Self Defense

Springfield Armory Hellcat PRO Comp OSP

By: Chris Mudgett

The “Just Right” Pistol

For serious concealed carry practitioners looking for their Just Right CCW, it’s been an interesting journey over the last decade or so. When I say serious, I mean those unwilling to compromise capacity and shootability for comfort and concealment. The industry has been hard at work shortening the distance between the two, with the current micro compacts beginning to bridge the gap. Alas, for those serious and analytical among us, a factory option just hasn’t been an option—yet.

In the recent past, I accepted the reality that I needed to have a pair of CCW pistol options: one that I shot the best and was most capable with and the other, a “lazy carry pistol” that would disappear no matter what holster I carried it in. I chose to carry my most capable pistol, equipped with a red dot sight and small white light with very scalable magazine options, whenever I was out with my family. I felt that I could never compromise my carry choice when I was with them, and thus, I chose the largest, most capable pistol I could reasonably carry. Essentially a carbine in my pants, this was the pistol I could use to make low probability shots on demand, at all distances — ranging from contact to 100 yards — and in varying lighting conditions.

The integral single-port compensator on the Hellcat PRO Comp is very nicely executed, with the large barrel port blending seamlessly with the slide’s beveled port when the slide is in battery. And, with the front sight sitting rear of the compensator, there’s no carbon fouling to deal with on the front face of the sight. A Picatinny dust cover handles white-light/laser accessory duty.

My lazy carry pistol was a micro-compact with a flush-fitting magazine equipped with Magguts internals, bumping my capacity to 14+1 rounds. This pistol conveniently slid into my waistband when I ran out to grab a gallon of milk, worked around the yard, or was on a business trip to a low-crime area. Regardless of how many rounds I shot through this pistol and the number of pistol classes I took with it, it was always a compromise in performance when measured against my primary carry pistol. Even when equipped with enablers, i.e., a comp to enhance rapid-fire strings and a red dot sight, it could never meet the standards my primary pistol had set. It was a compromise.

I knew the day was coming when a manufacturer would create the ultimate CCW that truly bridged the gap between shootability, capability, capacity, and concealability — one that allowed me to carry and train with a single pistol. Much to my surprise, that pistol came from Springfield Armory in the form of its new Hellcat PRO Comp OSP — Springfield’s new compensator-equipped model.

The Hellcat Pro’s deeply-cut OSP optic pocket — designed to accept today’s most popular micro red dots — allowed a co-witness sight picture between the pistol’s Tritium-luminescent front / U-dot rear iron sights and the Shield RMSc red dot optic used for testing.

The Hellcat PRO model was brought to market several years after Springfield introduced its Hellcat micro-compact pistol, which goes head-to-head with SIG Sauer’s popular P365. The Hellcat PRO competes directly with SIG’s P365 XL model, my lazy carry pistol of choice. I have shot the Hellcat PRO extensively and have found it extremely capable. In fact, I nearly made the switch, but when pitted against the P365 XL in my hands, I continued to rely on the SIG.

Comps on concealed carry pistols are interesting enhancements. When done right, they are extraordinarily effective enablers. When done wrong, they are nothing more than a placebo and can sometimes be detrimental to reliability. How do you know when they’re done right? When they actually work at reducing felt recoil, muzzle rise, and allow tracking of your pistol’s red dot during recoil. A good way to know for sure is through timed drills that are accuracy-based. A Bill Drill is a good metric, as are doubles. These tests really tell a tale on a red dot equipped pistol. Do you lose the dot during recoil, and if so, for how long? You must be honest with yourself during these evaluations and not game them by breaking the shot before your dot is back on target.

The Hellcat Pro Comp comes with two magazines: one flush-fit 15-round and one extended 17-round. Springfield’s Adaptive Grip Texture locks your grip in tighter the harder you grasp it, yet it doesn’t abrade your hands or the skin it rides against when carried. It’s truly the best of both worlds.

The compensator on Hellcat PRO Comp is done right and provides an observable increase in performance compared to a non-comped model. I can’t say the same for any other factory-comped micro-compact pistols. Why does this one work so well? Perhaps it is due to its shape and how it directs the gases upwards. Both the pistol’s barrel and slide are ported (instead of a ported slide and barrel that stops short of the end of the slide), which might account for some of its effectiveness.

The effectively integrally comped barrel and slide shed light on only a portion of the features that have led to the Hellcat PRO’s effectiveness and allure as one of the ultimate concealed carry pistols.

Controls on the Hellcat line are perfectly suited for concealed carry; nothing to snag on but enough surface area and traction to competently get the job done. The trigger provides a nice mid-weight pull with a defined break at 90 degrees.

The frame shape and contour of the Hellcat fits hands from medium to double extra-large well. Very slight finger groves melt the front strap into your firing grip, while near-perfect traction from Springfield’s Adaptive Grip Texture gives the frame Velcro-like adhesion to your hand without being abrasive. The trigger guard is contoured and undercut for a naturally high yet comfortable firing grip, while a high backstrap shields the web of your hand from inadvertent contact with a reciprocating slide.

A nice ledge is formed around the takedown lever where the frame meets the slide to accommodate an aggressive thumbs-forward support-hand grip that allows you to effectively press downward on the pistol’s frame to help mitigate muzzle rise. The trigger is well-engineered and provides a nice mid-weight pull with a defined break at 90 degrees.

The slide features a nice, deep optic pocket cut forward of the rear sight dovetail, allowing the longest possible sight radius, should you choose to forgo an optic. If an optic is on the menu, the pre-cut pocket accommodates red dot sights sharing the Shield RMSc footprint. Optics mount sufficiently deep that the low-profile iron sights will co-witness through the optic lens, maintaining a slick, no-snag carry gun appearance and functionality. Our test pistol came equipped with a Shield RMSc red dot sight. I would ditch this with quickness and replace it with an optic with adjustable brightness and better adjustments. The auto-adjusting dot just did not perform to the level I require from carry optics.

Downrange precision from the Hellcat Pro Comp was very good, yet somewhat hampered by the optic’s non-adjustable, way-too-bright dot intensity. Its best 25-yard/five-shot group performance came with Winchester 115-gr. FMJ, putting all five shots in a 2.57-inch group, landing left of center as we were still dialing in point of impact.

This pistol loved 115-grain Winchester Whitebox FMJs, printing a 2.57-inch five-shot group at 25 yards, and had the least amount of felt recoil compared to other loads tested. Winchester 147-grain Defend JHP loads printed a 2.7-inch best group, but recoil was measurably harsher. Felt recoil was negligible with Hornady’s 115-grain American Gunner JHP’s, which I’ve found to also be the case with other comped carry pistols. Group sizes would likely have been reduced if the Shield RMSc’s dot brightness had been dimmable.

The combination of an ideal length grip with excellent texture, awesome ergonomics, and an effective comp contribute to a level of shootability and faint recoil impulse nearly on par with full-size duty pistols. With a flush-fitting magazine with 15 rounds on tap (an extended 17-round magazine is also included), red-dot-sight capability, and equipped with a Picatinny light-rail to accommodate a micro illuminator such as Streamlight’s superb TLR-7 Sub, you have a slim-line carry pistol that punches way above its weight class, in a size envelope that can be comfortably concealed all day long with no compromises in performance or shootability. The Hellcat PRO Comp OSP is a clear winner. See it at your nearest dealer, or for more information, contact Springfield Armory; Tel.: (800) 680-6866; E-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.springfield-armory.com