The Springfield Armory line of SAINT AR-15’s has been quite well-received by the American shooting public. Since its introduction in 2016, the SAINT has occupied an enviable niche. This entire line of modern sporting rifles offers bespoke features at a mid-range price. Backed up by that legendary Springfield Armory quality, the SAINT is a monotonously reliable modern sporting rifle from a storied manufacturer.

Since its introduction, the SAINT has evolved considerably. The SA-16 is a perfect semi-auto rendition of the M16A2 service rifle. The SAINT Victor and SAINT Edge lines offer their own enhanced features. All of the SAINT weapons are sufficiently reliable to keep you secure most anywhere under most any circumstances. However, they are also all kind of long-ish.

TESTED: SAINT Victor Pistol

Now, Springfield Armory has launched a new 5.56mm SAINT Victor AR pistol. Based upon the time-tested and ergonomically-perfect AR-15 chassis, these top-flight pocket howitzers feature stubby 11.5-inch barrels and an SB Tactical Pistol Stabilizing Brace (PSB). The end result is compact, accurate, reliable, and powerful. It also doesn’t require a tax stamp. Additionally, with a little judicious accessorizing, this new SAINT pistol can also be transformed into something frankly incredible. Whether they intended to or not, Springfield Armory has created the ultimate survival/bugout/counter-zombie gun.

Foundational Dogma

The gun world has been transformed in the past couple of decades. The structural guidance that governs our quirky little sport was codified back in 1934. For three quarters of a century, the many-splendored dicta that defined rifles, shotguns, handguns, and sundry other weapons seemed to be set in stone and destined never to change. Then Alex Bosco designed the world’s first Pistol Stabilizing Brace (PSB), and the entire planet shifted just a little bit.

Per the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA), rifles are expected to have buttstocks and are designed to be fired with both hands. They also sport a minimum barrel length of 16 inches. Back then, the state of the art was a basic autoloader like the Winchester M1907.

By contrast, handguns were nominally designed to be fired one-handed. They could have barrels of any length. Think an M1911 pistol or pretty much any revolver ever made. 

Contemporary Large-Format Pistols

Now fast forward nearly a century. Nowadays most everybody carries a device in their pocket that will answer any question known to man and let you speak to people in Cameroon while you’re out walking in the park in Des Moines. Stuff like that obviously would have been unfathomable back in 1934.

Similarly, back in the 1930’s armed professionals were trained to fire their handguns meticulously with one hand. Literally nobody does that any more. We run our pistols one-handed only when our support hand has been shot off. It is simply that these antiquated definitions have not kept up with advances in technology or tactics. 

Because we are still living under the 1934 NFA, you can walk out of most any American gun shop packing a handgun that will hide in your pocket with nothing but an instant background check and a credit card. However, cutting the barrel on a rifle back to less than sixteen inches demands an onerous registration with the government, fingerprints, and a $200 tribute. All that was considered inviolate dogma until 2012 and the introduction of Alex Bosco’s first Pistol Stabilizing Brace. The PSB allowed full-figured handguns made from rifle chassis to become markedly safer and more controllable.

Springfield SAINT Victor Pistol Details

The SAINT Victor 5.56mm AR pistol is a lightweight, direct gas impingement, AR-based firearm. The weapon comes with a 30-round Magpul P-Mag in the states where these are allowed. An advanced Type 23 P-Grip from B5 Systems helps keep your strong side elbow tucked in tight as it should. 

This SAINT Victor pistol features an 11.5-inch Melonite-finished barrel. This dimension strikes the perfect balance between portability and performance. Thanks to that PSB, the SAINT Victor pistol offers a compact chassis without any extraneous registration requirements. 

The trim free-floated forearm sports M-LOK real estate aplenty, and there is ample Picatinny space for optics. Top-quality, spring-loaded iron sights come standard, and the gun includes five standard sling sockets. The muzzle is tipped with a GI-issue five-slot M4 flash suppressor. There is a neat hand stop up front as well to ensure that sensitive fingers don’t run afoul of the scary bits.

