Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Springfield’s Hellcat Pro has been available for over a year but was limited to a (very respectable) 15-round magazine capacity during that time. Finally, molds are broken with the release of 17-round Hellcat Pro extended magazines. You may think that a carry gun can’t be small and concealable with the same capacity as a full-sized Glock 17, but you’d be wrong. Because the Hellcat Pro has such a slim profile, even skinny guys like me are able to carry this compact handgun with a full-sized magazine capacity without printing.
Table of contents
About The Hellcat Pro
The Hellcat Pro is available in several packages that vary from low magazine capacity offerings for those in overbearing states to threaded models or options that come with installed optics. Still, the Hellcat Pro provides affordable protection with its price range of $649 to $859 MSRP. At GunsAmerica, we have already tested the Hellcat Pro OSP and you can read the full article here. For the rest of you, I’ll share the highlights of this pistol.
First and foremost, the Hellcat Pro is the optimal balance of concealability and functionality. With a slide length of 6.6″, a height of 4.8″ (with flush fitting magazine), and a width of only 1″, the Hellcat Pro remains small while providing a large enough platform to maintain good shootability. Because, let’s face it, we all know that there is such a thing as too small.
Not only is it small, but we find this gun to be incredibly reliable and accurate. This handgun has many user-friendly features that make shooting a great experience. These features include some fantastic grip texture that isn’t overly aggressive but provides proper grip, a textured “gas pedal” in the frame, the amazing Springfield Armory Gen 2 trigger, loaded chamber indicator, tritium U-dot sights, and a Shield RMSc footprint optic mounting cut. This only brushes the surface.
Extended Magazine Specifications
- 0.5″ extension (compared to flush-fit)
- 0.8″ wide
- 17-round magazine capacity (9mm)
- stainless steel body with polymer floorplate
- available in FDE or black extensions
- available in the Springfield Armory online store
- $42.99 MSRP
Comparisons
The new Hellcat Pro 17-round extended magazine is approximately the same length as a 17-round Glock 17 magazine, but it boasts a slimmer profile that is suitable for a concealed carry gun. Also, the extended 17-round Hellcat magazine is roughly a half-inch longer than the original 15-round Hellcat flush-fitting magazine. Now to compare this gun to the older iterations of compact handguns such as the oh-so-popular Smith and Wesson Shield which are nearly the same height, width, and length. In this comparison, the Hellcat Pro provides 8 more rounds with its flush-fitting 15-round magazine.
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READ MORE: Springfield Armory’s Hellcat Gets Big and Goes Pro
This is nearly DOUBLE the magazine capacity of this old tried and true standard. Now consider this comparison of the 7-round Shield to the slightly larger 17-round extended magazine of the Hellcat Pro. The guy that carries the Shield would have to carry two guns, or an extra magazine, and would still have fewer rounds available to put on target (or the threat) than the smart concealed carrier that is packing the Hellcat Pro with the new 17-round magazine.
Hellcat Pro Extended Magazines DON’T Compare
Even though I previously compared the Glock 17 to the Hellcat Pro due to the similar magazine capacity of the new extended Hellcat Pro magazine, there is no reasonable comparison outside of this to be drawn between this full-sized Glock and the compact Hellcat Pro. This Glock is much larger in every dimension and would be seen used in a 3-gun match, or other competition setting, due to this. Although, I suppose you could shoot the Hellcat Pro in a competition and be on even footing with the magazine capacity that the Glock shooter has… If anyone does this, please let me know how it goes!
Function
As can be expected, these new extended magazines from Springfield function flawlessly in the Hellcat Pro. I went to the range and fired some cheap 147 and 115 grain Blazer Brass and never had any sort of issue. The only thing that I found interesting about these magazines was the incredible spring tension that they utilize. I’m no stranger to packing mags, but loading rounds 15-17 was a feat of pure strength and willpower. Luckily, Springfield shows some self-awareness and includes a magazine-loading tool with this gun and I’m not ashamed to say that I used it.
The last thing that I noticed while on the range was the ease at which these magazines dropped free from the magwell. I attribute this to the magazine being polished metal and the magwell being a pretty slippery polymer. When swapping magazines quickly, I did not need to flip the gun to fling the magazine out because the mag would eject under the pressure that the follower put on the slide. This friction-free fit is a desirable quality in a gun that you may very well be doing mag changes under the most intense circumstances.
More Pictures Of the Hellcat Pro Extended Magazines
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