Review: Springfield SAINT Victor 9mm Pistol

Grady Trent7 hours ago

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Review: Springfield SAINT Victor 9mm Pistol

In today’s article, Dr. Will Dabbs reviews the new Springfield Armory SAINT Victor pistol chambered for the 9mm cartridge. The new handgun offers a great collection of features that shooters will appreciate. Springfield provided a loaner to the author for this review.

The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 9mm pistol offers an incredible feature set that lends itself to both recreational shooting and self-defense. Image: Carson McDaniel/Springfield Armory

The new SAINT Victor Pistol in 9mm takes the storied line of Springfield Armory AR-pattern firearms in a fascinating direction. Featuring an ultra-stubby 5.5” barrel and a very manageable and benign 9mm chambering, this SAINT Victor Pistol could be the ultimate home defense tool. In addition to keeping you and yours safe come what may, this lithe little close quarters sports gun is also a superlative way to kill a lazy recreational Saturday afternoon at the range.

Details on the 9mm SAINT Pistol

The SAINT Victor 9x19mm Parabellum pistol orbits around a fairly traditional AR-15-style rifle foundation. Developed in the mid-1950s by Eugene Stoner and a few others, this basic ergonomic layout is apparently perfect. The flower of modern engineering prowess has tried and failed to improve upon the details. The classic orientation of the bolt catch, magazine release, and safety are simply as good as mankind can make them. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…

Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 9x19mm Parabellum pistol review — The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 9x19mm Parabellum pistol is compact, yet has a long enough barrel for impressive ammo performance. Image: Carson McDaniel/Springfield Armory

Unlike a traditional 5.56x45mm NATO chambered AR, the SAINT Victor 9mm pistol is configured to accept a skinny double-stack, double-feed, Colt-pattern 32-round box magazine. The gun comes with one. But how does that skinny little mag fit into an AR magwell?

While many pistol-caliber AR firearms use some kind of rickety adapter to constrict the 5.56mm magwell down to accept these stubby little pistol rounds, the forged 7075 T6 aluminum lower receiver of the SAINT Victor Pistol is designed from the outset to accommodate the popular 9mm pistol cartridge with a downsize magwell. The lower also includes the Accu-Tite receiver tensioning system to excise any wiggle from the chassis.

Like the lower, the forged 7075 T6 aluminum upper is also designed around the 9mm cartridge, with a shortened ejection port and cover, forward-positioned case deflector and no forward assist. Topping off the receiver is an integral strip of Picatinny rail.

Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 9x19mm Parabellum pistol for home defense — The Springfield Armory SAINT Victor 9mm pistol can be ideal for a home defense role.

The Colt-pattern magazine requires no special tools to load and is as reliable as the tides. The muzzle includes a nifty-looking Springfield Armory Muzzle Drum. This ornately designed muzzle device further helps control the very minimal recoil of this pistol.

The gun functions via an unlocked, direct-blowback action. A combination of recoil spring tension and bolt carrier mass keeps the action closed long enough during the firing process to safely cycle the action. It is simple, robust and reliable. Also of note is the fact the action locks open on an empty mag.

The manual of arms of the pistol is identical to any M4/AR you have ever fired. That makes the transition from a rifle-caliber AR to the SAINT Victor Pistol in 9mm intuitive and painless. The trigger is a premium flat-faced nickel boron coated unit that eclipses anything Uncle Sam ever put on his service rifles.

Springfield SAINT Victor 9mm pistol trigger — The author found the flat-faced nickel boron-coated trigger to be divine. The trigger is consistent and free from grittiness.

The oversized polymer triggerguard comes from B5 Systems. This mates up with a B5 Systems Type 23 P-Grip as well as a 45-degree ambidextrous safety. The B5 pistol grip offers a more oblique grip-to-frame angle than is the case with traditional M4 fare. This geometry helps keep your strong-side elbow tucked in tight. The forearm sports ample M-Lok real estate for accessories.

The back bit comes equipped with an adjustable SB Tactical SBA3 pistol brace, that fits on the three-position receiver extension. Also of note is a QD point on the receiver end plate.

SAINT Victor 9mm Pistol Specifications

Chambering	9mm
Barrel Length	5.5″
Weight	5 lbs., 12 oz.
Overall Length	20″-22.5″
Sights	n/a
Grip	B5 Systems Type 23 P-Grip
Action	Straight blowback
Finish	Black
Capacity	32 (one magazine included)
MSRP	$1,099

Accessorizing

A pistol this awesome needs some epic accessories. I mounted a Meprolight M22 Pro self-illuminated reflex sight up top. That which separates the standard M22 from the Pro is an external battery-powered light module that enhances the reticle during those rare times that the M22’s onboard tritium illumination source might not be up to the task.

