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Draco SBR range report


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On Saturday, I took my Draco SBR to the range to sight it in and function test it and my magazines. I ran 140 rounds of Wolf 122gn FMJ out of seven Hungarian 20-rounders that I got from AIM while waiting on my form 1. The rifle functioned 100% with no FTF's, FTE's or hiccups of anykind.

I started with 3 rounds at 10 yrds, just to make sure the sights were in the ball park, then moved out to 25, 50 and 100 yards. Most shooting was done from a bench (using an clamp-on bipod) and about 50 rounds, off-hand, at 50 and 100 yards.

Observations:

1. Oddly enough, the sights from the factory were set only about 2" high and 2" to the right at 50 yards. The shorter sight radius makes aiming a bit more of a challenge than a regular 16" barreled AK, but nothing practice won't fix.

2. My best off-hand group at 50 yards and benched group at 100 yards aren't significantly different from one another - about 3" for 5-rounds / 5" for 15-rounds. If you took your time and had something of a rest, a man-sized target at 200 should be very possible.

3. By the end of session, I found it fairly easy to hit soda cans on the backstop (100 yards) off-hand, within 2-3 rounds per can average.

4. The M-16 style flash suppressor helps with muzzle flash (and keeps the OAL under 22" folded), but flash and blast are still very noticible. The fire ball is reduced more to the size of a 1/2 gallon milk jug than the 5 gallon bucket size of having no flash suppressor. Several people at the range noticed that and that it seemed much "louder" than a 7.62x39...

5. Wolf 122gn FMJ is good, reliable, consistant and fairly inexpensive ammo. I am sure there is probably stuff that would shoot somewhat more accurately, but Wolf is good GP ammo. I still need to chonograph it to see how much loss there is in velocity (and energy) over a 16" barrel, but I am guessing it's not too significant.

6. The Hungarian 20-rounders are fircken sweet! The ones I got from AIM seemed like they were new/unissued and I'd be surprised if any had ever seen the inside of a rifle before. They were $9.95 each and you get a mag pouch thrown in with each order of 3 mags.

7. So far, I like my set up. Everything worked like I though it would (or should); even the flash suppressor (though I was hoping for more). No big surprises were realized.

8. The Tapco G2 trigger group is pretty decent. It's nice and smooth and crisp. I wouldn't want a lighter trigger on a "working" rifle. The pull on mine is about 5 - 5.5lbs, or so.

Conclusions:

Having handled and fired a number of WASR's (and other AK variants), I can safely say that the Draco is NO WASR. It seems to be a tad more refined and has excellent handling qualities. It is put together well and has a lot of potential as an all-around utility rifle. I still need to function test my other magazines, but all of my other AK's have been demoted to safe-queen status and the Draco is now my general purpose, "go to" rifle. I just wish I had the funds to form 1 another one...

 

Macbeau sends...

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Edited by macbeau
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Thanks for the write up.

 

I have a Draco I need to SBR but I have a few other NFA items I am contemplating and I want to send it all off at once. That and I'm not too sure about the whole rear trunnion "issue" but that is something that could be dealt with later.

 

Have you tried a Vortex flash suppressor on a short barrel? I put one on my 7" 7.62x39 but I have only shot it once since then and that was in the middle of the day with no clouds or shade so I couldn't tell if it helped or not. When I get a good opportunity I'll take that and my Draco out with the Vortex and give a report.

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How did you attach the ACE to your Draco? Some folks say that the virgin underfolder tang is strong enough to drill and tap, I was wondering if it had enough room to be able to run bolts or screws all the way through the tang and then attach a lock nut to the ends. I’m just curious what others have done, my Draco will be SBR very very soon, once I decide the best route to attach the ACE stock. Thanks in advance!

 

V/R

 

self_inflicted

To attach the stock, I drilled and tapped the trunnion. Lots of oil is needed when drilling and tapping, along with a good, sharp bit and tap. It is heat treated and pretty hard. The two screws that come with the folding mechanism don't even protrude all the way through to the inside of the trunnion. I added screws long enough to go all the way through and added star washers and nuts to the inside just for insurance. The trunnion is much stronger than the ACE anodized aluminium mounting block ("cut-the-dang-tang block). I am satisfied that the screws will break or the folding mechanism will bend before the trunnion fails.

 

Macbeau sends...

Edited by macbeau
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I am satisfied that the screws will break or the folding mechanism will bend before the trunnion fails.

 

Macbeau sends...

Thank you. That's good to hear. There has been debate about that on various forums. I think your judgment would be pretty sound on this.

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I am satisfied that the screws will break or the folding mechanism will bend before the trunnion fails.

 

Macbeau sends...

Thank you. That's good to hear. There has been debate about that on various forums. I think your judgment would be pretty sound on this.

Don't get me wrong. You can certainly strengthen the area by adding a Tromix plate, but the weak point will still be the screws and folding mechanism, IMHO. After looking at the trunnion in the Draco and comparing it to a conventional AK tang trunnion, I don't see one being inheriently stronger than the other. You just get more stocks to choose from with a tang trunnion.

I am considering adding a cross-through rivet an bushing (like the crossbar rivet just in front of the hammer) to the forward portion of the trunnion to give the whole stock area more lateral support/strength, but I think that is probably overkill. The trunnion is about 1/8" thick and seems about as hard as the barrel. I used LMarshall's posts (post #7 above)as a reference for this project.

 

[uPDATE] I just measured the trunnion thickness' on mine. I did this by dismounting the stock and running a screw in until it was flush on the inside. I then counted the threads exposed on the outside and marked it. I pulled the screw and measured on my digital calipers. That said, it's about 1/8" - 3/16" (3.3mm) thick on the sidewalls, but it's 3/8" (~9.5mm) thick at the back (where the stock would be mounted).

