Tag Archives: saint victor

How about an NFA compliant 18 inch PDW with a Honey Badger Brace?

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Featuring a 5.5-inch barrel, Colt-pattern 32-round magazines, and an SB Tactical HB brace on a three-position receiver extension, the new Saint Victor PDW from Springfield Armory is maneuverable and uncompromising.

Springfield introduced its first 9mm blowback-action Saint Victor model AR in late 2022, featuring a Melonite-coated 16-inch CMV barrel with a 1:10-inch twist, ambidextrous safety, nickel-boron-coated flat trigger, and a standard GI-style charging handle. In a departure from the widespread use of Glock double-stack mags for 9mm PCCs, the Victor carbine accepted 32-round Colt SMG stick mags, which are widely available. We’ve evaluated these carbines in the past and found them to deliver on the range.

Since then, the stick-magged 9mm PCC proved popular, with Springfield responding to customer feedback by delivering more compact models, including an 8.5-inch and a 5.5-inch pistol outfitted with an SB Tactical SB-A3 stabilizing brace. The 5.5 incher, in particular, taped out between 20 and 22.5 inches due to the adjustable receiver extension.

Going even more compact, the new Saint Victor 9mm PDW sticks with the 5.5-inch barrel, while its SB Tactical HBPDW brace, paired with a short buffer system, shrinks the overall length to 18.5 inches and feels much more solid.

And that brings us to this:

The new Saint Victor 9mm PDW uses forged 7075 T6 aluminum, Type III hardcoat anodized receivers finished in a low-glare Tungsten Gray Cerakote. 
With its HBPDW brace collapsing into its shortest format, the pistol is 18.5 inches long while still offering a 23.5-inch extended length. Like the rest of its family, it runs Colt-pattern 32-round stick mags.

Sporting probably the best brace I’ve felt and using a common ($30) double-stack steel mag that gives it a very SMG vibe, this new AR-9 from Springfield knocks it out of the park and fits in just about any bag big enough to hold a laptop.

We found the Victor PDW to fit easily in a 5.11 LVC12 Backpack. The bag is small enough (19″ H x 11″ W x 7.5″ D) to be discreet with a clean, urban profile, and still has lots of extra storage available besides the pistol and extra mags.

If you want a solid and utterly dependable 9mm PDW platform that can live in just about any bag that stands 19 inches high, this is it. The tolerances are tight. It is well thought out. It has a vibe.

About the worst you can say is that it is hefty by comparison, about a half pound heavier than a Kuna, which has a softer recoil and is a little cheaper. Plus, when you first load those Colt pattern sticks, take your pre-workout because you have to work on it to get to 32. After a while, they break in, but you have to climb that hill first.

Still, if you are looking for an AR-9 platform that can fit in almost any bag, here you go.

the new Springfield Saint Victor PDW
The MSRP on the new Springfield Saint Victor PDW is $1,399

The Saint Victor is now a solid option for off-the-shelf ARs

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Springfield Armory has debuted its new and improved Saint Victor series for 2025, and we have been testing a Coyote Brown 16-inch model for the past few months to give you guys the full review.

Springfield has been in the AR game for a minute and introduced its Saint series in 2016, followed by the more high-end Saint Victor series in 2019. In September 2025, the revamp of the Victor line brought a ton of new features and enhancements to the series that customers have been asking for, now in 16 new models. 

As the gun gives you 7 QD points and 56 M-LOK slots, you have a lot of room to accessorize.

We added a Streamlight Pro-Tac HP-X 800 lumen light, an Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic 2 MOA red dot reflex sight on a QRP2 mount, and a BFG sling. A SilencerCo Omega 36M, a modular multi-caliber suppressor rated up to .338 LPM and .350 Legend, rode along for most of the 500 rounds sent downrange.

The new standard includes a Radian Raptor LT charging handle, nitride-finished 4150 CMV barrels with a continuous tapered profile, crowned muzzles, and low-profile gas blocks; aluminum handguards with a full-length top Picatinny rail, M-LOK slots, and lots of QD sling points; four-prong flash hiders on threaded muzzles, and an enhanced bolt carrier group. Furniture includes B5 Systems Enhanced SOPMOD stocks, Type 23 P-Grip pistol grips, and polymer trigger guards. Other features include 45-degree ambidextrous safety levers, low-profile aluminum flip-up sights, and flat-faced nickel boron-coated triggers.

There are tons of ARs out there, folks. If you are looking for a budget gun in the $400 range with lots of “mil spec” parts, this isn’t it. If you are looking for a Gucci-level $3K gun from a West Coast maker that specializes in cool tunes and vibes on Insta, this isn’t it. What the Saint Victor is, in its newest configuration, is one that splits the difference between the two bookends and provides some very nice features that genuinely enhance the gun’s performance without crossing into bespoke artisanal territory.

It’s meant for work but still looks good on the wall.

Full review over in my column at Guns.com.