Well I guess its that time again for me to bore folks with another long winded, completely uneducated review of a gun by a guy who has no talent and not much skill. Fact is if you are bored......you didn't have to read it I warned you.

So I have had my Hellcat Pro for a hot minute now and have right around 800 rounds through it and I figured I would discuss if kitten does, indeed, have claws. Once again for those not familiar I am in NO WAY a skilled shooter nor am I nor have I ever been any kind of LEODELTAOPERATORSECRETSQUIRRELSWAT door kicker of any kind, nor do I have any desire to ever visit violence on any of Gods creatures, even the pain the in ass ones. So please take everything I say with a grain of salt, maybe have a shaker ready.

So I will rate everything on a 1-5 scale with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Keep in mind we are talking about a sample of ONE and I am more or less comparing it against it's peers. Yes Virginia a CZ Shadow will out shoot a micro compact, plastic pistol....I hope we all understand this. So forward unto the breech my friends. Most of my thoughts are unchanged from my initial observations found here.
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...720027305#5720027305



SIZE - 3.5
The Pro is one of the, forgive me for this, "Macro Micro Compacts" and on paper its basically a Glock 19 competitor. Much like the SIG 365 Macro the numbers on a page don't tell the story. These are REALLY tiny light weight guns They are extremely thin yet pack duty sized amounts of capacity. I am only giving this a 3.5 as its obviously bigger then the true micro compacts like the Hellcat....errr amateur , the P365 etc. It is a dream to carry. Carrying it is basically like carrying a Glock 19 with cheat mode enabled.

RELIABILITY- 5+
When I talk about reliability I mean more than just feeding, firing and ejecting. I mean magazine insertion/ejection, mag quality, ejection pattern etc. This little Hellcat Pro has been a phenomenal performer. I have had no malfunctions of any kind with any kind of ammo. The ejection pattern is so consistent that I feel like I could hire a re-loader to sit next to me as I shoot and just feed him the spent casings. No mag bulging of floor plates or body and during firing there is never any kind of hint of a hitch or slow down or potential hang up of any kind. The gun just flat out runs.

TRIGGER- 4
Ok here me out on this. The P365 trigger is better. The Shield Plus trigger is pretty amazing actually. The Glock 43x/48 triggers are.....well not as good as their bigger counterparts....we'll go with that.

The reason for a 4 is I think this is a great defensive trigger. I feel like we have been in this huge rush to get to the lightest, crispest, single action striker trigger on every striker gun sold. To borrow a quote, "The engineers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." What I mean is the vast amount of gun owners are like me. Fairly unskilled, who don't practice and train as much as they should. I mean hell the vast majority are probably way further down on that scale then even I am. So I am not so sure providing the absolute best trigger on a defensive pistol without a safety as the only option is the best course of action. I think Glock has it about right with their "safe action" system IMO. Its a little bit like when uber powerful cars started to become more ubiquitous and affordable. Folks would buy them and have no idea what they were doing and immediately wreck them. I am not saying we should in any way limit one's ability to buy whatever gun or car anybody wants I am just saying that you should look inside yourself and understand that if you are not a Delta Operator or Mario Andretti you might want to slow down a bit, train more, understand more or even buy a tool more suited to your skill level.

Hence why I think the Hellcat Pro trigger is a pretty good defensive trigger. Its not super light, there is some take up yet it has a pretty nice break. The reset isn't super short but not onerous in any way. I just feel like its a good all around trigger for the untalented, untrained, schmucks of the world.......like me. Something something.....about a man knowing something about limitations. It does, like most, benefit from a good dry fire regime.

MAGAZINES- 5
I feel the need to call out the magazines for a couple reasons. 1 I have found them to be very well made and of course very efficient. There are 15 and 17 round options as well as 10 round ones where necessary. Now I am going to admit something to you all.......

I always kind of scoffed at all you UpLula mag loader type folks. I mean what kind of soft programmer hands do you have that you cannot muster loading a magazine by hand. In my entire life I have run into exactly 1 magazine that I felt was a chore out of the box and that was the Glock 30 10 rounders. Those took some effort. Now that said......I come to beg for forgiveness because......out of the box.....

