Recent years have seen the emergence of a number of extremely well-designed pistols, specifically designed for competition and dynamic shooting, in which the quest for absolutely quick realignment on target has been pushed to the limit, and the Dragon currently sets the highest bar.
The Rideout Arsenal Dragon is an industry-leading competition gun. It is not designed as a police or law enforcement combat pistol, nor is it designed to meet the normal parameters of an everyday carry weapon.
The Dragon represents a category of its own, starting with the lever-delayed blowback system in the front of the gun, which is currently patent pending.
A lever mounted at the front of the bolt interfaces with the bolt carrier. When a cartridge is fired, the expanding gas pushes against the bolt face, initiating rearward movement.
However, the lever's geometry and placement creates a mechanical disadvantage that delays the bolt's rearward travel.
The lever pivots and transfers the force to the bolt carrier, effectively multiplying the apparent weight of the bolt. This delay allows the pressure in the barrel to drop to a safe level before the bolt unlocks and cycles. Once the pressure drops, the bolt and bolt carrier move together rearward, ejecting the spent case and loading a new round.
All components of the lever-delayed system are made of S7 tool steel. This results in a reliable and durable operating system. If necessary, the three small system components are easily replaceable.
Another advantage is that this fully mechanical system runs cold and stays clean much longer than gas-delayed systems. It is also not prone to malfunctions caused by lead build-up.
But the peculiarities of the Dragon are not limited to the operating system, which is only one element of the equation, but also include the extremely low height of the barrel bore axis in relation to the grip, made possible by the fact that the barrel is fixed. In a 9mm Glock pistol the barrel height is +32mm, rising to +44mm in a 2011-style handgun. In the Dragon the barrel height is -3.3 millimetres, i.e. the barrel bore is placed lower than the grip spur. This results in a muzzle rise of no more than 5° compared to approximately 15° in a standard 9mm pistol.
The Rideout Arsenal Dragon is a gun designed to be fully modular: the frame is made from 7075-T651 aerospace grade aluminum; on the rear of the frame is located the platform for the mounting of red dot sights, which then remains stationary when the gun is fired. This mounting platform, called N-ROC (Non-Reciprocating Optics Carrier) is patent-pending and is a core feature of the Dragon pistol. The N-ROC accepts RMR-footprint sights. During operation the N-ROC stays firmly fixed to the chassis, via its auto locking detent, keeping the sight picture stable. However, the shooter can still use the optic as a grip point to charge the bolt. The N-ROC system automatically locks to the chassis during firing, preventing any movement of the optic. No special hand position or button presses are required to use the N-ROC for cocking. This allows users to put the Dragon pistol into service without re-training from pistols equipped with slide-mounted optics.
The Dragon's fire control group has a flat-faced (1911-type) trigger from which the automatic safety protrudes; pull weight is approximately 1,300 grams.
The fire control group can be removed and replaced in the blink of an eye and without tools, as can the grip module, the backstrap, and the small mag funnel that makes magazine insertion easier. On both sides of the chassis are two textured areas ("gas pedals") that facilitate gun indexing and provide thumb support for the strong or weak hand. Manual controls (slide and bolt release) are on both sides of the pistol.
The Dragon is fed from15/17/20-round double-stack magazines compatible with those used on the Springfield Echelon pistols.
Barrel length is 5 inches (125 mm) for an overall gun length of 231 mm and a weight of 960 grams. The interesting features of the Dragon don't end here, but we will go into more detail in the coming days when we are at the SHOT Show 2026, where Rideout Arsenal will be exhibiting at booth 44130 in the Venetian Expo Center.
The first 100 examples of the Dragon have all already been sold and are currently in production.
The list price in the USA is around $3,500-3,600, depending on the equipment, which can include a number of exclusive accessories such as a compensator, a silencer mount, an N-ROC module with metal sights, different red dot footprints and oversized controls.
No variants in different calibers are planned for the time being.
To find out more, we invite you to visit the Rideout Arsenal website and follow our upcoming reports from the SHOT Show 2026.
