Today's feature is from our companion service, The Tactical Wire.
The battle of the micro/max-capacity 9mm pistols heated up with the advent of Springfield Armory’s Hellcat line. The ‘patented magazine’ carries 11 rounds of 9x19mm and the gun ships with one 11-round payload and a 13-round extended magazine.
The frame is configured with the “Adaptive Grip Texture” – staggered flat-top pyramids over shorter pointed pyramids to ensure you don’t need the soldering iron or grip tape. The sights are top of the line, a “Tactical Rack U-Dot” rear and tritium plus luminescent front sight. Available in an optics ready package, you could ask “what next?”
We just got the answer: The Hellcat RDP. If you’re familiar with the “Roland Special” of a few years ago – a GLOCK 19 with an extended, threaded barrel, a compensator and a red dot sighting system – consider something kind of similar while quite a bit smaller.
The Hellcat Rapid Defense Package pairs the pint-sized heater with the new Springfield Armory HEX micro red dot and a “Self Indexing” muzzle compensator. Another wrinkle is the addition of the optional bilateral safety lever. A “Gen 2” trigger – improved ergonomics -- is also included.
That’s a lot of features for a small gun – and a reasonable cost. For those in the hidebound camp, longing for polished steel, walnut and large bores, the Hellcat RDP likely isn’t for you. If you’re a plainclothes or undercover peace officer, a citizen with (or without) a permit who carries in environments where discovery of the gun could lead to maximum mental discomfort – but you still want a decent payload that can be precisely delivered – the Hellcat RDP may be in your lane.
The red dot sight, provided in the RDP, is the Springfield Armory HEX Wasp. The “always on” optic has a 6061 T6 Hardcoat anodized aluminum body and a scratch-resistant, anti-glare glass lens. It features an auto-dimming sensor to regulate dot brightness in varying light conditions.
The HEX Wasp mounts low on the Hellcat RDP; it allows a co-witness with the excellent Hellcat sights. They expect about 65,000 hours of battery life … what is that, around 7 years and change?
I’m not sure I’ll last that long …
As far as the ergonomics of the piece, the safety is way back on the frame. I was concerned that the minor compromise of my grip to work the safety may cause me to miss the right trigger finger placement to ensure disengagement of the trigger blade safety – like on some guns. But I’ve not missed depressing the trigger safety paddle – yet. As to the HEX RDS, the dot is very bright in daylight, with a bit of bloom. Would that be a problem for precision?
The gun is very well appointed, as is the RDS. The comp isn’t abusive in terms of noise and I didn’t notice adverse effects from gas/powder debris venting. The trigger is firm, not mushy, a good street trigger.
On the first range trip, I shot defensive ammo and hollow-point exclusively – I want to give Hornady my thanks! I encountered no stoppages. The HEX Wasp was quickly and easily brought to zero by following the supplied instructions – imagine that. I had little problem “finding the dot” and the irons were very visible in any event.
The frame/ gripping surface is very small. I recall a few of our people fitting the (very large) S&W 4506 we issued with those rubber grip sleeves, making it even bigger. I wasn’t a fan then, nor a fan of those on service size pistols generally – just for those shooters with huge mitts. They might be a smart addition on the Hellcat and variants even for folks with moderately sized hands.
The Hellcat RDP is quite comfortable to shoot, though loading the mags is a chore. Consider using the (supplied) magazine loader.
At the time of this feature, holsters are available at DeSantis Gunhide. I’m sure other providers will be producing holsters for the RDP soon.
On the second range trip, I sought to set some kind of baseline, a semi-qualification sort of course, explained yesterday here. I used the handiest range-type ammo I could get, the Monarch steel-case (with ‘laquer coating’ on the cartridge cases) 115gr. FMJ ammo from Academy Sports.
The ‘close combat’ part was an intentional nod to the compensator – and that’s what I did … nod. Bringing the protective lens of the shooting glasses down toward the top ‘vent’ – by tucking my chin -- puts maximum protection between the muzzle and eyes. It also puts the armored part of your noggin forward instead of the easily-fouled components like eyes, orbits and your nose, handy when you’re close enough to danger to get hit.
I detected no impacts on the glasses – and that’s with (formerly) low-cost range ammo.
Oh, the Hellcat RDP had no issues shooting and functioning with the Monarch Steel Case ammo. In fact, the gun liked it, producing a reasonably tight cluster on target. That’s shooting back to 25 yards; over half of the rounds fired were at fifteen yards and beyond. The target was scored at 100%.
I’m very interested in this heater and may have to acquire a holster and a few more magazines to give this more of a workout.
Stay tuned.
-- Rich Grassi