Put another way, It's about 3 time thicker at the back than at the sides that you can see inside the receiver. It is thicker than the head of the bottom rivet that anchors the rear trunnion by about 4mm's and thicker than the gap / notch that the top cover sits in to the very rear of the trunnion (about 7.5mm on mine). It is pretty substantial.

Edited by macbeau
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I am satisfied that the screws will break or the folding mechanism will bend before the trunnion fails.

 

Macbeau sends...

Thank you. That's good to hear. There has been debate about that on various forums. I think your judgment would be pretty sound on this.

Don't get me wrong. You can certainly strengthen the area by adding a Tromix plate, but the weak point will still be the screws and folding mechanism, IMHO. After looking at the trunnion in the Draco and comparing it to a conventional AK tang trunnion, I don't see one being inheriently stronger than the other. You just get more stocks to choose from with a tang trunnion.

I am considering adding a cross-through rivet an bushing (like the crossbar rivet just in front of the hammer) to the forward portion of the trunnion to give the whole stock area more lateral support/strength, but I think that is probably overkill. The trunnion is about 1/8" thick and seems about as hard as the barrel. I used LMarshall's posts (post #7 above)as a reference for this project.

 

[uPDATE] I just measured the trunnion thickness' on mine. I did this by dismounting the stock and running a screw in until it was flush on the inside. I then counted the threads exposed on the outside and marked it. I pulled the screw and measured on my digital calipers. That said, it's about 1/8" - 3/16" (3.3mm) thick on the sidewalls, but it's 3/8" (~9.5mm) thick at the back (where the stock would be mounted).

Put another way, It's about 3 time thicker at the back than at the sides that you can see inside the receiver. It is thicker than the head of the bottom rivet that anchors the rear trunnion by about 4mm's and thicker than the gap / notch that the top cover sits in to the very rear of the trunnion (about 7.5mm on mine). It is pretty substantial.

 

Thank you, indeed this has been debated on numerous forums. I think after your post Macbeau, the debate has a good answer. Now all's that is left is to fill out some paper work, and not misalign my stock parts on the rear trunnion when I drill (after paperwork of course).

 

Side question, when you drill and tap the rear trunnion, you are putting threads in the trunnion, do you think that's the best way to go, or do you think drilling a hole through the trunnion (not threading the trunnion) and using the lock nuts would be better, or is using both best? Stupid question, but it's one I've been wondering about.

 

Again, thanks!

 

V/R

 

self_inflicted

 

Oh I forgot to add, nice groups, I was pleasantly surprised the first time I took my Draco out; it was indeed very accurate and very well made. I wasn't hitting pop cans at 100 yards though, just an old beach ball at about 50 yards, but still :super:

 

Again thanks.

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I am satisfied that the screws will break or the folding mechanism will bend before the trunnion fails.

 

Macbeau sends...

Thank you. That's good to hear. There has been debate about that on various forums. I think your judgment would be pretty sound on this.

Don't get me wrong. You can certainly strengthen the area by adding a Tromix plate, but the weak point will still be the screws and folding mechanism, IMHO. After looking at the trunnion in the Draco and comparing it to a conventional AK tang trunnion, I don't see one being inheriently stronger than the other. You just get more stocks to choose from with a tang trunnion.

I am considering adding a cross-through rivet an bushing (like the crossbar rivet just in front of the hammer) to the forward portion of the trunnion to give the whole stock area more lateral support/strength, but I think that is probably overkill. The trunnion is about 1/8" thick and seems about as hard as the barrel. I used LMarshall's posts (post #7 above)as a reference for this project.

 

[uPDATE] I just measured the trunnion thickness' on mine. I did this by dismounting the stock and running a screw in until it was flush on the inside. I then counted the threads exposed on the outside and marked it. I pulled the screw and measured on my digital calipers. That said, it's about 1/8" - 3/16" (3.3mm) thick on the sidewalls, but it's 3/8" (~9.5mm) thick at the back (where the stock would be mounted).

Put another way, It's about 3 time thicker at the back than at the sides that you can see inside the receiver. It is thicker than the head of the bottom rivet that anchors the rear trunnion by about 4mm's and thicker than the gap / notch that the top cover sits in to the very rear of the trunnion (about 7.5mm on mine). It is pretty substantial.

 

Thank you, indeed this has been debated on numerous forums. I think after your post Macbeau, the debate has a good answer. Now all's that is left is to fill out some paper work, and not misalign my stock parts on the rear trunnion when I drill (after paperwork of course).

 

Side question, when you drill and tap the rear trunnion, you are putting threads in the trunnion, do you think that's the best way to go, or do you think drilling a hole through the trunnion (not threading the trunnion) and using the lock nuts would be better, or is using both best? Stupid question, but it's one I've been wondering about.

 

Again, thanks!

 

V/R

 

self_inflicted

 

Oh I forgot to add, nice groups, I was pleasantly surprised the first time I took my Draco out; it was indeed very accurate and very well made. I wasn't hitting pop cans at 100 yards though, just an old beach ball at about 50 yards, but still :super:

 

Again thanks.

Since the trunnion is heat treated, I am all for drilling & tapping it and running nuts and washers on the inside as well. That is plenty strong. To drill and NOT tap, I'd suggest drilling through and using thick washers and 10-24 x 3/4" bolts with stars and locks... But, the trunnion is tough enough and thick enough to just drill and tap...

Macbeau sends...

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