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

By Alan M. Rice Posted in #Guns

It’s unusual for a rifle to be so versatile that it can be used for more than one purpose. In my opinion, the new SAINT Victor 7.62, 20″ rifle is likely that one rifle.

Over the past few decades, Springfield has made rifles chambered for the relatively new 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge, and competitors have won many matches with this highly capable chambering. However, for mid-range shooting to 600 yards, the proven .308 Winchester/7.62×51 NATO round is an accurate, versatile and affordable cartridge.

On days with no wind, I’ve had good results for the stretch out to 1,000 yards. The .308 cartridge, at over 70 years old, is still considered one of the most, if not the most, inherently accurate .30-cal. rifle cartridge ever made. The adoption by the U.S. Military of the 7.62 NATO ensured handloaders always had a ready supply of low-cost, once-fired cases. Economical surplus ammunition has always been available.

A few months ago, Springfield Armory introduced a refreshed line of SAINT Victor rifles and pistols, chambered in 5.56mm and 7.62mm. I’ve been working with a sample chambered in 7.62mm that has a 20” barrel (they also offer a version with a shorter 16” barrel).

In my assessment, the 20” version is ideally suited for law enforcement patrol duty, euthanizing wounded animals, and home and farm defense. With its 20” barrel and .308 chambering, it can humanely harvest most large game animals in North America.

This versatile rifle offers many options. I will explain a few here where and will refer to the caliber as simply “.308”.

Many Hats

Many terms, such as “patrol rifle”, “home defense rifle”, “vehicle defense rifle”, “ranch rifle”, etc., describe modern semi-automatic rifles that can be used for defensive purposes. In recent decades, the 5.56mm (.223) chambering has become the dominant caliber for defensive rifles and carbines. For many applications, .223 is quite appropriate. However, there’s a time and place for a rifle with a little more punch.

Anything a .223 can do, a .308 — loaded with the correct ammunition — can do better. Ammunition manufacturers offer a wide range of bullet weights and designs for .308. None is a compromise. Velocity and energy drop when heavier .223 bullets are used. For competitive target shooters whose only concern is “group size,” this is not a problem. It can be a problem for defensive shooters.

In urban areas, where shot distances would be relatively short, a rifle or carbine chambered in .223 is more than adequate. However, in rural areas, where a law enforcement officer or armed citizen might have to euthanize a badly wounded large animal, a rifle chambered in .308 is far more useful than one that is chambered in .223.

Reaching Out

While some prefer carbines because they are shorter and more maneuverable, I prefer a full-size rifle because I want the extra muzzle velocity (and energy transfer) that a 20” barrel delivers.

Most reloading manuals inform readers that for barrels shorter than the test barrel, shooters should expect a velocity loss of about 20 feet per second (fps) per inch of barrel length reduction. There will also be a corresponding loss of energy. My testing with several Springfield rifles confirms this.

The .308 Winchester cartridge was designed just after the Second World War, a time when rifles generally wore longer barrels. Some, like the M14 (or its civilian sibling, the Springfield Armory M1A), had barrels as long as 22”. Shorter rifle barrels (16”, 14.5”, and 11”) did not become common for a few more years.

One of the benefits of deploying a .308 rifle is the availability of factory ammunition with bullet weights from 120 grains up to 220 grains. Handloaders have even more choices as to bullet weights. The cartridge can be matched to the intended purpose. The advantage of a 20” barrel becomes ever more apparent as the distance to the target is increased.

The SAINT Victor has a terrific set of folding metal sights, and the smaller aperture on the dual-aperture rear sight will certainly aid in longer-distance shooting. However, I am a firm believer in using a scope or red dot as the primary sighting system on any rifle intended for serious use.

On the new SAINT, I mounted a Leupold Mark 4 HD 2.5-10x, in a Leupold Mark IMS Mount. This scope provides the operator with options. I zero precision .308 rifles at 300 yards. While it is a fine piece of machinery, the SAINT Victor is designed as a tactical rifle. As a result, I zeroed both the optic and backup sights at 50 yards, allowing the operator to use the same point of aim on the center of mass of a silhouette target from arms-length out to 200 yards. At distances to about 160 yards, the change in the point of impact will be less than one inch. At 170 yards, the bullet begins to drop, and the point of impact will gradually change to about 3” low at 200 yards.

