Review: SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol

By Will Dabbs, MD

In today’s review, Dr. Will Dabbs gets his hands on the Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol. The AR-style pistol offers a great deal of flexibility while offering the great quality Springfield Armory firearms are known for. The gun was provided to the author by the company for review.

The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is a fantastic firearm for personal protection.

The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is a compact, maneuverable powerhouse of a bugout gun that is a perfect choice for both home defense and recreational blasting. This big-boned handgun is both uncannily accurate and a hoot to shoot. Featuring plenty of that classic Springfield Armory secret sauce, the SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is a custom black gun with all the bells and whistles — and all at a good price.

Origin Story

The basic morphological dicta that define handguns and rifles in America were originally laid down back in 1934. Back then, telephones were the size of a microwave oven and were rigidly affixed to the wall. Additionally, not just everybody had one. Suffice it to say, much has transpired since then.

The 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) made it so that rifles must have buttstocks and be designed to be fired with two hands. They must sport barrels that are 16” or longer. Back then, your grandfather’s bolt-action hunting rifle would have been fairly typical of the genre.

Springfield SAINT Victor 5.56x45mm NATO pistol review — The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56 Pistol offers the maneuverability of a handgun with the 5.56mm performance.

By contrast, handguns were nominally designed to be fired one-handed. They could have barrels of any length. Armed professionals trained to fire their pistols one-handed back then. Literally nobody does that intentionally anymore. Now, fast forward nearly a century, and much has changed.

The SB Tactical SBA3 pistol-stabilizing brace (PSB) used on the SAINT 5.56mm Pistol is formed from comfortable rubber and includes a length of Velcro strapping that can affix it to your forearm. This appendage slips over a standard AR buffer tube and is slide-adjustable for length. Whether this thing is strapped to your arm or just propped against your bicep, it makes running these full-figured handguns both safer and more effective.

The Details

The SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is a lightweight, direct gas impingement, AR-based firearm that is exceptionally compact and maneuverable. The weapon feeds from standard AR-pattern magazines and comes with a 30-round Magpul PMAG in the states where these are allowed. A Type 23 P-Grip from B5 Systems helps keep your strong side elbow tucked in tight. It is also aggressively stippled for both comfort and a reliable grip. A B5 Systems polymer triggerguard rounds out the package further.

Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 556 NATO AR style pistol — The SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol feeds from standard AR-style magazines and comes with a Magpul PMAG that holds 30 rounds.

The 11.5” Melonite-finished chrome/moly/vanadium steel barrel used on the SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is exceptional. The evidence of that observation is made overtly manifest on the range. This is the same barrel length used on the Vietnam-era XM177E2 carbine. It strikes a nice balance between portability and performance.

Springfield SAINT Victor 5.56x45 NATO pistol review — The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is fitted with a 11.5″ barrel. This is long enough to enable good ammunition performance, while still keeping the overall length short.

The slim, free-floated forearm sports plenty of M-Lok space for accessories, and there is ample room for optics. Top-flight, spring-loaded iron sights come standard. The muzzle is tipped with a G.I.-issue five-slot M4 flash suppressor. There is a convenient handstop up front to help keep your sensitive fingers tucked away in their safe space, and a handy QD mount is located on the receiver end plate.

Springfield’s Accu-Tite wedge system excises any potential wobble between the upper and lower receivers. The nickel boron-coated trigger group is a cut above the G.I. standard, and it shows. The bilateral short-throw safety rotates through 45 degrees rather than the traditional 90. I found myself smitten with that. Melonite-coating on the internal steel bits sheds carbon fouling way better than whatever it is they used on the G.I. M16’s I used to be issued.

Specifications

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

Accessorizing

After mounting an optic, I mounted up a short length of Picatinny rail on the left aspect of the forearm to accept a new Streamlight TLR-8 XG. This cutting-edge combination 1000-lumen white light and green laser offers inimitable low-light performance at a price markedly below the Other Guys. The whole unit is also not much bigger than a lipstick tube. The TLR-8 XG runs on a single CR123A battery and is essentially indestructible.

Streamlight TLR-8 XG weapon light and laser mounted on Springfield SAINT Victor 5.56 pistol — Springfield Armory equips the pistol with plenty of M-Lok real estate for adding accessories. The author installed a Streamlight TLR-8 XG weapon light on his SAINT Victor 5.56 Pistol.

This stubby 11.5” barrel makes the devil’s own racket. Touching this bad boy off indoors will have you answering the phone for a couple of weeks when it’s not ringing. To tame that chaos, I removed the standard flash suppressor and exchanged it for a SilencerCo Velos LBP sound suppressor.

The SilencerCo Velos LBP is essentially unkillable. It will run safely and well with pretty much anything you can shove through it. LBP stands for “low back pressure.” This high-tech can is designed to minimize gas blowback in direct gas impingement weapons. The cumulative result is shockingly effective for its intended mission.

It’s Alive!

If ever you might have need to use a firearm in an enclosed space, this thing will absolutely ruin you to bulky guns. Even with the suppressor installed, the SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is refreshingly maneuverable. The gun takes corners like a slot car while still projecting ample authority downrange.

Springfield SAINT Victor 5.56 pistol ammunition testing — Shooting it as a pistol, the PMC Bronze 55-gr. ammunition delivered a 0.5″ group from the SAINT Victor pistol at 25 meters.

The SAINT Victor 5.56mm AR Pistol shoots incredibly straight despite its stubby barrel. My get-acquainted groups at 25 meters from a simple rest were all single jagged holes. You’ll lose a little velocity when compared with a full-length tube. However, 5.56mm, even out of an abbreviated 11.5” barrel, will still deliver an impressive amount of power.

Ruminations

There are a lot of top-quality firearms out there vying for your hard-earned cash these days. So, what makes the SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol different and desirable? For starters, the Springfield Armory mob spared no expense on the particulars. The basic chassis is classic SAINT. The gun’s furniture, coatings, and rarefied features synergistically combine to make this firearm as smooth, safe and comfortable as human beings can craft it.

Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 5.56 pistol review — The Springfield Armory SAINT 5.56mm Pistol offers exceptional performance in a compact package. The practical applications as a survival or bugout gun are obvious.

The SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol is also just a ton of fun. The gun shoots consistently and true out to the limits of the cartridge. It will obliterate milk jugs filled with water and detonate water-filled aluminum beverage cans. The gun offers trivial recoil and optimized ergonomics. The fact that shooting this thing is so enjoyable means that training is more recreation than work. We should all shoot more.

Springfield Armory’s new SAINT Victor 5.56mm Pistol represents a fresh new range experience for those who might be accustomed to running full-sized rifles. In my opinion, it’s the shape of things to come.

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