SHOT 2025 @ TFB:

• [SHOT 2025] Steyr Monobloc: The Barrel And Receiver Are One Piece!
• [SHOT 2025] FN Reflex XL In The Wild
• [SHOT 2025] Franklin Armory Binary SCAR Trigger, F22 and OPS-11
• [SHOT 2025] Taylor’s And Co. Has New 9mm Lever TC73 In Production
• [SHOT 2025] Mars Inc.’s Precision Grenadier System

Though the Dragunov looks something like an AK-pattern rifle it is different internally. Creating a true clone requires many new parts that don’t exist in other designs. This differs from simply stretching an AK to make it bigger, as is done in Romanian PSL. True Dragunovs have a reputation for better accuracy and reliability than the “Dragunov at home” copies like the PSL and are much more desirable.

Insite Armory’s creation starts with a 4140 steel billet which becomes the receiver. Most of the parts are exact copies of the original, but there are a couple of small differences. For example, the four rivets on the top rear portion of the receiver are a different type of rivet than was used in original guns because the tool the Soviets used no longer exists. It is also likely that they will opt for a US-standard thread pitch.

The company has already made some working guns, but the ones on display were unfinished models. There are still some design refinements to come but the guns in the booth clearly resembled true Dragunovs. One copy was the classic style while the other was a modernized version with a railed free-floating handguard.

Insite hoped to have these guns on the market by Q3 or Q4 2025 and is aiming for a retail price of around $4,000. Recent imports of Hungarian Dragunovs are listed north of $8,000 on GunBroker, so if these can get to market for half the price it would get a lot more people shooting this platform.