The Springfield Armory Hellcat Goes .380

Everyday carry, has morphed from a buzzword into a lifestyle, and it no longer applies only to the firearms world. Nowadays, it covers every facet of our lives, from wallets to battery chargers, pretty much everything we need for our modern tech-heavy existence.

In the gun world, by some magic, EDC pistols keep shrinking while magazine capacities either increase or remain the same, mostly at 10+1 rounds. A large majority of EDC pistols have stayed on the 9mm caliber path without any major deviation. The .40 S&W has pretty much gone the way of the Dodo bird in the EDC world, and .380 ACP has been relegated to a smaller role by many, one that can be counted on one hand with a finger or two left over.

Springfield Armory has decided to do something about that. 

Springfield has taken the original Hellcat design and shrank it slightly to fit the .380 ACP cartridge. Just picture the classic Springfield Armory Hellcat, but just a tad smaller and thinner than its 9mm counterpart.

The new Springfield Armory Hellcat .380, which comes in a black finish, features a 3” hammer forged barrel, a 1-inch wide polymer frame with the Hellcat’s now famous “adaptive” grip texture, a billet machined Melonite finished slide, optics-readiness, a tritium front sight and tactical rackable U-notch rear sight.

Like the original Hellcat, the .380 version’s recoil system features a dual captive recoil spring with a full-length guide rod. It ships to most states with one 11-round magazine with a pinky extension and a 13-round extended magazine. A flush base-pad is also included. The whole package weighs in at a very reasonable 16.1 oz or 16.5 oz with the extended magazine.

Optics

It seems like every new handgun now comes optics ready, and the new Springfield Hellcat .380 is no different. It features a Shield optic cut. Given that its slim profile, the perfect match for this pistol is either the new Shield Sights OMSsc or RMSsc sight that were introduced at SHOT in January.

These two sights are described by Shield Sights as subcompact. They’re slightly smaller and narrower than their predecessors and both have either 4 or 8 MOA dots.  

The main difference between the OMSsc and RMSsc is that the OMSsc features an “open top” with its clear polymer upper housing. Either the OMSsc or RMSsc would be a perfect choice for the Springfield Hellcat .380.

Holsters?

At the time of this writing, I haven’t seen any quality EDC holsters made exclusively for this handgun yet. I’ll be reaching out to my favorite holster makers to inquire, but given the popularity of the Hellcat, I’m sure it won’t be long before there are options available. I’m willing to bet that within days of the release date — today — a plethora of holsters will be available for this little gem.

Set-Up

There isn’t much setup to be done with the Springfield Hellcat .380. I selected the Shield OMSsc and installation was a breeze. Remove the protective plate on the slide and install the optic with the provided screws and polymer locking washers included in the packaging. 

These washers are a great idea from Shield. They allow the user to get a nice, tight fit without over-torquing the screws, or the need for thread locker. I used the supplied hex wrench to move the dot to the front sight and that would put me in the vicinity of where I wanted to be at my desired zeroing distance of 10 yards.

First Shots

I was so excited to test this pistol that after installing the Shield Sights OMSsc red dot, I went to the range without even considering zeroing the optic at the range. My first test was performed using Fiocchi Range Dynamics 95 grain full metal jacket ammunition, rated at 960 FPS. That was my official zeroing in process.

Recoil

I didn’t know what to expect recoil-wise with a .380 version of the Hellcat. My first shot was…“interesting.” I flinched a bit because I was honestly expecting 9mm recoil on a sub-compact pistol. I’m not sure why. 

I was very pleasantly surprised by the recoil and muzzle flip. What I experienced from the .380 was a pleasant push with very mild muzzle flip. Once I got accustomed to shooting it, I was doing controlled pairs and hammer pairs at will. Before I knew it, I was out of ammo and wished I’d brought more.

Accuracy

Using a Gunsite target at ten yards, even though my optic wasn’t truly zeroed, every single one of the 50 rounds fired landed well within the scoring area, center of mass on the Gunsite target. Yes, I know, I will properly zero the optic very soon and do some accuracy and performance testing with defensive ammunition. So, stay tuned for that.

Reliability

The Fiocchi Range Dynamics ammo performed flawlessly, as expected. Even with a brand new pistol, I didn’t have a single stoppage. I used both supplied magazines and the only issue I found is that during my first fully loaded magazines, the slide failed to lock open with both mags the first time shooting them. They locked perfectly with subsequent loadings, though and all seems well. It was more a combination of breaking in the gun and mags, and me getting used to how the new .380 shoots.

Parting Shots

When I wrapped up my initial test of this Springfield Hellcat .380 ACP, I was left asking for more. The pistol has a very mild recoil with the Fiocchi Range Dynamics 95 grain ammo, and accuracy was as expected from a 3-inch barrel pistol.

 

This is, of course, a micro-compact self-defense pistol and not a competition pistol, so a 2-inch handheld group at 10 yards is more than respectable. I was able to recover my sight picture and put that second shot on target quickly.

With the right defensive load, I believe the Springfield Armory Hellcat in .380 ACP will have a well-earned place on the belt of anyone searching for a sub-compact EDC pistol with lower recoil, smaller size, without compromising accuracy, reliability or performance. 

As soon as I find the right holster for it, the .380 Hellcat will have a place in my EDC rotation.

Specifications: Springfield Hellcat 3″ Micro-Compact OSP

Caliber: .380
Capacity: 11+1 (flush), 13+1 (extended)
Barrel Length:
Overall Length:
Width: 1 inch
Weight: 16.1 ounces (flush), 16.5 ounces (extended)
Made In: Croatia
MSRP: $653