At 2.5X, the rifle can be used for building clearing or to address threats at shorter distances. The scope features a throw lever on the magnification ring, making it quick and easy to increase magnification to identify and engage threats at longer distances. In my experience, 4X is about the most magnification that can be used for unsupported (off-hand) shooting. At longer distances, a defender will likely have time to get into a supported shooting position and use the scope at a higher magnification level.

Setting Up

The rifle’s free-float M-Lok rail has four anti-rotation QD sling-mounting points. The B5 buttstock has two. These attachment points make it easy to use a Magpul MS1 QDM Sling. The QDM quick-release swivels mate nicely with the female QD mounts on the SAINT Victor’s rail.

The MS1 sling allows the rifle to be carried in front, in a ready position, also called “patrol carry,” enabling rapid engagement of a threat. This tactical sling has a pull tab that allows the operator to pull the rifle tight against the body to prevent it from bouncing when running. The MS1 sling can also help steady the rifle for longer shots. I also attached a short Picatinny rail to the M-Lok rail, allowing me to add a GG&G XDS bipod.

A rifle that is configured for defensive use needs ammunition specifically designed for that purpose. Accuracy must be good, and, equally important, the ammunition must properly expand to prevent overpenetration. Hornady offers two .308 cartridges that it recommends for defensive use. The .308 Critical Defense cartridge is loaded with a 155-gr. FTX bullet. The FTX bullet is designed for fast expansion and deep penetration (but not over penetration). I fired several boxes and found it very consistent and accurate. Hornady advertises a muzzle velocity of 2,785 fps; 20 shots measured by a Garmin Xero averaged 2,642 fps out of the 20”-barreled Victor.

For several decades, the iconic bullet weight for mid-range .308 Winchester has been 168 grains. Hornady sent me some of their excellent 168-gr. ELD Match ammunition. They told me that even though it is not a hunting or defensive round, the 168-gr. ELD Match provides more than enough terminal performance for personal defense or euthanizing a wounded animal. This cartridge was very accurate when fired out of the 20” Victor. The muzzle velocity of 20 shots averaged 2,555 fps.

The likelihood of using a SAINT Victor to engage a lethal threat at 200 yards is probably less than 20% for a law enforcement officer. Far more likely is a civilian using a rifle to harvest a game animal at 200 yards. This is an area where a .308 rifle with a 20” barrel will outperform both a .223 rifle as well as a .308 rifle with a shorter barrel, because the bullet will have more velocity (and more energy) when it leaves the muzzle.

In rural areas, where schools and commercial buildings are on larger pieces of property, there’s a greater likelihood of engaging a threat at distances close to 100 yards. The extra space allows you to take cover and use it to your advantage against a violent threat. In this type of situation, a magnified optic is essential to properly identify a threat. In my opinion, the Leupold Mark 4 HD 2.5-10x is perfect for this purpose because the TMR reticle helps estimate the target’s distance.

However, if the iron sights and scope were properly zeroed at 50 yards, there should be no discernible change in trajectory before 160 yards, where the bullet will then drop about 1.5”. At 200 yards, there will be an additional 2” of drop. This is why a 50-yard zero works well for tactical .308 rifles: aiming at the upper torso of a target will guarantee consistent hits out to 200 yards. The adjustment up to the shoot point of aim at 200 yards is about 3.7”, or one-half milliradian. The Leupold’s TMR reticle makes “holding over” instead of adjusting easy.

Back to those options provided by the SAINT Victor: the Picatinny rail on the top of the receiver allows an operator to zero more than one optic to the rifle, and zeroed optics can be swapped in a few seconds. To prepare for any possible engagement, I zeroed a Nightforce NX8 1-8x to the rifle. At the 1x setting, the scope functions like a non-magnified red dot — all the operator needs to do is place the dot on the target in the desired place of bullet impact. If someone expects to carry their rifle in the field for long periods or is more likely to engage threats at shorter distances, the Nightforce NX8 is a bit smaller and lighter than the Leupold Mark 4HD.

Using the 155-gr. Hornady Critical Defense ammunition, whether standing or seated on the ground, I was able to consistently shoot both the “center mass” and the head area of a silhouette target within what I refer to as the “50-yard window”. It was also easy to place shots onto the multicolored shapes surrounding the silhouette. The Nightforce NX8 1-8x made it easy to place the shots where I desired.

Conclusion

In my opinion, anyone who needs a versatile and adaptable rifle chambered in a serious cartridge should consider the new Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 7.62 20″. It definitely checks all the boxes.

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