testtest

SAINT Victor 7.62 20": The Do-Everything Rifle?

I got myself this a few years back. Saved my pennies to get it tricked out the way I wanted.
Crimson scope, bipod, 45 degree side mounted fiber optic sights, flashlight, and the sling. To have to carry.
I am really looking forward to getting the hang of long range shooting.
More to learn then meets the eye.
 
Great Rifle. Got one the week they first hit the market.
Accurate and well built.
Thousands of rounds and hundreds of hogs later, my Saint .308 runs like a champ with Zero issues with general maintenance/cleaning.

Even runs a 50 round Magpul drum mag, but it makes for a HEAVY SOB 😬 😆
 
Good write up. I have to concur with the author. I started out with my dad's 30-06 many years ago. I still have that rifle. Built around a Swedish Mauser action, with honest to goodness deep midnight-blue bluing polished to a high shine and laid in a custom stock. It is a graceful and beautiful specimen from the 60s... and it is a tack driver. Some of my best groups were shot with that rifle. But, the 30-06 fell out of grace with the military and ammunition cost began to rise, so the migration to 308 seemed logical to me.

I will never be a 1000 yard shooter, so the limitations of the 308 were a moot point to me. I have lots of target rifles now chambered in 308 and it has done all I could ask of it. I hand load everything I shoot. I tamed the recoil a bit with a load that I cooked up years ago that seemed to be a sweet spot between wimpy and maximum kick... 168gr match bullet on top of 43gr of BL- C2. Chronographs at 2450fps from a 20" barrel. Cases are carefully sized and trimmed, and the use of a "factory crimp" die, set to a gentle crimp, standardizes the mouth/bullet tension. These are a bit soft as they are 350fps under max, but the object here is hitting what you aim at and these will consistently group under an inch.
For hand loaders, switching calibers is a task not taken lightly. It means new dies, learning the characteristic of a new caliber, working up a load (power & bullet choice), Chronograph work, etc..

I actually a 308 Saint in my safe. I got it from my son. He was going to trade it off for an HK something-or-other and take a big hit in the trade (they never give much on trade). So I gave him a fair price and now it sets in my safe. He always tells me what a great rifle it is... but I have never shot it. The real up-side to this is that he will get it back some day.

There is something here about teaching old dog new tricks. Why mess with perfection. Well, my wife has a Springfield Waypoint 2020 in 6.5CM. It too is a fine rife and I have no complaints on it. I know if I miss the mark it's not the rifle... it's me. My wife liked it so much she "adopted" it... so it is "now" hers. I had a slew of 223, as a boy shot plenty of 30-30s, and my son has a 300WM. But I always come back to the 308, seems like home to me.
 
Last edited:
I bought this, the Saint couple years ago, it is a fine rifle indeed, I also own an M1A from 20+ years ago, I still prefer my M1 over Saint Victor, The M1 just "feels" better when I shoulder the weapon and shoot it. And the M1 is a couple pounds heavier.
 
great article...you can spend less or more $$ on an AR but the Saint is the BEST....what caliber is like blondes,,redheads,,or brunettes...we all have our on idea...308 or 300 blackout simply because of the 30 caliber bullet...now for my grand daughter,,,young grand sons..almost no recoil...very little noise....the 300 blackout is the easy choice...bullet placement in deer size is the key.....past 200 yards..NO... and ideally within 100 yards..most people are poor shots past 100 yards...again get you a Saint and try a no nonsense 300 blackout
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top