Springfield Armory Hellcat In .380 ACP [NEW]

Springfield has another release for the Hellcat line! The same Hellcat you know and love, now in .380 ACP!

Newer is always better, or should you stick with what you’ve got? Let’s find out.

SPECS

• Barrel: 3″ Hammer Forged Steel, Melonite® Finish, 1:10
• Slide: Billet Machined, Melonite® Finish, Optics Ready
• Frame: Black Polymer w/ Adaptive Grip Texture
• Sights: Tritium/Luminescent Front, Tactical Rack U-Notch Rear
• Recoil System: Dual Captive Recoil Spring w/ Full Length Guide Rod
• Grip Width: 1″
• Magazines: (1) 11-Round, (1) 13-Round Extended
• Weight: 16.1 oz w/ Flush Mag, 16.5 oz w/ Extended Mag
• Length: 6″
• Height: 4″ w/ Flush Mag, 4.5″ w/ Extended Mag
• MSRP: $653

RANGE REPORT

What I expected before hitting the range with the Hellcat .380 was that it would be basically the same pistol, but with a little less recoil.

Turns out, I was entirely correct. It’s a Hellcat. Good gun, great design, wonderfully small, and easy to conceal. But changing from 9mm to .380 ACP didn’t really mess with the formula. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Kind of both, I guess.

The main perk is that .380 ACP has less recoil, and because the Hellcat retained a delayed action instead of going to straight blowback like many .380 ACP pistols use, the reduction in recoil is real and noticeable. In such a small gun, that really helps. That said… the recoil of 9mm in a normal Hellcat isn’t bad, either. If you are recoil-sensitive or have compromised grip strength, the change to .380 ACP might be welcome. Otherwise, you’re not likely to care that much.

While .380 ACP is technically a smaller base than 9mm, it’s not enough difference to gain any capacity increase in a small magazine like the Hellcat. As such, the Hellcat carries the same number of bullets — 11 for a flush fit, 13 for an extended. 

Dimensionally, the Hellcat in .380 ACP is exactly the same as the Hellcat in 9mm. If you can conceal a 9mm Hellcat, you can conceal a .380 ACP Hellcat.

Sights and optic mounting are solid and what you would expect from a legend like the Hellcat. 

It really is the same gun, just in .380 ACP.

My first CCW was a Bersa Firestorm in .380 ACP, and shooting it kind of sucked due to the straight blowback design. Even .380 ACP gets snappy when it’s a straight blowback subcompact. The Hellcat is much more pleasant to shoot and even plink with a dramatically lower recoil, but that reduced recoil comes at a price.

LOOSE ROUNDS

If you’ve shot .380 ACP before out of a gun that wasn’t straight blowback, and you’ve shot a Hellcat 9mm, you can probably accurately envision what the Hellcat in .380 ACP is like to shoot. This isn’t the biggest release of the year, by far, but it is a nice addition to the lineup for people who need the reduced recoil.

That being said, if you don’t need the reduced recoil, I see no reason to choose it over 9mm. The .380 ACP version isn’t easier to carry, it doesn’t add rounds to the mag, it’s just reduced recoil. Maintaining the better ballistics of 9mm is probably a better choice overall.