(Photo courtesy of Frank Melloni)
November 26, 2024
By Frank Melloni
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A few years back, Springfield Armory added an external compensator to its Hellcat to reduce recoil, and the results were exceptional—but at the expense of holster compatibility and concealment. The Illinois-based company set out to accomplish more. By reconfiguring the slide and porting the barrel itself, the Hellcat Pro Comp OSP (optical sight pistol) was born, delivering recoil management without changing the Hellcat Pro footprint.
The Pro Comp features an outstanding capacity for a micro-compact, with a flush-fit 15-round and an extended 17-round magazine included. Versions with 10- and 15-round magazines are also available as well.
The big deal with the new Hellcat Pro Comp OSP is the ported barrel paired with a slide cut to vent gases upward, which reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise—and without altering the gun’s outer dimensions. (Photo courtesy of Frank Melloni) The gun has a 3.7-inch hammer-forged barrel for an overall length of 6.6 inches. Height is 4.8 inches with the flush-fit mag, and weight with that same magazine is just 21 ounces.
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The grip is only an inch wide, but even so, most users are going to be able to obtain a complete purchase without resorting to the extended magazine, and mild finger grooves provide relief for smaller hands. The grip also features an indentation on each side for the thumb and trigger finger.
Fit and Feel The Pro Comp’s simple control layout is unchanged from previous versions. The grip features Springfield’s Adaptive Grip Texture for a secure hold even on such a slim grip. (Photo courtesy of Frank Melloni) Springfield’s skate-tape-like Adaptive Grip Texture wraps around the frame, and there are textured “indexing patches” located slightly behind the dust cover on each side. These provide the shooter an easily recognizable place to rest their trigger finger, with the same service afforded for their thumb on the other side. Last, the Hellcat is outfitted with a set of low-profile controls to reduce snagging; these favor right-handed operation.
While the frame is that of your typical Hellcat Pro, the slide on the Pro Comp is where all the magic happens. A relief is cut where you would typically find the front sight, allowing the ported barrel to vent its gases toward the sky when the trigger is pulled. As iron sights are still important, a new dovetail is cut slightly behind the barrel port, and a tritium front sight pressed into place. This placement protects it from the escaping gases while maximizing the pistol’s sight radius to retain accuracy.
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Sights are the excellent pairing of the Tactical Rack U-notch rear, which you can use to manipulate the slide, along with a tritium/luminescent front for reliable sighting in any conditions. (Photo courtesy of Frank Melloni) The front sight is paired with a white-outline U-notch rear sight. This combination all but self-aligns when you present the pistol properly. As the Pro Comp hails from the OSP family, it leaves the factory with an optics cut—in this case the Shield RMSc footprint. The pistol does not ship with adapter plates, although several are available from the aftermarket.
I do advise sticking with the native footprint, as the extra height provided by said plates will cause your red dot to obstruct the factory iron sights. Springfield kindly provided a Shield RMSc for my testing, and I found the fitment to be exceptional. While the Pro Comp isn’t available in this particular combination, Springfield does sell the polymer-bodied Shield SMSc, which has the same footprint, on its web store.
At the Range (Accuracy results provided by the author) I tucked the Hellcat Pro Comp in a DeSantis Inner Piece 2.0 holster and headed to the range. My basic movements were unhindered during range setup, as was sitting in a bench-rested position. I began with some dry fire, which revealed a stiff, deliberate trigger at just shy of seven pounds, so a negligent discharge should not be in the cards—especially when you factor in the trigger’s lengthy stroke.
It is by no means a “match” trigger, which is a positive quality in a defensive firearm. The same holds true for the reset, which I found to be on the long side, but that staves off the possibility of bump-firing an extra round under stress.
The results of the formal accuracy test were impressive, as you can see in the accompanying chart—particularly when you consider that each load was built for terminal performance in lieu of pristine accuracy. However, the best features were displayed when I put the compensator to work. Landing double-taps on a 12x20 IPSC silhouette proved exceptionally fast, with my fastest pair coming in at 0.19 second. Both shots also landed squarely within the 6x11-inch A-zone, satisfying the flat-shooting claim this rendition carries.
My range day came to an end after exhausting more than 300 rounds of mixed ammunition, all without a single failure to feed, fire or extract. When choosing a defensive pistol, this is of critical importance—a malfunction could cost you your life. Next to this is how comfortable the gun is to carry, as something bulky is more likely to be left on the dresser. I found Springfield Armory’s approach checked all of the boxes while remaining enjoyable to shoot at the range. So who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Springfield Hellcat Pro Comp OSP Specs Type: striker-fired semiautoCaliber: 9mm LugerCapacity: 17, 15; 10- and 15-round-only versions availableBarrel: 3.7 in., Melonite-finished hammer-forged carbon steel; integral compensatorOAL/Height/Width: 6.6/4.8/1.0 in.Weight: 21.0 oz.Construction: Melonite-finished billet-machined carbon steel slide w/compensator cut; black polymer frameSights: Tactical Rack U-notch drift-adjustable rear, tritium/luminescent front; slide cut on Shield RMSc footprintTrigger: 6.75 lb. pull (measured)Safeties: trigger lever, striker dropMSRP: $699Manufacturer: Springfield Armory, springfield-armory.com