"...and how much does it impact your ability to fire an AK-47 anyway?" Height doesn't affect it at all. But upper body strength does. If you are fighting in urban environment, your typical stance is to hold your weapon in firing position and walks slowly or jog smoothly. That's 4,3kg peace of metal you should be able to hold with extended arms in front of you. Personally I can do 20min with ease, but 40min is quite maximum or I start shaking. If you want to shoot burst with you AK47, you should know that the bastard shakes like a Polaroid picture. Shooting burst comes handy in close combat, as you are not satisfied with hitting your enemy, you actually want to take him down as quickly as possible. If you want to be more accurate while shooting burst, your friends are practice and upper body muscle mass. Women don't just have less muscle, they also develop slower. PS. I'm not against women in the army. I think they should do a fair share of the suffering if shit hits the fan. But I don't think you should put them in just any unit.
