a small package holds some appeal, the Draco Tactical is a great choice.
Century Arms Draco Tactical Specifications
- Type: Semi-automatic
- Cartridge: 7.62x39mm
- Capacity: 30 rounds
- Barrel: 7.5 in.
- Length: 27.5 in. (folded)
- Weight: 6.9 lbs.
- Finish: Matte
- Stock: Strike Industries bi-folding pistol brace
- Grip: US Palm Enhanced
- Sights: Adjustable
- Safety: Two-position
- MSRP: $1049 w/o brace, $1200 w/ brace
- Manufacturer: Century Arms, centuryarms.com
Read the full article here
