The cumulative end-result is a relatively compact and maneuverable firearm that projects serious .30-cal.
Motivations
Most anyone frequenting this hallowed site maintains a firearm for home defense.
The most common motivation would be security in the event of a home invasion.
The Springfield Armory M1A is an excellent defensive rifle, but is the SOCOM 16 model practical for home defense?
Burglary is the third-most common crime in America.
In 2022, there were 899,293 reported home burglaries.
There were undoubtedly more that went unreported.
The author outfitted his Springfield Armory SOCOM 16 with a Streamlight weaponlight, a Magpul foregrip, a Vortex micro red dot, and a Silent Legion sound suppressor.
Ours is a nation of 333 million people and 144 million homes.
Own a home for 40 years, and that number can become one in four over a lifetime.
Its not an unreasonable concern.
The author finds the factory muzzle brake that comes on the Springfield Armory SOCOM 16 is both compact and effective.
In almost every one of those instances, the bad guys will be either alone or in small groups.
They will infiltrate via stealth in hopes that the home is unoccupied.
Most of those criminals are just stupid, lazy bottom-feeders.
While a handgun like the XD-M Elite might serve well as a your home defense firearm, the increased power and performance of the SOCOM 16 might be called for in your situation.
A superlative pistol like the Springfield Armory Echelon or a SAINT rifle would be the perfect solution.
Its cost-effective, and training is simplified.
That one might need a firearm in defense of ones home or family is disconcertingly practical.
With a red dot sight, the SOCOM 16 makes for an excellent home defense rifle that can reach farther out if circumstances require it.
However, requiring something with the punch and power of the SOCOM 16 might seem to be unlikely.
I encourage folks to undergo a screening colonoscopy because one in 24 Americans develops colorectal cancer over a lifetime.
I suggest that women get their mammograms because one in eight will develop breast cancer.
This Vortex Venom works well on combat pistols like the Springfield Echelon. It also runs great and takes up very little space on the author’s SOCOM 16.
Those sorts of numbers justify some fairly unpleasant and expensive screening tests.
We dont screen for angiokeratoma corporis diffusum because only about one in 77,000 Americans have it.
Thats a really rare lysosomal storage disorder that yields specific skin lesions along with renal failure.
The author finds the SOCOM 16 provides accurate firepower when using the Vortex Venom red dot sight.
However, those numbers can be misleading.
I have an acquaintance who has actually been struck by lightning.
Over the course of a typical lifetime, you have a one in 15,300 probability of being similarly afflicted.
While many think of self-defense purely in a human threat context, there are many people in the United States that encounter bear, wolves and other animal threats on their land.
Because those odds are so low, most of us dont much care.
However, my buddy has tasted that himself and doesnt really want to do it again.
As such, at the first sign of a decent cloud that guy goes indoors.
Going inside is free and easy.
It also essentially guarantees he will not be struck by lightning again.
Thats the reason I keep a tricked-out SOCOM 16 secured but handy in my own home.
The sights include an enlarged ghost ring rear aperture readily adjustable for windage and elevation without tools.
The front post includes a tritium insert.
The two-stage trigger is beautiful.
It is positive enough to remain safe yet plenty crisp for precision work.
Springfield Armory has been making rifle triggers for quite a while, and it shows.
The SOCOM 16 comes with a very effective perforated muzzle equipment.
However, that stubby 16.25 barrel is still a beast with full power 7.62x51mm NATO ammo.
Once you taste something like this on your defensive guns, you will just never go back.
It will ruin you for noisy firearms.
Be sure to readCan You Shoot .308 in 7.62 NATO?
The SOCOM 16 includes a length of Picatinny rail up front for a scout scope if desired.
Out to a football field, I find this combination to be fast, accurate, and reliable.
Also check outShould the M1A Have a Scout Scope?
Range Time
If youve never had the pleasure, this is a big and manly rifle.
However, what you get for that investment is some serious downrange results.
The suppressor excises most all of the noise from the equation.
However, a big, fat 147-gr.
bullet moving at around 2,700 feet per second creates a monster sonic crack.
Youll still want muffs, even outside.
It will also make you a more neighborly shooter at your local range.
For more information about quieting your SOCOM 16, check out this article onM1A suppressors.
The charging handle reciprocates with the bolt for easy access.
The bolt locks to the rear automatically on the last round fired.
I have had my SOCOM 16 at least a decade and have never had a stoppage.
Ruminations
The Springfield Armory SOCOM 16 is indeed heavier and more ungainly than a comparable 5.56mm AR.
However, that big heavy 7.62mm round will cut through a steel pistol target like it wasnt there.
Ask me how I know this.
Odds are you will never need such impressive capabilities.
Thats what the SOCOM 16 is for.
Go to forum thread
