The only thing I personally found jank about the gameplay was the way sprinting worked.
But other than that the game was purposely designed to feel that way. Calling it jank makes it sound like it was unintentional, but the whole point of the game is that you're a normal person using real world armor and weapons.
I'm sure it will feel even smoother the second time around. What I'm personally referring to in terms of wishing Red Dead had this type of gameplay is more in regards of the RPG mechanics.