Officially launched on the US market just a few days ago, the new Springfield Armory Hellcat .380 ACP semi-automatic pistol is the most recent entry in the successful Hellcat series of sub-compact handguns that the Geneseo (Illinois)-based company first introduced back in 2019 and has since consolidated itself as one of America's top selling choices in terms of concealed carry and personal defense.

The market for concealed carry handguns in the United States has been growing steadily literally for decades, but it has undoubtedly skyrocketed, leading to the current state of perhaps over-abundance of models to choose from, after the landmark DC Vs. Heller and McDonald vs. Chicago SCOTUS rulings that forced restrictive States to adopt a "shall-issue" policy in line with a more pure interpretation of the Second Amendment of the US constitution.

Additionally (and this will undoubtedly astonish many non-American readers) the "Constitutional Carry" movement led to a staggering 29 States out of 50 to change their concealed carry laws to remove the need for a carry license for all individuals who are not legally barred from acquiring and owning a firearm, and 25 out of 50 States no longer require a license for the open carry of a firearm.

Under this point of view, downscaling the Hellcat design from the original 9mm Luger to the smaller .380 ACP (also known as 9mm Short or 9mm Kurz) is most likely tied to the fact that women and first-time buyers represent by far the biggest amount of customers for concealed carry pistols today, followed by minorities and others who may need to defend themselves from a sudden violent aggression but may have issues taming the recoil of a pocket-sized pistol chambered in full-power 9mm Luger.

The choice of .380 ACP allows the Springfield Armory Hellcat to remain compact and lightweight while offering a sustantial amount of firepower – each handgun is sold with two double-stack magazines, a flush-fit 11-rounds mag and a 13-rounder with extended floorplate – and remaining soft-shooting. accurate, and packing a decent punch when used with defensive loads.

Like its 9mm Luger counterpart, the new Springfield Armory Hellcat .380 ACP pistol is built around a railed, black polymer frame with an "Adaptive" slip-proof grip texture and is a striker-fired design with a "Glock-style" trigger safety.

The slide of the Springfield Armory Hellcat .380 ACP pistol is billet machined and finished in matte black QPQ (Melonite); features are a set of front and rear serrations, a tritium/luminescent front sight, a U-notch tactical rack rear sight, and a machined OSP interface for micro red dot sights.