The local store has three of these on the rack, two with 16 inch barrels and one with a 20 inch barrel. I looked over the 20-inch barrel model. Fit and finish seems quite well done, although coming from the AR world a bullpup seems to be an acquired taste. This one came with a Crimson Trace red dot, two PMags, and a sling.

Anyone have any positive/negative recent experience with the Hellion? Thinking about doing a layaway on the 20-inch gun.

BTW, I wish Springfield had come up with a better name than "Hellion". I think the Croatians call it the "VHS-2" or some such.

I had one with the 16” barrel. The gun was extremely accurate and a great suppressor host.

The downsides were ergonomics. It was like holding a block. The trigger was heavy as heck. The length of pull was ridiculous and the height over bore was crazy as well. I traded mine off for a Socom 16.

I have a 16” one, and it’s fine. Upgraded it with the Manticore Arms curved buttpad and Lunartech Designs safety levers (the safety levers were very hard to reach on one early ones, but revised on later ones). I don’t find the trigger particularly heavy.

quote:

Originally posted by usncorpsman:
and the height over bore was crazy as well

Mainly because you were using an AR-height optic mount...

The Hellion's raised top rail necessitates a low mount, just like any other rifle or shotgun with a drop comb stock.

(As opposed to something like an AR, whose stock is in line with the top of the receiver and thus you need a ~2" optic mount to raise it up to eye level.)

For example:

T2 on Hellion with low mount:


T2 on AR with AR-height mount:


Acro on Hellion:


Acro on AR:


MRO on Hellion:


MRO on AR:

I was considering the Hellion, until I read that its LOP, at fully collapsed position, is even longer than that of the AUG. So, the gun is out of the question. When I had the AUG, my arm tired quickly because its LOP is a little too far. Although I liked everything else about it, it eventually had to go.

Dang, I never realized how wildly long it was...

The Hellion's LOP is 16.25 at the shortest stock position and a whopping 18.25 at the longest.

The AUG's is 15".

A Remington 870/Mossberg 500 with the factory stock has a LOP of 14". (And that's considered overly long by many these days, especially with modern shooting stances.)

An AR with an A2 fixed stock has a LOP of 13.5". (Ditto about this being widely considered overly long these days.)

And an AR with a collapsible stock has a LOP of around 11"-14".

Hence the existence of the Manticore curved buttpad that drops the LOP to 15.5”.

Which is still a solid 2" longer than "too long" and around 3" longer than "just right" for most folks.

But it's nice to know that the gorillas now have a viable home defense rifle option.

(It's all fun and games until the Ape Uprising begins...)

It might be “too long” for some people, but fine for others. Like any gun, people should take an opportunity to handle one before buying. I assume the OP actually handled it and decided that the LOP isn’t a problem for him.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by usncorpsman:
and the height over bore was crazy as well

Mainly because you were using an AR-height optic mount...

The Hellion's raised top rail necessitates a low mount, just like any other rifle or shotgun with a drop comb stock.

(As opposed to something like an AR, whose stock is in line with the top of the receiver and thus you need a ~2" optic mount to raise it up to eye level.)

For example:

T2 on Hellion with low mount:


T2 on AR with AR-height mount:


Acro on Hellion:


Acro on AR:


MRO on Hellion:


MRO on AR:

100% correct. I later moved to a LVPO on a low mount. Even with the lower mount, I still had to crane my neck. The gun is just not as natural as a AR15.

What's the circled object?

Charging handle. It folds horizontally out to either side for ambidextrous use, then it's spring-loaded to fold back flat and of the way when not in use. (Similar to the G36.)

A bit of a stretch for one's arms. And that's a long distance between the charging handle and the action proper.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
A bit of a stretch for one's arms.

Your support hand is already out past there.

And find me a bullpup design who doesn't have the charging handle in about the same spot, ahead of the action. (Well, one that isn't just a bullpup conversion of a standard rifle.)

quote:

that's a long distance between the charging handle and the action proper.

Again, bullpup. The trigger is about the same distance from the action too. Long linkages between action and controls are what bullpups necessarily do.

Besides, there are normal rifle designs with the charging handle ahead of the action by the support hand too, like the HK roller locked family, or the CZ Scorpion, or the aforementioned G36.

A buddy of mine has one. I was really impressed at how smoothly it cycles. Felt like a tuned AR-15.

I read that the Hellion is based (loosely?) on the AR-18 design, that has influenced various small arms.

It does use an AR-18-style piston/bolt system, as have many of the newer 5.56 rifle designs for the past 4+ decades: SIG MCX, HK G36, HK 433, CZ Bren 2, Bushmaster ACR, Beretta ARX, etc.