The Springfield Armory .308 SOCOM 16 is an upgraded Information Age rendition of the classic M14 rifle. Featuring a stubby abbreviated barrel and state-of-the-art polymer stock, the Springfield SOCOM 16 offers plenty of space for optics and accessories along with a flared magazine well for rapid mag changes.
The cumulative end-result is a relatively compact and maneuverable firearm that projects serious .30-cal. power. However, in a world already awash in lightweight, handy 5.56mm modern sporting rifles, why would anyone want or need such profound penetration and downrange thump? Let’s consider that.
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. 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.
Ours is a nation of 333 million people and 144 million homes. That means in any given year there is a one in 160 chance you will be the victim of a home invasion. Own a home for 40 years, and that number can become one in four over a lifetime. It’s not an unreasonable concern.
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. A superlative pistol like the Springfield Armory Echelon or a SAINT rifle would be the perfect solution. Now that guns like the Hellcat offer proper capacity in a subcompact package, I have several friends who use that one pistol for both daily carry and home defense. It’s cost-effective, and training is simplified.
That one might need a firearm in defense of one’s home or family is disconcertingly practical. However, requiring something with the punch and power of the SOCOM 16 might seem to be unlikely. However, if the odds are one in a million and you’re that one, it doesn’t matter what the odds were.
Numbers
In my day job as a physician, numbers and statistics drive a great deal of my medical decision-making. 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. Those sorts of numbers justify some fairly unpleasant and expensive screening tests.
We don’t screen for angiokeratoma corporis diffusum because only about one in 77,000 Americans have it. That’s a really rare lysosomal storage disorder that yields specific skin lesions along with renal failure. 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. Because those odds are so low, most of us don’t much care. However, my buddy has tasted that himself and doesn’t 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. That’s the reason I keep a tricked-out SOCOM 16 secured but handy in my own home.
Details
My Springfield Armory SOCOM 16 weighs a hair over nine pounds empty and came from the factory between 35.5” and 38.5” long, depending upon the collapsible stock’s position. 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 excellent pistol-gripped Archangel stock includes plenty of M-LOK space for grips and accessories as well as an adjustable stock and sling sockets aplenty. I keep a Streamlight TLR-1 HL weaponlight on the side in the likely event that it might be dark when I need the gun.
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 device. However, that stubby 16.25” barrel is still a beast with full power 7.62x51mm NATO ammo. I swapped out my standard muzzle brake for an aftermarket adaptor threaded 5/8×24 for a quick-release Silent Legion sound suppressor. 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 read Can You Shoot .308 in 7.62 NATO?
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The SOCOM 16 includes a length of Picatinny rail up front for a scout scope if desired. Mine also has a mount that I use for a Vortex Venom micro red dot on the stripper clip guide. Considering I maintain a different heavy-barrel M1A for truly long-range work, I run my SOCOM with the micro red dot. Out to a football field, I find this combination to be fast, accurate, and reliable.
Also check out Should the M1A Have a Scout Scope?
Range Time
If you’ve never had the pleasure, this is a big and manly rifle. Even with the suppressor installed, running this gun is a more vigorous experience than the same exercise with your favorite 5.56mm AR. 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. You’ll still want muffs, even outside. However, if ever you are called upon to touch this thing off indoors, the can will help you retain your capacity to communicate. 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 on M1A suppressors.
The charging handle reciprocates with the bolt for easy access. The bolt locks to the rear automatically on the last round fired. When you’re dry, just swap out mags and give the bolt a quick snatch to the rear to drop it over a fresh magazine. I have had my SOCOM 16 at least a decade and have never had a stoppage. When fired offhand and run fast, I can easily keep my rounds inside a tea saucer out well past any reasonable home defense ranges.
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 wasn’t there. Ask me how I know this.
If you live someplace where the scavengers are either really large or might try to hide behind automobiles, the SOCOM 16 offers you peace of mind. Odds are you will never need such impressive capabilities. However, as I mentioned earlier, if the odds are one in a million and you’re that one, it just didn’t matter what the odds were. That’s what the SOCOM 16 is for.
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