THOSE GODDAMN HELLCAT MAGAZINES NEED A FRIGGIN HYDROLIC PRESS PAST ABOUT ROUND 13!!! I had to resort to a loading tool. ME!!!! I feel so dirty.

In all seriousness the mags really do lend them selves to a loading tool initially. That said after a short break in they can be loaded by hand to capacity, but that last round, she be tight though.

ERGONOMICS - 3
The Hellcat Pro feels pretty good in the hand but it does have a fairly pronounced squared off grip that really doesn't show in pictures. This can be a turn off or provide a hot spot. Also the thinness of the gun, of any gun in this 1 inch or less class, is a bit of a double edged sword. While being a literal dream to carry, guns such as this require more effort on my part not to push them left. I don't have meat hooks, hell I lean towards fish hooks to be honest, but I do tend to over control / push super thin guns to the left. Just something to keep in mind with any of this class of firearm. Other then that the controls are good, no issues with inadvertent slide lock or keeping from locking open, the slide serrations work fine and the grip texture is actually pretty great. I said in my initial observations that it wasn't as good as folks who were gushing over it but honestly it is quite good especially compared to the Glock offerings which are little bit like holding a trout you just pulled in, who is fighting you. Seriously GLOCK put the same texture of the full size guns on the little ones at least on the front and back strap.

RECOIL - 3
The gun is snappier than a Shield and comparable P365 but better than the Glocks IMO. That said its all kind of in the statistical minutiae so to speak. They all recoil just about the same to me. Some a little more flip, some a little more push but by in large they all shoot about the same for me. They are 9mm handguns in fairly small and light packages which means they certainly aren't any big deal but physics is physics. Point is don't psych yourself out going into any of these because the interwebz told you how much monster recoil they have. Go shoot a Scandium .357......that will recalibrate your recoil measuring system.

SIGHTS - 4
The sights are quite good. My biggest complaint is the white U in the rear sight. I have found that that was throwing me a bit when I spoke about generally liking U dot sights but this one being a little meh for me. Black the white U out and its a pretty normal U dot. Easy to pick up, fast, steel. They are good sights, if you can deal with a U notch. My biggest complaint is probably the front sight "ring". It is a glow in the dark material that for intents and purposes is white most of the time. I would have preferred something like a bright orange. Its not a problem or deal breaker but I would have preferred something different.

ACCURACY - 4
The gun is very accurate mechanically it just takes a bit of work to learn and shoot well practically. I know, I know that's every gun, but I can shoot most anything fairly naturally but super thin guns require a bit more learning and effort on my part to get my grip just right or trigger finger placement just right. I have found that on this Hellcat using the take down lever as a bit of a "gas pedal" works great for me.

Here are some pics of my shooting over time.

Very early on. The gun did well from the beginning


Here we can see my tendency to push left/over control or as most folks might say we can see the sights are off a bit


Again this is me putting in the time figuring out my tendency to push left. Also might have just been a bad day at the range. I mean they can't all be gold.


The rest of these are just me learning my grip and coming up to speed. I am totally comfortable with this defensively.





OVERALL FIT AND FINISH- 5
My gun is well fit, functions perfectly, sends brass to the same spot without question, has a feed ramp I could use as a mirror to shave with and is just a solid little piece.

The guns finish has shown to be very durable. I have had the gun in an out of kydex quite a bit and it shows no wear whatsoever that I can see. I am very happy with the build quality.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I really started to gel with this gun around 600 rounds in. It started to become a more natural shooter for me and I really like it quite a bit. I am still primarily a DA/SA hammer guy but I quite like this little Hellcat and do decree kitten does certainly have claws. I stand by the fact that this could make a dandy do it all gun as long as you are willing to put the time in. Its definitely a keeper and anytime I want to cheat carrying......this what I grab.

Now one final thought. Will I put an optic on this. I dunno. I MIGHT put something like an EPS carry on it but I waver back and forth as far as my personal "dot philosophy" goes. That is a whole 'nother discussion and while my bedside gun wears an optic I am not sure I want my carry gun to, but like I said that's another topic for another day.

