Rifleman Review: Springfield Armory Saint Victor .308 Win.

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posted on January 5, 2022

Springfield Armory only recently made its entry into the AR-platform world, with its first models like the Saint in 5.56 mm NATO being released only a few years ago. However, despite its late entry into a saturated market with well-established competition, Springfield Armory AR-platform rifles and carbines offer plenty of built in features and included accessories right out of the box.

The Springfield Armory Saint Victor is an AR-10 platform semi-automatic rifle chambered in .308 Win., which was reviewed in 2020 by American Rifleman staff. It is operated by the platform's typical direct-impingement gas system, and comes with a 16" chrome-moly-vanadium steel barrel that is topped off with a Melonite finish. The barrel is threaded with 5/8-24" TPI at the muzzle, and comes topped off with a Springfield Armory compensator pre-installed. 

The Springfield Armory Saint Victor chambered in .308 Win.

The barrel itself is completely free-floating, surrounded by a 15" hand guard made by Springfield Armory which has M-Lok slots machined in. Instead of having a Picatinny rail segment run completely across the top of the hand guard, as is typically the case with other manufacturers, the Springfield handguard only has small portions of Picatinny rail at the front and rear. The rest is machined below the rail and smooth, providing better grip areas for the supporting hand.

As an AR-10-style rifle, the Saint Victor has a separable upper and lower receiver group, with both receivers being made from 7075-T6 aerospace-grade aluminum. The features of the upper receiver are very similar to other flat-top AR-10s found on the market today, with a Picatinny rail segment integrated into the top, shell deflector, standard forward assist and dust cover.

A closer look at the features on the upper and lower receiver of the Saint Victor, as seen from the right side.

The lower receiver has Springfield's own unique markings, but is stylized very similarly to other AR-10 receivers as well, though the trigger guard is integral with the receiver rather than being a separate piece. Controls on both the upper and lower receivers are of the standard AR-type, without extensions or ambidextrous features.  

For furniture, the Saint Victor wears an OEM Bravo Company USA grip and Mod.3 adjustable stock. Both are made of polymer, with the stock having a rubber butt pad at the back. The stock is adjustable for length-of-pull by depressing a lever at the bottom and features QD sling button points integrated into the sides, while the grip has a spare-part storage area molded in, accessed through a door on the bottom.

Testing the Saint Victor on the range.

An additional single QD attachment point is also machined into the buffer tube end plate, mounted to the back lower receiver. The Saint Victor also comes with a flat-faced, single-stage trigger, with a pull weight of 5 lbs., 9 ozs. Included with the rifle is a 20-round Magpul magazine, as well as a set of flip-up iron sights. The iron sights attach to the Picatinny slots, and are made of metal for increased durability.

The front sight features a single adjustable post, while the rear has a dual aperture that can be flipped. Both iron sights are spring loaded, and can be quickly deployed by pressing a release button on the left side. Overall, the Springfield Armory Saint Victor weighs in at 7 lbs., 11 ozs. unloaded. For more information on the Springfield Armory Saint Victor and other AR-type rifles offered by Springfield, visit springfield-armory.com.    

To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.

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