There’s a new SAINT in town: Field Trial of Springfield Armory’s SAINT Victor 308 AR Rifle

There’s a new SAINT in town and it’s got some serious thump. The new Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 308 is an AR-10 rifle that delivers more foot-pounds down range while keeping the popular lightweight attributes of the smaller AR-15 platform in play.

At just 7.8 pounds empty, it won’t break your back or cause irritable bunion syndrome while toting around the range or field.

The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor .308 AR-10 is decked out with plenty of upgrades.

As with other SAINT family members like the SAINT Edge pistol we tested a while back, the SAINT Victor .308 doesn’t skimp on details and premium upgrades. Some, like the Bravo Company Mod.3 pistol grip and 6-position butt stock are obvious. Others, like the quick detach sling point on the receiver butt plate don’t stand out, but offer thoughtful additions. You’ll also notice that the SAINT Victor ships with flip-up front and rear sights. The front is adjustable for elevation with a standard AR sight post tool. The rear adjusts for windage and has both large and small apertures for fast and precise aiming.

The barrel is a 16-inch lightweight profile model with a 1:10 twist rate. It’s free-floated and surrounded by a generous 15.5-inch M-LOK compatible handguard with infinity-billion attachment points at the 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 o’clock positions. The top rail is smooth except for a short rail segment up front for the iron sight and for an inch or so just forward of the receiver rail.

The trigger on the SAINT Victor is excellent. You'll get consistent finger placement, good pull motion, a short and smooth take-up and crisp break. — The trigger on the SAINT Victor is excellent. You’ll get consistent finger placement, good pull motion, a short and smooth take-up and crisp break.

The trigger is not in any way, shape or form a standard AR rifle trigger system. That’s a good thing. The nickel boron trigger is flat for starters. The flat surface is exactly finger width. That, combined with the bend at the top and small hook on the bottom gives automatic and consistent trigger finger placement for every shot. The take-up stage is 1/8^th of an inch. The next 1/16^th of an inch breaks the shot at five pounds of pressure. That surprised me as it feels less due to the smooth and crisp operation. I wouldn’t touch this – at all. The five pound pull is perfect for service or defensive use and the quality of the trigger makes it just fine for most other applications too.

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