Take care, shoot safe,
Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cslinger,

I concur. Due to a big screwup on my part, I actually own two Hellcat Pros, one with manual safety.
Both have been 100%. I did not shoot the 365 well but I can shoot the Hellcat much better. And I got a good deal on a multiple magazine offer that Springfield had on when I bought mine.

My only real complaint about mine (micro) is the front sight. And that's mostly a me problem, not the sights problem. Failing eyes and colorblind, the big bright beautiful dot is horrible for me, might as well not be there half the time. I need a fiber optic to give me a defined spot of light.

And an all-caps thread title to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
And an all-caps thread title to boot.

Apologies. For some reason my brain goes to all caps for titles.

Great review, Chris, thanks for the write-up! Very thorough and detailed. This is not a category of gun that I would normally consider, but now you've got me second-guessing my life choices lol.

I love that Blue SAK in your top picture. The first SAK I ever bought was a Spartan with those same blue scales. I was probably about 12 when I lost it on a ski trip in the Krkonose mountains. Miss that knife.

quote:

I love that Blue SAK in your top picture

It’s actually a fairly new (couple years) Explorer that I replaced the stock red grips with a set of blue plus scales so I could have the pen. I usually carry a Swisschamp or cybertool but really like this Explorer set up this way.

I still have my very first SAK that is like 35 years old or more more. The blade is thin, the pliers have lost the spring and the scales are chipped but she soldiers on. After replacing the scales on the explorer I am considering refurbishing the old girl but part of me just wants to keep her as is.

All
Appreciate the kind words.

quote:

This is not a category of gun that I would normally consider, but now you've got me second-guessing my life choices lol.

It’s not really directly in my wheelhouse either so to speak. I mean it has a trigger and expels a projectile and leaves me with all my fingers so it’s in my wheelhouse I guess but I still prefer both DA/SA and a wider gun. I have had a Walther PPS for years and it is a great gun, but it too has always been more of a secondary option. Honestly my P2000/2000sk are my go to guns 95% of the time.

I have found that even though I do have comparatively small hands (not like 7 year old girl or hobbit hands but not MAN HANDS!!! either) I still seem to run guns with a little girth better and they tend to settle into my hand more naturally on a draw.

All that said I am very much liking this Hellcat and I have begun to carry it a bit now and then.

2 other things popped to mind about this gun.

1-I believe I mentioned in my initial observations thread that it didn’t seem to like Gold dot. Not from a reliability standpoint but from an accuracy one. Still more than adequate for solid center mass hits but not as tight as I am used to in general terms as GD is a go to for me. This particular gun prefers HST in this regard.

2-The grip texture can be ever so slightly abrasive on bare skin with carrying nestled up against my ……… well let’s call it Tactical Insulation Pizza Provided.

quote:

the pliers have lost the spring

https://www.amazon.com/Victori...5edd4d7&gad_source=1

Cool. Thank you.

Great review. If I hadn’t already gone downthe 365 rabbit hole, this would have probably swayed me over to the hellcat.

I always liked the name of the gun but never really pondered buying one. I have never heard a bad thing about them. I have my sights set on a few other pistols before this one makes the list. Great review though. After seeing your paper targets I have to wonder what you have against the number 10

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
...but not MAN HANDS!!!

The micro has changed my view of most pistols, at least 9mm's anyway. Not because "it's the most amazing gun in the world" but because I'm in a ban state, a bigger gun would be just that, a bigger gun. No additional ammo, the dot makes sight radius/accuracy irrelevant, so not that much more "shootable", other than in say longer strings or REALLY rapid fire. I say this as a bad thing , because now when I toy with the idea of buying other things other 9mms, or pocket pistols, I think "why would you do that?"

Very nice writeup and pics. Thanks!

quote:

I have to wonder what you have against the number 10

It owes me money.

I have a SS slide version, and find racking the slide to be difficult. Not so much because of the spring, but because the slide cuts are a bit shallow and the stainless is slippery, at least compared to typical slide finishes.
Any problems with yours in this regard? Wondering if I need a different slide.

I’ve never had an issue racking any semi auto and I haven’t found the slide serrations a problem but like I said I am fairly agnostic in this regard as I’ve never run into any issues running any semi.

