In this article, Will Dabbs considers the gray Springfield Armory Hellion rifle. Equipped with all the same features as the original Hellion, this model incorporates a medium gray color that gives the guns a great, almost sci-fi look. The gun in this article was provided to the author as a loan from the manufacturer.
The “bullpup” might be one of the most misunderstood long guns in the exciting world of firearms in which we live. Yes, there are some loud detractors to the concept, but I’ve always been a fan. While the manual of arms might be different than that AR you can run with your eyes closed and in your sleep and they can be difficult for southpaws to use, what it offers more than offsets what you might have to learn to use it.
For those not familiar with bullpups, it is a design where the action is moved back into the rear portion of the rifle, where the action would not be located behind the trigger. The result is a rifle with the overall length of a short-barreled rifle (SBR), but with a barrel length of a standard rifle. This gives you compact dimensions with impressive performance.
In my humble opinion, the Springfield Armory Hellion is one of the most advanced 5.56mm rifles on Earth, and simply an amazing bullpup design. Featuring impeccable Springfield Armory reliability, unparalleled ergonomics with fully ambidextrous controls and reversible ejection, and an almost unnaturally compact footprint, the Hellion is an ideal choice for home defense, competition, recreation or self-defense. Oh, and it also looks super awesome just sitting in the gun box.
In addition to all that superlative Springfield Armory secret sauce, the standard black Hellion is now offered in three additional colors: OD green, flat dark earth and the one we are talking about now — gray. For me, that latter color in particular looks like something out of a science fiction movie.
Particulars
The Hellion has all the bells and whistles. The gun features a seemingly indestructible polymer shell and feeds from standard STANAG/M16-pattern magazines and comes with a 30-round Magpul PMAG Gen3.
The chrome moly vanadium and Melonite-coated barrel is a full 16” long and features a 1-in-7” twist rate. The gun eats 5.56x45mm or .223 Remington ammo with comparable enthusiasm and weighs 8 lbs. unloaded. As the center of gravity rests over the centralized pistol grip (which by the way is a BCMGunfighter Mod 3 unit, but is interchangeable with any AR-pattern grip), the gun feels lighter than it is.
The short-stroke gas piston-driven action was inspired by that of Gene Stoner’s classic AR-180. This system is recognized as an excellent balance between accuracy and reliability. The gas system is readily adjustable without tools to select between “N” for “normal” and “S” for “suppressed” modes. Even with a suppressor installed, the overall length is still shorter than many unsuppressed AR rifles.
The Hellion sports a full length Picatinny rail up top for optics along with plenty of M-Lok real estate on the forward handguard for accessories. Additionally, the gun comes from the factory with a superb set of integrated flip-up backup sights built into the upper rail. The front sight is readily adjustable for elevation, and the rear sight includes a five-position aperture that is also adjustable for windage. That’s a nice touch.
The furniture is rugged environmentally resistant polymer. The handguard is nicely textured and shaped to accommodate the human form. Where most bullpup buttstocks are fixed, that of the Hellion adjusts through five positions. If you can’t optimize the Hellion to fit your particular form, you might not actually be human.
One of the biggest challenges associated with bullpup rifles is managing ejection. When configured for right-hand operation, left-handed shooters firing a traditional bullpup will get hot brass spit directly into their face. Swapping the gun from right- to left-handed ejection can be undertaken at the user level in minutes without tools. In addition, the Hellion’s charging handle is ambidextrous, and the safety is bilateral.
Gray Hellion Specifications
| Chambering | 5.56mm/.223 |
| Barrel | 16” |
| Weight | 8 lbs. |
| Overall Length | 28.25″–29.75″ |
| Sights | Flip-up |
| Stock | Five-position adjustable |
| Action | Semi-auto |
| Finish | Desert FDE, OD Green or Gray |
| Capacity | 30 (one magazine included) |
| MSRP | $1,999 |
Origins
Nobody is completely sure where the term “Bullpup” originated. Early references discovered from the 1930’s described firearms with this backwards architecture as bullpups purportedly in reference to bulldog puppies. Like the canine, such a beast was compact and homely while remaining powerful. This seemed an appropriate appellation.
Technically, most all autoloading handguns are bullpups. Whether that is a classic 1911 or a Springfield Armory Echelon, the trigger assembly is oriented ahead of the feed mechanism. Using that observation as a metric, the bullpup concept has indeed been around for quite some while.
As regards the Hellion, the gun’s bullpup design offers full-sized rifle performance in a package more akin to a registered SBR. The Hellion is compact enough to stash comfortably in a vehicle yet still produces rifle-grade muzzle velocities. It also does not require any extraneous National Firearms Act (NFA) paperwork or an onerous transfer tax to own.
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The Hellion itself is a product-improved version of the VHS used by the Croatian military. The VHS originally spawned from a bullpup based on the classic Kalashnikov. Extensive mechanical evolution eventually produced a design that was completely fresh and new. The Hellion we have here is the civilian-legal, semi-auto version of the VHS-2.
The Hellion has numerous upgrades and improvements — such as the interchangeable AR-pattern pistol grip, M-Lok system, flip-up irons, and more — that were the result of work directly with Springfield Armory on the design.
Trigger Time
If you haven’t had the pleasure, running a bullpup rifle is indeed a fresh, new experience. The manual of arms is intuitive and easily mastered. Magazine changes — actuated by the ambidextrous paddle release behind the magazine well, with the bolt release located just to the rear of that — do take a microsecond or two longer than might be the case with your favorite SAINT. What you get in return is a rifle that is both compact and maneuverable, while retaining that full-length, 16” barrel.
The triggers on lots of bullpup guns are long and mushy. Given the obligate ample mechanical linkage between your index finger and the fire control unit, this was long viewed as inevitable. However, that of the Hellion is exceptionally nice indeed. There is a lengthy, weightless and predictable take-up followed by a nice crisp break. I’m not really sure how they did that, but the Hellion will hold its own with more conventional AR-style platforms on the range.
We modern gun geeks have gotten way spoiled to accurate rifles. Back in the day, two or three MOA was typical accuracy. Four MOA (four inch groups at 100 yards) was considered acceptable for the classic M1 Garand. Nowadays, we can do better.
The Hellion shoots plenty straight. So long as I took my time, I could keep my groups less than two inches at 100 meters without much wind. My best ones flirted with half that. The Hellion is a nice-shooting combat rifle indeed.
Ruminations
It’s tough to capture in prose how cool this rifle looks. I know I shouldn’t care, but I honestly cannot help it. This gray Hellion would look right at home in the “Expanse” (a simply magnificent sci-fi watch on Amazon Prime if you haven’t had the pleasure) or the latest “Alien” iteration. In addition to looking like the 40-watt phased plasma rifle of the “Terminator”, the Hellion offers cutting edge real-world performance as well. Whether your mission is ringing steel on the weekends, keeping the mean streets safe as a cop, or just securing your hacienda come what may, the new gray Hellion will certainly fit the bill.
The Springfield Armory Hellion is a splendid example of a superlative rifle at a reasonable price, with its MSRP of $1,999. With the Hellion, you get unflinching performance along with an exotic look that will set you apart from your peers. Additionally, should you be unexpectedly called upon to race across the galaxy to defeat the Empire, rescue colonists from the xenomorphs or save the princess, the Hellion will reliably get you there.
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