Springfield Armory always brings us something new (if not multiple new items) every SHOT Show, and this year is no different. One of the most exciting firearms from “Industry Day at the Range” at SHOT Show was their New SAINT Edge PDW chambered in 5.56mm NATO. This incredibly compact firearm boasts a lot of quality in such a small sized personal defense weapon (PDW).

Springfield Armory‘s SAINT Edge PDW is their 1st offering of an AR Pistol in a personal defense weapon platform. Comparatively, without naming names, this shoots quite a bit more smoothly than some of its direct competitors in the PDW market for what was on the range at SHOT Show’s “Industry Day at the Range.” To give you a better idea of the specifications for the SAINT Edge PDW, this is all of the nitty-griity details as presented by Springfield Armory:

• Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO (.223 Rem)
• Barrel: 5.5″ Melonite CMV w/ 1:8″ Twist
• Muzzle Device: Maxim Defense Muzzle Device
• Gas System: DI Length Low-Profile Pinned Gas Block
• Trigger: Enhanced Nickel Boron Coated Single Stage Flat Trigger

• Handguard: M-LOK Aluminum SA Patent Pending Free Float w/ SA Locking tabs & Edge Forward Hand Stop
• Upper Receiver: Forged Type III Hard Coat Anodized, 7075 T6 Aluminum
• Lower Receiver: 7075 T6 Billet w/ Accu-Tite Tension System
• Bolt Carrier Group: Enhanced M16, Melonite, HPT/MPI 9310 Steel Bolt
• Overall Weight: 5 Lbs 10.7 Oz.
• Overall Length: 18.75″ – 23.5″

This PDW was on display to the delight of everyone in attendance at SHOT Show, but it may not be available through your local gun shop until potentially sometime this Spring once the chaos of SHOT Show settles down. The MSRP you are looking at for this firearm is currently benchmarked at $1,699.

Some other perceptions from our time shooting and handling it at the range was its weight. Most PDWs, although small in their overall footprint, have a decent amount of heft to them. That is not the case with the Springfield Armory SAINT Edge PDW. It is fairly light to handle and has a good balance to it. The blast cone/blast diverter on the muzzle also makes it a very smooth shooting PDW with little to no muzzle rise whatsoever.

Hopefully this firearm becomes readily available sooner than later for all of us, but the most important thing is, what do you think? At a price point of $1,699 it is admittedly a little spendy, but much more affordable than similar PDWs currently on the market. Is this something you would be willing to add to your arsenal? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.