1200 Round Update

I just thought I would post one more update as I have a bit over 1200 rounds through the gun at this point. I've shot and carried it quite a bit and have learned a few things.

-Over the 1200+ rounds I have through the gun it has never missed a beat of any kind no matter the ammo used. No failure to feed, eject, light primer strikes etc. Nada. The gun is reliable to a fault.

-The trigger is absolutely better then out of the box but is certainly not a great trigger. Its your basic passable Glock esq' trigger. That said I personally like the trigger as I think the race for the shortest travel, lightest, striker fired trigger on a defensive gun might be a bit misguided for most of us normal shooter, but that is just my opinion.

-The magazines that get loaded/used do not take long to be able to be loaded by hand. Initially they absolutely require a mag loader of some kind but they settle in fairly quickly and can be hand loaded. Still tight but nothing like out of the box/wrapper. They are excellent mags by the way that show almost no wear.

-The gun shows extremely little wear. It has been in an out of a kydex holster quite a bit. Been carried quite a bit, dry fired, shot etc. Below are some pictures of the wear and tear I am seeing. Please note you may see some digital smudges where I edited out the serial number.

Externally the gun shows no wear. Any "wear" shown in the pictures is a trick of the light.



The barrel and barrel hood are wearing, as they normally would but again showing fairly little wear for 1200+ rounds a various ammo.




Inside the slide shows the slightest wear where the barrel hood rides the slide top.


All in all I am extremely pleased with the wear pattern on the gun.

-While I am very happy with the Hellcat Pro there are/were three main things that caused me some issues.

1-While very comfortable to carry something would poke my tactical walrus insulation while carrying. Not enought to be a problem but enough to be noticeable especially with such a light easy to carry gun.

2-The sights, while a good solid set made of steel are a bit lacking for me. They are a little gross in their sight picture and while the front dot is big it is basically a ring of glow in the dark material so it is more or less a matte milky white when not charged with light. Since most of my shooting/use will not see it charged with light it makes it a little less then ideal for me. I would prefer a bright orange or green HD type outline or a simpler set of tritium /white dots. The sights are perfectly serviceable for self defense and come to bear quickly but lack a bit of precision for my eyes.

3-I have found that ALL the micro 9's from the regular size up to this pro size are very easy for me to over control and push left or right. It is a combination of their weight and thinness. This isn't a specific Hellcat thing, I do the same with the SIG's, Glocks etc. I don't tend to over control the old single stack 9's like the Walther PPS but something about all of this new crop I tend to do so.

While recoil is not really a problem the Hellcat does impart more perceived recoil then the others in its class. The reality, at least for me is none of the "micro 9" class guns shoot as naturally and easily as a comparable sub compact or thicker gun. Defense use, all day long. One can bang steel no issues but as I said I prefer a little more precision and ease of getting that precision.

So what did I do to mitigate these issues.

1-I have added a Hogue slip on grip. It does WONDERS for the handling of this gun for me. It adds just enough palm swell on both sides of the grip to thicken it up just enough for my hands. I don't have big hands even I appreciate a bit more girth here. I hadn't used one of these for 25 years but I didn't want to use tape or adhesive grips to build up a palm swell so I gave this a shot and it's been perfect for my wants.

This addition had a side benefit of completely removing whatever was poking me. This gun is absolutely sublime to carry now. Not sure what the grip is covering but it has fixed my pokey issue to be sure.

2-I added a dot to the gun. I have two other dotted guns and while the optic absolutely brings benefits to the table on them it's not anything drastic per say for me until I get past 15 yards.

On this Hellcat it has completely alleviated my iron sight issue and given me the precision I want with the speed intact. Optics on pistols come with benefits and plenty of cons but on this particular gun for me it has actually made a world of difference.

So 1200+ rounds later here is my latest target with the grip and dot. I am real happy with this now. What started off as a great defensive gun that wasn't quite up to the shootability of my larger options has become an amazing carry gun equal to or better than those bigger options.



At any rate hope this helps anybody researching now or in the future.

As always,
Take care, Shoot Safe
Chris