Special Pages

▼

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

So Springfield Armory Has an AR-15 Now...

Does that make everyone except Glock and Taurus? 

I think anyone who follows gun blogs and news has seen the hype over the "SAINT" that started a month or 6 weeks ago, complete with vague statements ("defend your legacy") and a mandatorily diverse group of hot and sweaty models.  I guess I haven't talked about it much since the CNC project started taking over my life, but I'm a bit of a Springfield Armory fanboy.  I have three SA handguns, an original XDm, a subcompact XD and a compact XDm.  I love them all.  With any one of them, I feel like I can pick it up and hit the target, even with months off.  Given my background, then, you might figure I was interested in seeing what the hype was about. 

Meh.  I mean, it looks like a nice enough AR-15, but it's an AR-15 in a world where they're pretty much potato chips.  A commodity product.  Mrs. Graybeard and I each have our own AR and I have the 80% receivers to build more.   
To be honest, I was expecting a handgun, perhaps a successor to the XDs, which seems to be an extremely successful product.  Maybe a version of the only handgun currently on my wish list with a stainless slide, like they do for so many others in that product line.  Or maybe something that goes head to head with Ruger Precision Rifle, which I still must confess some irrational lust for.  Or maybe their M1A line in something other than .308 (not that there's anything wrong with that). 

Instead, we get another AR-15 in 5.56 NATO.  I'm whelmed. 


at

6 comments:

  1. dorfer21November 2, 2016 at 9:51 PM

    Pull the trigger on that Ruger. You'll be pleased... But get it in 6.5 Creedmoor, it's the better cartridge (i'm still kicking myself for choosing the .308, but it's what I know...).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SiGraybeardNovember 2, 2016 at 10:20 PM

      That's EXACTLY what I was thinking.

      I just have zero 6.5 Creedmore stuff around.

      Delete
  2. Reg TNovember 3, 2016 at 12:41 AM

    Shouldn't that have been "underwhelmed"?
    I would love a Ruger Precision in .308, because I don't have the energy to get involved in another caliber and all it entails. Fourteen calibers is enough.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SiGraybeardNovember 3, 2016 at 5:28 PM

      Not really. I'm not overwhelmed, but not disappointed enough to be underwhelmed. So the equivalent of "meh" is just whelmed. I should trademark that, except that nobody uses the expression and I doubt anyone would would want to.

      Getting back to the RPR, I just counted up and I have 14 calibers as well, if you include shotgun gauges. I wouldn't have thought we had that many. I already have a couple of .308 rifles. 6.5 Creedmoor interests me, from what I know of the cartridge, and I have nothing in that caliber.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousNovember 4, 2016 at 7:39 AM

    I don't care if they are 1 dollar in a big drum at Wal-Mart. I still don't want one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angus McThagNovember 4, 2016 at 6:17 PM

    Browning and Savage still don't make an AR... for now.

    ReplyDelete