Epeeist
Elite
So I have shot a Hellcat a couple times, but have only owned the Sig 365 and 365 XL guns for the hi cap micro compact class. I was lucky enough to win one of the HC's in the giveaway, and I thought I would post some thoughts and reviews on it as I break it in. I did not have a chance to shoot it tonight, but will take care of that in the morning. I will be teaching some new shooters in the morning and I will post some of their thoughts as well.
Initial Impressions: So out of the box... no wait. Lets start with the box. One of the things that makes apple so successful is the ownership experience. From the moment you touch the package, you get the feeling you are dealing with something special on a new Iphone. Kind of the same experience here.
The box is a nicely textured black box with the Springfield crest. Cardboard sure, but well made and with a nice finish that feels la lot better than S&W, Ruger, etc. Inside is a nice black zippered range bag, and upon taking that out, you find an envelope with all your gun paperwork. In a separate internal compartment of the box is the base plate, mag lock, etc. Its a very clean, very high end presentation compared to a Glock or S&W gun. It reminds me of the Sig Legion presentation, but at a working mans budget.
Your gun comes in a nice black zippered soft case with the SA logo on it. Its a nice fit for the gun, and seems well made and durable, but I am not sure that it is actually supposed to be for the Hellcat. It has a velcro strip with nothing attached to it, and a looped elastic section that seems like it should hold a mag, but is to small for either of the double stack mags the gun comes with. I get the impression that it would be perfect for one of the 911 mags, so that was probably the initial design, but its a nice touch nonetheless.
The Hellcat: Still have a hard time saying that with a straight face. I have taken to calling it the heck-kitten as that seems more aprapos for a tiny 9mm gun. Its a sharp looking little gun. The first thing I did of course was pop the mag and clear the gun. I immediately noticed that it was easy to get ahold of. The slide serrations are actually very nice. No matter how you tend to rack the slide, they are easy to hit, grab the hand and work very well. The rear serrations wrap all the way around the gun, giving plenty of surface area.
Sights: One of my favorite parts of the gun, are just how good the sights are. A nice big bright front dot and the generous U notch in the rear make them quick to find and easy to line up. More importantly they work well in normal or low light. The rear sight is stepped at a right angle so that you can rack the slide off a belt or hard surface, and the wrap around serrations help with this.
Grip, hand placement and texture: Moving on to what I think is the grip (can't be sure since it doesn't say GRIP ZONE written anywhere) there is a lot of good here, and only a smidge bad. SA made a big deal about its grip texture in the adverts for the HeckKitten. And it really is very good. It is as good or better than almost anything else I think I have ever tried. I doubt I will have any want or need to skate tape or Talon Grip this gun. The FN 509 and Shadow Systems 918 have better grip texture, but they are much bigger guns with a lot more area to take away. I think the HeckKitten wins in the small gun grip texture category hands down. Not to aggressive for carry, but plenty good enough for damp hands and a positive grip.
The gun sits a bit higher in the hand than the Sig or Glock micro compacts, but not insanely so. Maybe a couple mm or so higher in my grip compared to the XL. It does make it feel a bit bigger than it is, but mostly in a good way. It feels like a substantial gun, and I don't feel like it will be difficult to control even with the smallest flat base plate installed.
The contouring of the grip surfaces is very nice and worthy of note. I have huge hands and on smaller guns, I often find myself covering the slide release or worse yet, pressing up on it. Not so here. The grip guides your thumb very well, and there is a small cage around the underside of the slide release. The undercut on the trigger is nice, and the edges are rounded so they don't dig into my middle finger. Finally there is a nice little indent with great texture for the thumb of your off hand. This is wonderful for indexing and helping to control the gun. And keeps my giant thumb from drifting in front of the muzzle...
Trigger: The trigger is surprisingly decent right out of the box. The flat face feels nice with rounded edges and a couple ridges on the rounded surface. There is plenty of room for large fingers (or normal fingers and thing gloves) and I don't find the bottom of my finger rubbing against the inside of the guard like it does on small Glock or Sig guns. There is a fair bit of take up, a pronounced wall that takes a fair bit of travel to pull through, and a clean break. The trigger breaks right at 90 degrees, and it is smooth throughout its travel. It was testing in the mid 6 pounds on my Lymann guage.
It is as good as anything I have felt on a Glock, not quite as nice as the Sig 365, Walther PPQ or Canik Elite, but completely serviceable for a defensive gun. The reset is very positive, but a bit long. Enough that I feel like it should be reset before it does. Its not insane, but if you are coming off a gun with a short reset, you will notice it. Again, more or less on par with its peers in this category. Striker triggers have come a long way since the 90s after all.
Odds and ends: One of the things that I like most about this gun is the stand off device for the muzzle. Its just genius and every defensive gun should have it. This is a great idea for a defensive gun.
I also love the overall attention to detail. There are solid pins in the frame of the gun. Not roll pins, actual directional pins, all set to the same depth.
The mags are great in that they feel substantial and quality. The witness holes are number which I always appreciate.
