When it comes to defensive handguns, everyone wants to "build a better mousetrap," but it took Springfield Armory to realize that the best mousetrap will always be a cat ... especially if said cat is somewhat, shall we say, ill-tempered. The Springfield Hellcat was introduced in 2019 and quickly became one of America's favorite defensive pistols. Thing is, America is a huge place and there are millions of Springfield fans in it, and those fans were all pretty sure that no matter how good the "mousetrap," it could always be improved. Thus began the birth of a whole litter of Hellcats, and the latest is the Hellcat Pro OSP.
What's different? Well, the Springfield Hellcat Pro is about 0.5" longer than the original, and its barrel is 0.7” longer than the 3” barrel found on the micro-compact. The frame is almost 1" taller than the one found on the original Hellcat, so this Pro model can accept a 15-round, flush-fit magazine. It also boasts a milled slide, which accepts optics of the Shield footprint.
In this great video from our friends at American Rifleman, you'll see why the Hellcat Pro OSP is NRA's Gun of the Week! In it, our testers put the Springfield Hellcat Pro OSP through its paces. "Despite the larger size of the Hellcat Pro, it’s still a comparatively small handgun, which makes it easy to carry and conceal," they note, "but that means it can be a handful on the range.
"Despite that," they continue, "the pyramidal texturing included on the grip frame helped to anchor the gun in our hands, and we were able to stay on target and make quick follow-up shots. We also appreciated the added sight radius of the open sights, thanks to the longer slide, and it was great to co-witness with our mounted optic."
The MSRP for this gun is $649-$859, depending upon model chosen. For more, visit Springfield-Armory.com!
