When the internet collectively laid their eyes on the new Springfield Armory SAINT Edge ATC, one refrain was “why?” — we don’t count ourselves among them. Much of AR-15 development over the last six or so decades took place out of operational necessity; barrels were shortened, gas systems changed, extractors and buffer systems mucked with, and all manner of small improvements were made. With this new model, Springfield Armory’s intentionally squeezing every ounce of accuracy capability they can from the system. Are they squeezing a dry orange? Read on …
FEATURES & DESIGN
It doesn’t look like a standard AR-15, and we chalk that up in the positive column. Upon closer inspection, you can see that it is, indeed, an AR of some stripe, but you can tell there’s more going on under the hood.
Though the AR-15 was never really designed to be a precision platform, there are many features that aid that endeavor, such as the barrel nut system. Usually when we think “precision
