Every so often a customer walks into my shop asking about a gun they saw in a video game. Lately it’s been the Jackal PDW from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The video above, from the Stuff and Things channel, covers a real-world version of it, and since I’m Lance Rankin, the gunsmith behind Western Sport here in Roanoke, Texas, I figured I’d give you my take on their build. Credit where it’s due: the range work and the conversion in the video are all theirs. The opinions below are mine.
What this thing actually is
The in-game Jackal is modeled on the “Gepard,” an experimental Soviet design from the late ’80s and early ’90s. The original was built to be modular, convertible between calibers from .380 ACP up through 9x19mm and various Russian rounds, at a time when the Soviets were short on submachine guns.
What Stuff and Things put on the range isn’t one of those. It’s a conversion kit on a Century Arms Draco NAK9, the 9mm Romanian AK-pattern pistol, dressed up to match the video game aesthetic. It feeds from Glock magazines instead of anything Soviet, which is a practical choice even if it’s not period-correct. As a gunsmith, I’ll say this: building a convincing lookalike on an AK-pattern blowback gun is harder than it sounds, and they pulled off the look.
How it shoots
Per the video, accuracy was honestly decent. They were ringing steel at 150 to 200 yards, which is plenty for a pistol-caliber gun. The comfort report is less kind, and it matches what I’d expect from the platform:
- The safety has no positive stop and sits in an awkward spot, so working it takes a deliberate reach.
- It’s direct blowback, so that heavy bolt slams back and forth and you feel every bit of it. A 9mm PCC shouldn’t kick, but blowback guns thump more than people expect.
- The short brace puts your face close to the dust cover, the grip is cramped, and the mag release is a stretch.
One detail I liked from the teardown: the gas tube is fake. It’s cosmetic, with a weight inside to help the blowback action cycle. That’s the kind of clever workaround you see in conversion builds.
The magazine catch, literally
Here’s the part that would generate service tickets at my bench. Standard Glock 17 and 19 mags don’t seat reliably because the latch point sits too high. You need extended 30- or 33-round sticks, or you’re modifying mags. If a customer brought me this gun complaining about feeding issues, that’s the first thing I’d check. A gun that’s picky about magazines is a range toy by definition, not a defensive tool.
The trigger is standard AK fare, somewhere around 6 or 7 pounds with a slightly sticky reset. The muzzle device is a reproduction of the game’s flash hider, threaded 1/2×28, so at least you can suppress it. With an 11-to-12-inch barrel it’s not exactly compact, either. An MP5 clone does the same job in a smaller package.
My verdict
Serious firearm? No. It’s uncomfortable, mag-picky, and there are better 9mm carbines at every price. Fun meme? Absolutely, and I don’t say that as an insult. Range toys are a legitimate reason to own a gun, and if a Call of Duty build gets somebody to a range for the first time, that’s a win. GoldenEye did the same thing for a whole generation, mine included.
If the video-game itch strikes and you’d rather build something you’ll still love in five years, that’s what I do all day. Check out my guide to the best AR pistols or how to build an AR-15, and if you find something odd online, I handle FFL transfers for $40 plus the $10 Texas NICS check. Questions? [email protected] or 817-393-4000.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
