Springfield Armory - Saint

nodle

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So as a few of you know I have been looking for an AR. Had my sights set on the Ruger-556. Well I went in to look at them and saw this beauty.  When I held it I love the balance it had in the center. It wasn't quite the color I wanted being all black. The Ruger I was looking at was a flat dark earth color. But this one had a better slide pull, and the trigger was a night and day difference than the Ruger. So this is what I came home with today. Happy Father's Day to myself. :)

http://www.springfield-armory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ST916556B_1200xN.png

http://www.springfield-armory.com/products/saint/

 
Thinking of getting a simple red dot scope for it now. Any ideas? @ryanator?
 
Go for a microdot type of red dot with a tall base (meant for ARs with higher cheek rest on stock). My suggestion is to buy once, cry once, get the Aimpoint T-2.  Or because it being your first purchase and don't want to break the bank, get either this one:

http://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-advanced-micro-dot-with-push-buttons-and-up-to-50k-hour-battery-life-md-ads

or one of the Holosuns:

http://www.primaryarms.com/Brand+Holosun/MCategories+Red-Dot-Sights/Size+Microdots

Red dots are awesome, unlimited eye relief (can set it anywhere on the top rail, but best around the middle to maybe a little closer in towards the eye).  You won't regret getting once, especially for up to 100 meters distances.  If you need to, these can be effective to 300m, just no magnification and more practice needed.

 
I looked at the Holosuns, quite a huge battery life on them. I also like the auto on where it senses movement. But some of the battery compartments you have to remove the scope to replace it. A cheap solution would be the Bushnell TRS-25 Hi Rise which seems to be your best bang for the cheapest. I also looked at the Vortex Optics StrikeFire 2 which a lot of people seem to like.
 
Also why I recommend micro Red dot sights (vs regular bigger sized ones) is because of how small and light they are and even though they have a smaller tube, it doesn't matter if you shoot them for the purpose they were designed, with both eyes open.  Find a optimal spot to place it on the upper rail on your rifle and sight it in.  Practice viewing targets with both eyes open, the red dot super imposes into view of both eyes and you will be able to view the target with the red dot over it.  This also gives you greater view of everything around you and faster target acquisition. 
 
I looked at the Holosuns, quite a huge battery life on them. I also like the auto on where it senses movement. But some of the battery compartments you have to remove the scope to replace it. A cheap solution would be the Bushnell TRS-25 Hi Rise which seems to be your best bang for the cheapest. I also looked at the Vortex Optics StrikeFire 2 which a lot of people seem to like.
Older styles made you take the optic off to change the battery, most if not all new ones don't.   Just make sure to get a good set of flip up sights to put on, I would never trust having just an electronic optic without an etched reticle (most just on scopes). If considering the Bushnell, at least pay a little extra and go with the first link I sent on the Primary Arms Advanced, lighter and a little better built.  Has been very popular and many like them.  As with the Vortex, I'm not familiar with it, tons of optics of every type has flooded the market.  It going to be heavy and bigger for what you can get in a smaller micro red dot, also has much less battery life.  The funny thing is Vortex along with many companys get their products made from the same China manufacture and slap their name on it (same as Holosun and Primary Arms).  Just cross your fingers you don't get a lemon (not uncommon), just need to exchange them until you get one that works, but then long term reliability is up in the air.  

 
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Thanks for the recommendations @ryanator, I'll let you know what I get.
 
Kinda glad mine has a keymod system to it, from what I am reading it seems that is the way everything is starting to go.
 
Kinda glad mine has a keymod system to it, from what I am reading it seems that is the way everything is starting to go.
I have keymod also, has a lot of support accessories and does the job for me.  Keymod was the big thing that a bigger company, BCM, was on board with over several years ago.  Many companies started to go towards this and the military was interested.  A few years ago, Magpul (the most popularly advertised company in the US) saw a weakness in keymod with direct polymer to keymod attachments, thus created mlok.  This made people start looking towards mlok as being the winner eventually.  Then recently this came out from some professional testing done between the two, and mlok won the durability test hands down.http://soldiersystems.net/2017/05/05/details-on-the-ussocom-sponsored-keymod-vs-m-lok-test-conducted-at-nswc-crane/

Actual documentation on test results: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3k5QLIgMILLekg2Rll5U1FSdkE/view

This doesn't mean keymod is going away, but mlok will overtake it most likely soon.  They both offer a nice feature in that it makes the handguard slimmer and lighter with the ability to customize where to put on accessories or adding on picatinny rail sections.  The old MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rails are the most durable, but are heavier and bulky. The military did have some small contracts with keymod before, but have recently been picking up mlok contracts.

 
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I haven't seen an Ar coming with mlok though, I looked at the photos of it but have never seen them. Most of the aftermarket stuff on the Saint is from BCM. I would mind picking up one of their Vertical Grips. It would go well with the matching Grip on theirs on the Saint. I might but up some Mags this weekend and look at some scopes as well. Looks like the town were going to has a bunch of guns stores as well as a Cabelas and a Sportsman Warehouse. So I should be able to see some hands on.
 
One thing to correct in my post above, Magpul saw the weakness in keymod with direct keymod screws to polymer mounts.  The keymod screws are like screw heads and chamfered with little grab, great for metal but strips in plastic.  Mlok is a t-shaped nut head which has more grab.
 
Picked up some mags yesterday. Mine came with a Magpul Gen3 standard clip which I like the way it feels, so I picked up basically the same but with a small window.

GetImage.ashx


https://www.magpul.com/products/firearms-accessories/pmag-magazines/pmag-30-ar-m4-gen-m3-window

 
I was able to get hands on with a bunch of red dot scopes. What I found kinda surprised me. The ones that I thought I would like weren't all that great, and the even some of the expensive ones like the Trijicons weren't any different than the cheaper ones. I did get to try the Bushnell TRS-25 and it was more crisp and clear than the same models in the expensive brands. But The one that impressed me was this little boy, the Sightmark Ultra Shot Plus. I looked at it as a joke, but loved everything about it. The dots were crisp and clear. It had a wider view on it than the red dots, and the buttons felt great. I was shocked. Best part of all is it is fairly cheap. Still gonna get my iron sights sighted in first though I think.
 
Took @jmanz out to the range and shoot a few rounds and had a blast. We got it all the way sighted in. We were even hitting targets at 300 yards with just the iron sights. Also had some fun with some Tannerite! B|
 
Took @jmanz out to the range and shoot a few rounds and had a blast. We got it all the way sighted in. We were even hitting targets at 300 yards with just the iron sights. Also had some fun with some Tannerite! B|
Very smooth shooting gun. Would be at the top of the purchase list.

 
He gets. 
Trying to talk @jmanz into getting one. Doesn't have to be this one in particular, but one in general. A good investment.

 
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