How to Reverse the 5.56mm Hellion Bullpup Ejection System

June 13th, 2022

2:31 runtime

Are you a left-handed shooter? Do you enjoy the majesty of bullpup rifles? You’ve come to the right place. The Springfield Hellion is fully ambidextrous, including the ejection ports. The process of converting the bolt and port to left-side ejection is a fairly simple process but requires the disassembly of your rifle and bolt carrier. Fear not, I am here to help with step-by-step directions and imagery.

Springfield Armory Hellion bullpup rifle with magazine removed — Before doing any work on your Hellion, ensure the gun is unloaded and safe to work on.

I am a right-handed individual, but I am also a dangerously curious individual. When I got my hands on the Hellion and I saw that you could reconfigure for a lefty, I just had to see how it was done. Thankfully, Springfield also has a rad video that walks you through the process in about two to three minutes. I’m going to be doing the same thing but in text and photo form.

Cover for The Armory Life Digital Magazine Volume 12: Hellion

This article is featured in Volume 12: Hellion Digital Magazine

Table of Contents

Founding Steps

Let’s first start with safety. Point the firearm in a safe direction, while keeping your finger straight and off the trigger, remove the magazine and fully retract the charging handle. While the charging handle is to the rear, inspect the chamber to ensure it is clear from any debris or ammunition. Once clear, release the charging handle to put the bolt back into battery and set the selector lever to the safe position.

Extending Hellion stock to max length — After the firearm is clear, extend the buttstock fully to the rear.

Next, extend the buttstock to its maximum length and push the buttstock retaining pin outward to its fully extended position.

Demonstration of pulling out buttstock retaining pin of Hellion rifle — Push the buttstock retaining pin out and to its fully extended position.

Then, rotate the buttpad upwards slightly and withdraw the buttstock assembly which contains the captured recoil spring and guide.

Retract the charging handle all the way to the rear, exposing the rearward portion of the bolt carrier.

Then, remove the carrier from the receiver.

Removing bolt carrier group of Hellion rifle — Remove the bolt carrier group from the rear of the rifle.

Next, retract the cheekpiece to the rear about ½” and rotate the rear of the cheekpiece downward. You can do this by applying upward pressure to the frontmost part of the cheekpiece.

Retracting Hellion cheek piece and rotate downward — Pull the cheekpiece to the rear slightly and then apply upward pressure to rotate the cheekpiece as shown. This will expose the port cover locking pin.

You will now have access to the port cover locking pin on the unused port. Slide the pin rearward to remove.

The Right Tools

A nice feature of this process is that it requires no additional tools.

Using Hellion port locking cover as tool — Use the port cover locking pin to help with removing the firing pin retainer. The retainer can be accessed from the side of the bolt carrier.

The next step uses the port cover locking pin as a tool to remove the firing pin retainer. Simply slide the locking pin into the bolt carrier to remove the firing pin retainer.

Next, lift the firing pin safety lever to remove the firing pin and spring and press the bolt back into the carrier.

Lifting Hellion firing pin safety — Lift the firing pin safety lever to allow you to remove the firing pin and spring.

Now, use the firing pin and insert it into the hole in the bottom of the carrier and press out the bolt cam key.

Using firing pin to remove bolt cam key on Hellion rifle — Use the firing pin to remove bolt cam key by inserting it into the hole on the bottom of the carrier and pressing.

The bolt is now free to be removed from the carrier.

Parts removed from Hellion rifle — With the bolt cam key removed, you can remove the bolt from the carrier.

For right-side ejection, you will want to insert the bolt into the carrier with the extractor in the 10 o’clock position.

Orientation of the bolt head for Hellion right-side ejection — Note the orientation of the bolt head for right-side ejection.

For left-side ejection, insert the bolt into the carrier with the extractor in the two o’clock position.

Orientation of the bolt head for Hellion left-side ejection — Note the orientation of the bolt head for left-side ejection.

Next, insert the cam key back into the bolt at the top of the key, angled to the chosen ejection side.

Install the firing pin and spring into the bolt and insert the firing pin retainer.

Reinserting Hellion firing pin retainer — Install the firing pin and spring into the bolt and insert the firing pin retainer.

Before you install the bolt carrier group, you must configure your ejection port covers for the chosen ejection side. You do this by installing the port cover locking pin into the unused port cover on the side opposite of your chosen ejection port.

Reinserting port cover locking pin into the opposite side of your chosen ejection side of the Hellion rifle — Insert the port cover locking pin into the unused port cover on the opposite side of the ejection port.

Rotate the front of the cheekpiece downward and then slide forward about ½” until it locks into place.

Then, insert the bolt carrier group into the rear of the receiver and press forward until the rear of the bolt carrier is flush with the cheek riser.

Finally, install the buttstock by inserting the recoil spring into the rear of the bolt carrier, pressing forward.

Then, push the stock into position. Press the retaining pin into its hole, and you are finished!

Pushing the Hellion rifle retaining pin into its hole — Once the buttstock is back into position, push the retaining pin down to secure the assembly.

Make sure to function check your firearm once complete.

Function check of Hellion rifle — Once the rifle is fully assembled, function test the Hellion without ammunition.

Conclusion

So there you have it — the simple and straightforward process of making the Hellion eject cases the side of your choice. Lefty or righty, the Hellion is ready to run from either shoulder depending on your needs.

Editor’s Note: Please be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the “Go To Forum Thread” link below to jump in!

This article is featured in Volume 12: Hellion Digital Magazine

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Springfield Armory® recommends you seek qualified and competent training from a certified instructor prior to handling any firearm and be sure to read your owner’s manual. These articles and videos are considered to be suggestions and not recommendations from Springfield Armory. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Springfield Armory.

Product prices mentioned in articles and videos are current as of the date of publication.

Jeremy Tremp

Jeremy Tremp is a filmmaker/photographer who turned his passion for the firearms industry into a dream job. Having identified a need in the 2A space, he and some like-minded friends started Offensive Marketing Group to help bring their unique skillsets to an industry in dire need of "outside of the box" marketing approaches. One of the perks is getting access to some of the best gear and training in the industry. In his spare time, he loves to be at the range testing gear and learning to be a better shooter, firearms advocate and content creator.

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