Off to the range tomorrow. I had initially said that If I did not already have a 365 I would probably buy a HeckKitten, but I doubt I would replace my 365 with one. I may very well have to change that opinion. I just wish I had the OR version. But for the price, this is the best gun I have every owned! Even at triple what I paid, it would be a bargain hands down.
Initial Impressions: So out of the box... no wait. Lets start with the box. One of the things that makes apple so successful is the ownership experience. From the moment you touch the package, you get the feeling you are dealing with something special on a new Iphone. Kind of the same experience here.
The box is a nicely textured black box with the Springfield crest. Cardboard sure, but well made and with a nice finish that feels la lot better than S&W, Ruger, etc. Inside is a nice black zippered range bag, and upon taking that out, you find an envelope with all your gun paperwork. In a separate internal compartment of the box is the base plate, mag lock, etc. Its a very clean, very high end presentation compared to a Glock or S&W gun. It reminds me of the Sig Legion presentation, but at a working mans budget.
Your gun comes in a nice black zippered soft case with the SA logo on it. Its a nice fit for the gun, and seems well made and durable, but I am not sure that it is actually supposed to be for the Hellcat. It has a velcro strip with nothing attached to it, and a looped elastic section that seems like it should hold a mag, but is to small for either of the double stack mags the gun comes with. I get the impression that it would be perfect for one of the 911 mags, so that was probably the initial design, but its a nice touch nonetheless.
The Hellcat: Still have a hard time saying that with a straight face. I have taken to calling it the heck-kitten as that seems more aprapos for a tiny 9mm gun. Its a sharp looking little gun. The first thing I did of course was pop the mag and clear the gun. I immediately noticed that it was easy to get ahold of. The slide serrations are actually very nice. No matter how you tend to rack the slide, they are easy to hit, grab the hand and work very well. The rear serrations wrap all the way around the gun, giving plenty of surface area.
Sights: One of my favorite parts of the gun, are just how good the sights are. A nice big bright front dot and the generous U notch in the rear make them quick to find and easy to line up. More importantly they work well in normal or low light. The rear sight is stepped at a right angle so that you can rack the slide off a belt or hard surface, and the wrap around serrations help with this.
Grip, hand placement and texture: Moving on to what I think is the grip (can't be sure since it doesn't say GRIP ZONE written anywhere) there is a lot of good here, and only a smidge bad. SA made a big deal about its grip texture in the adverts for the HeckKitten. And it really is very good. It is as good or better than almost anything else I think I have ever tried. I doubt I will have any want or need to skate tape or Talon Grip this gun. The FN 509 and Shadow Systems 918 have better grip texture, but they are much bigger guns with a lot more area to take away. I think the HeckKitten wins in the small gun grip texture category hands down. Not to aggressive for carry, but plenty good enough for damp hands and a positive grip.
The gun sits a bit higher in the hand than the Sig or Glock micro compacts, but not insanely so. Maybe a couple mm or so higher in my grip compared to the XL. It does make it feel a bit bigger than it is, but mostly in a good way. It feels like a substantial gun, and I don't feel like it will be difficult to control even with the smallest flat base plate installed.
The contouring of the grip surfaces is very nice and worthy of note. I have huge hands and on smaller guns, I often find myself covering the slide release or worse yet, pressing up on it. Not so here. The grip guides your thumb very well, and there is a small cage around the underside of the slide release. The undercut on the trigger is nice, and the edges are rounded so they don't dig into my middle finger. Finally there is a nice little indent with great texture for the thumb of your off hand. This is wonderful for indexing and helping to control the gun. And keeps my giant thumb from drifting in front of the muzzle...
Trigger: The trigger is surprisingly decent right out of the box. The flat face feels nice with rounded edges and a couple ridges on the rounded surface. There is plenty of room for large fingers (or normal fingers and thing gloves) and I don't find the bottom of my finger rubbing against the inside of the guard like it does on small Glock or Sig guns. There is a fair bit of take up, a pronounced wall that takes a fair bit of travel to pull through, and a clean break. The trigger breaks right at 90 degrees, and it is smooth throughout its travel. It was testing in the mid 6 pounds on my Lymann guage.
It is as good as anything I have felt on a Glock, not quite as nice as the Sig 365, Walther PPQ or Canik Elite, but completely serviceable for a defensive gun. The reset is very positive, but a bit long. Enough that I feel like it should be reset before it does. Its not insane, but if you are coming off a gun with a short reset, you will notice it. Again, more or less on par with its peers in this category. Striker triggers have come a long way since the 90s after all.
Odds and ends: One of the things that I like most about this gun is the stand off device for the muzzle. Its just genius and every defensive gun should have it. This is a great idea for a defensive gun.
I also love the overall attention to detail. There are solid pins in the frame of the gun. Not roll pins, actual directional pins, all set to the same depth.
The mags are great in that they feel substantial and quality. The witness holes are number which I always appreciate.
Off to the range tomorrow. I had initially said that If I did not already have a 365 I would probably buy a HeckKitten, but I doubt I would replace my 365 with one. I may very well have to change that opinion. I just wish I had the OR version. But for the price, this is the best gun I have every owned! Even at triple what I paid, it would be a bargain hands down.