An Accu-Tite wedge keeps the upper and lower receivers reliably rigid. The nickel boron-coated trigger group exhibits an exceptionally precise and placid comportment. Curiously, the bilateral safety rotates through 45 degrees rather than the traditional 90. That grew on me quickly. A Melonite-coated bolt carrier group makes cleanup a snap.

Accessorizing

The mission here was to create the most effective survival weapon in the known universe. I mounted a Shinenyx AIM 101 fusion riflescope up top. This magnificent piece of kit combines thermal capabilities with a digital image intensifier to create a synergistic fused image that offers the best of both technologies. The sight includes a built-in laser rangefinder and GPS. The controls are both simple and intuitive, and the optic runs off of an internal rechargeable battery. The AIM 101 transforms the SAINT 5.56mm pistol into an all-weather, day-or-night counter-zombie beast.

I bolted a Streamlight TLR-8 XG to the forearm rail. This combination 1,000-lumen white light and green laser offers inimitable low-light performance at a good price. The whole unit is also not much bigger than my big toe. The TLR-8XG runs on a single CR123A battery and is military-grade tough. 

That 11.5-inch barrel is a monster. Unadorned, it is both incredibly loud and fairly flashy. To dial that back, I removed the standard flash suppressor and exchanged it for a SilencerCo Velos LBP sound suppressor.

The SilencerCo Velos LBP is all but indestructible and is rated for pretty much anything that will fit through it. LBP stands for Low Back Pressure. This high-tech sound suppressor minimizes gas blowback in direct gas impingement weapons like the SAINT. The cumulative result is surprisingly effective despite the short barrel. 

Let Us Retire to the Range…

Holy snap. Thusly configured, this rascal is spank-your-momma-grade cool. Even in pitch black darkness, this optimized room-clearing beast will reach out long distances and bring the pain on pigs and similar varmints. It would no doubt do a comparable job on bipedal threats as well. I can think of no better counter-zombie rig.

This thing will absolutely ruin you to full-sized rifles. Even with the Velos LBP can in place, the SAINT Victor 5.56mm pistol remains delightfully compact. As a result, the gun takes corners like a Ducati while retaining plenty of downrange thump. 

The SAINT Victor 5.56mm AR pistol shoots exceptionally straight out to reasonable ranges despite its stubby tube. Expect single jagged holes at 25 meters and superb groups at several times that. There is some predictable velocity drop over a full-sized rifle. However, the abbreviated SAINT Victor 5.56mm pistol yet still remains plenty powerful for any imaginable defensive applications.

Victory Taming the SAINT Victor

With the Velos LBP installed, the gun’s personality is surprisingly placid. Without the can, it will draw a crowd. The suppressor seriously mitigates both noise and flash, while the superb nickel boron-coated fire controls ensure a rarefied trigger experience. You’ll want to bring plenty of bullets. Running this thing is habit-forming.

I used the SAINT Victor pistol to centerpunch chemical hand warmers in the dead of night and ring steel in the daytime. For an all-weather, day-or-night, end-of-the-world defensive tool, this rig is legit unbeatable. The MSRP for the gun is $1,150. That of the high-tech Shinenyx fusion night sight is $2,999. The Streamlight illuminator is $279. The SilencerCo Velos LBP is $1,174. Add all that up, and that’s some serious money no matter your station. However, this synergistic combination does starkly demonstrate just what is possible this deep into the Information Age. It is indeed a brave new world.

Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol Specs

• Type: Direct Gas Impingement Semiautomatic
• Caliber: 5.56x45mm
• Barrel: 11.5 inches
• Overall Length: 27.5 inches Retracted/ 30.75 inches Extended
• Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Finish: Black Anodized
• Sights: Flip Rear Peep/Front Post/Electro-Optic
• MSRP (Gun Only): $1,150

Springfield Armory SAINT Victor Pistol Perfomance