Springfield Armory Muzzle Drum on 9mm pistol — The Springfield Armory Muzzle Drum helps keep muzzle blast focused forward. It is compact but capable.

The M22 Pro incorporates a bright tritium lamp as well as a fiber optic feed to gather in available ambient light. Those two synergistic systems keep the optic bright and useful under most any circumstances. However, on rare occasions when you might be in a dark space aiming into someplace bright, the reticle can wash out. For those unusual circumstances, the external battery-powered light module gives the sight a little extra kick.

I bolted on a Streamlight TLR-8G combination light and laser up front. This nifty rascal is about the size of a 12-gauge minishell, yet it puts out a whopping 500 lumens of brilliant white light and includes a powerful green laser. The whole rig runs off of a standard CR123A lithium battery.

Despite being small enough to ride about underneath a service pistol, the TLR-8G punches through the hardest dark and keeps you shooting straight and true from any position under most any circumstance. The TLR-8G is both indestructible and effective, and all at a price that is markedly lower than the Other Guys.

The thread pitch on the muzzle is standard 1/2×28. That means you can set up a sound suppressor should you have one handy using a simple direct thread mount. Thusly configured, the SAINT Victor Pistol in 9mm doesn’t make a great deal of noise.

Trigger Time

I learned that it takes perhaps a single magazine to take this nifty little gun’s measure. It is reliably accurate, even out to 100 meters or more. Take your time, and you can expect single ragged holes at CQB ranges. The SB Tactical brace does indeed do a splendid job of stabilizing the pistol. Double taps flow forth like Rachmaninoff’s Piano concerto No 2 in C minor.

accuracy testing the Springfield SAINT Victor 9mm — At 20 meters the SAINT Victor 9mm pistol groups like a dream, as shown by these shooting results.

The gun weighs 5 lbs., 12 oz.; so it doesn’t jump around much at all, even during rapid strings of fire.

As noted, the gun locks open on empty magazines, which drop free when you stroke the magazine release. To put the gun back in action, just stick in a fresh mag and hit the bolt release. As the skinny 9mm mags are markedly more compact than a comparable 5.56mm P-Mag, it is easy to carry a bunch of them.

double stack and double feed magazine — The double-stack, double-feed magazine is easy to charge without a loader. They feed reliably and have a multi-decade track record of proven performance.

I tried every kind of 9mm ammo I could find in the Victor 9mm pistol. Hardball, hollowpoints, lightweight copper solids or subsonic truncated cones, the Victor pistol didn’t much care. Unlike some 9mm carbines and subguns, the SAINT Victor 9mm pistol was not ammo-sensitive at all. It ran everything reliably and well.

Shooting Range Results

Applications

9mm ammo is markedly cheaper than is 5.56mm, typically costing about half what the comparable rifle rounds might. It is also a more benign, softer-shooting cartridge with which to train. FMJ 9mm actually penetrates deeper through common building materials than does 5.56mm. That’s a bit counterintuitive, but it is predictable. However, you’ll likely stoke this gun with top-quality hollowpoints should you choose to use it for home or vehicular defense. Cheap FMJ rounds are for training and recreational blasting.

Springfield Armory Inc SAINT Victor 9x19mm Parabellum semi-automatic pistol — The SAINT Victor 9x19mm Parabellum semi-automatic pistol feeds from 32-round magazines and allows for the easy addition of a red dot sight or other optic. Image: Carson McDaniel

Recoil with the 9mm SAINT Victor Pistol is markedly more pleasant than is that of a comparably scaled rifle. Most importantly, however, is the muzzle blast. Out of short barrels like this one, standard 5.56mm will reliably loosen your dental fillings. However, particularly with the SA Muzzle Drum installed, the downrange chaos in this 9mm chambering remains quite placid. You won’t want to go back to your noisier guns.

The argument could be made that the SAINT Victor 9mm pistol is the ideal home defense tool. The gun is short, handy and reliable. These are all critical attributes for a close quarters defensive arm. Properly secured, it would be right at home tucked behind the door to your closet or behind the seat in your SUV.

Once in action, the SAINT Victor 9mm pistol corners like a Bugatti. When properly fed, it also carries ample downrange horsepower.

Ruminations

The SAINT Victor 9mm pistol combines all of the legendary AR-15 ergonomics and efficiency with a soft-shooting cartridge that still carries ample downrange thump. The gun is positively recreational on the range.

Tough yet svelte, the SAINT Victor Pistol in 9mm is an absolute joy to shoot. I’ve run them all, and I am convinced that this really is the ideal home defense gun. The MSRP is $1,099.

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