By Massad Ayoob<\/a><\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note: Retired police captain Massad Ayoob served for nineteen years as chair of the Firearms\/Deadly Force Training Committee for the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, and is in his fourteenth year on the Advisory Board of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association.<\/em><\/p>\n I<\/span> recently had the opportunity to take a look at the new Springfield Armory Hellcat 9mm pistol and review it from the standpoint of its application to law enforcement. Based on 47 years as a police trainer, 43 of them packing gun and badge myself, that assessment is as follows.<\/p>\n In uniformed police patrol work, the most common application of the small handgun is as a backup gun<\/a>. The primary service pistol may be knocked out of the officer\u2019s hand,\u00a0shot\u00a0<\/em>out of the same hand, lost in a fight or snatched by a violent perpetrator. The service pistol may be inaccessible to the officer when they are strapped in a seat belt or pinned on the ground, while a small hideout gun in another location can be more easily accessed.<\/p>\n In administrative\/uniformed police work, an officer will be spending a lot of time behind a desk. Most office chairs have armrests, which get in the way of a bulky Sam Browne-style duty belt and all its gear. Therefore, it\u2019s common for administrative officers, chiefs and down, to wear the narrower Garrison belt which threads through uniform trouser belt loops and carries the pistol closer to the body. Smaller pistols are particularly advantageous here.<\/p>\n There are 168 hours in every week, and the cop working 40 of those hours in uniform is off-duty the rest of the time. Every sworn officer has a duty to take action if a felony occurs in their presence, even on their own hours. While some dedicated lawmen and gun people carry their full-size duty weapon when not at work, most find a smaller handgun more convenient and discreet.<\/p>\n Finally, investigators and assorted other armed plainclothes personnel prefer \u2014 and are sometimes mandated \u2014 to carry their guns concealed. As with law-abiding armed citizens, they find smaller, lighter pistols easier and more comfortable to carry concealed than larger, heavier ones.<\/p>\n The Springfield Armory Hellcat is the latest entry in the burgeoning field of what I call \u201cslim-nines,\u201d pistols which are light and slim and carry full-power 9mm ammunition. The Hellcat\u2019s most obvious advantage over other makes and models in this usually single-stack pistol category<\/a> is its cartridge capacity. Also, despite its small size, it\u2019s rated for +P 9mm ammunition<\/a>.<\/p>\n Its flush-fit magazine, which comes with both a finger extension floorplate and a swappable flat one, holds 11 rounds. With one in the chamber, that\u2019s an impressive 12 rounds in a pistol that weighs around 18 ounces and has a 3\u201d barrel. In addition, it comes with an extended magazine that holds 13 rounds (14 total capacity with one in the chamber) and allows a full grasp with all three fingers below the trigger guard. The Hyve magazine extension<\/a> can even add 3 rounds to the flush fitting mag and 1 round to the extended.<\/p>\n With two magazines and two floorplate options for the flush magazine, you have a lot of carry options. With the flat floorplate installed, this puts a full dozen rounds at the trigger finger\u2019s disposal with the minimum possible \u201cfootprint.\u201d This allowed pocket carry (in a pocket holster, of course!) in my preferred 5.11 brand BDU pants.<\/p>\n This shortest magazine option requires tucking the pinky finger under the gun butt when firing, but I found it to still be very \u201cshootable.\u201d It was also the most comfortable configuration for me personally to use with an ankle holster, though even with the extended magazine ankle carry was \u201cdoable\u201d with uniform pants.<\/p>\n For decades, the most common back-up gun for cops has been a small-frame revolver in .38 Special, holding five or six rounds. With the Hellcat, you get a +P 9mm that holds 12 rounds in its most compact configuration. With this gun, you are getting more power and more ammo in a remarkably compact package.<\/p>\n Looking at it from another perspective, the Hellcat with the longer magazine has the same fourteen-round 9mm cartridge capacity as that iconic full-size service pistol, the 9mm Hi-Power. Obviously, this classic fighting handgun is distinctly larger and heavier than the Hellcat.<\/p>\n In the six-shooter days, a cop could feed his back-up .38 snub from the same ammo pouches as his 4\u2033 or 6\u2033 service revolver. All the modern service pistols have smaller variations which can take the longer magazines of the full-size models in an emergency, but they tend to be chunky and bulky in pocket or ankle carry. The Hellcat won\u2019t take a service-size XD\u2019s magazines, but its own spare magazine is small enough to fit perfectly in the cell phone pocket of the BDU pants that are rapidly replacing the standard trousers of the traditional Class A police uniform.<\/p>\n One reason some savvy old cops still carry small revolvers for backup is that often when you have to go to the second gun, it\u2019s because you are so entangled in a hand-to-hand fight for your life you can\u2019t reach your primary service pistol. In a situation like that, it\u2019s more likely than usual that you\u2019ll have to fire one or more shots at muzzle contact.<\/p>\n Attempting to fire a press-contact shot<\/a> with most autoloading pistols is highly likely to result in the barrel\/slide assembly being pushed rearward just far enough to \u201ctake the gun out of battery,\u201d and render it unshootable. The Hellcat has a huge, potentially life-saving advantage here, which it shares with the revolver!<\/p>\n Because of the design of its full-length recoil spring guide, it has \u201cstand-off capability.\u201d In other words, it won\u2019t go out of battery in a straightforward press contact shot, and can be expected to fire in that life-or-death circumstance.<\/p>\n Some shooters don\u2019t care for the grip safety on the larger XD models. They\u2019ll be happy to know that the Hellcat doesn\u2019t come with a manual or grip safety<\/a>. It does <\/em>come with a rear sight shaped with a shelf<\/a> that lets a wounded officer cycle the slide one-handed by catching that shelf on the edge of the belt.<\/p>\n One additional benefit the Hellcat enjoys is an accessory rail that allows for a weapon light like the SureFire XSC<\/a> to be mounted for improved target identification.<\/p>\n The Hellcat is competitively priced, making it attractive to underpaid law enforcement personnel. It\u2019s reliable and well-designed with a lot of great features. All things considered, it seems to have a bright future in several aspects of modern American police work. The bottom line for me? The new Hellcat pistol has definite law enforcement applications.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s 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 \u201cGo To Forum Thread\u201d link below to jump in and discuss this article and much more!<\/em><\/p>\n Go to forum thread<\/a><\/p>\n
What Role?<\/h2>\n
![\"Hellcat](\"https:\/\/www.thearmorylife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/article-hellcat-a-cops-best-friend-2.jpg\")
The Solution<\/h2>\n
![\"Compared](\"https:\/\/www.thearmorylife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/article-hellcat-a-cops-best-friend-3.jpg\")
![\"Massad](\"https:\/\/www.thearmorylife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/article-hellcat-a-cops-best-friend-4.jpg\")
Perspectives<\/h2>\n
![\"Massad](\"https:\/\/www.thearmorylife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/article-hellcat-a-cops-best-friend-5.jpg\")
Best of Both Worlds?<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.thearmorylife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/article-hellcat-a-cops-best-friend-6.jpg\")
In Summary<\/h2>\n
Join the Discussion<\/span><\/h5>\n
Featured in this article<\/span><\/h5>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t9mm<\/sup><\/span><\/span>
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<\/p>\nHellcat\u00ae Series<\/span><\/h3>\n
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