A few weeks ago I posted in r/ccw and r/firearms asking what questions people had about the Hellcat. Well I am back now with my thoughts, a detailed photo album of the Hellcat, and responses to those questions!My Thoughts:The Hellcat seriously impressed me, eating every round I threw at it with no issues from 90gr zinc core to 158gr dedicated subsonic. With the extended mag it feels like shooting a full size gun, and with the flush mag the gun is downright small. A few times I would be shooting, stop wonder if there is more than just one round left, then continue to fire another 5 or so rounds. It just feels weird shooting back to back with a G43 and a Shield where you have 6, 7, or 8 rounds then going to the hellcat with 11 or 13. Plus the grip is very comfortable for me.In my opinion the hellcat is the king of the Shield/G43 size carry guns. I still love my LCP for it’s ultimate concealability, but guns like the Shield and G43 just seem outclassed by the Hellcat. It does feel bigger in the hand than the P365, but the same on the hip. I think the reason for that is that while the hellcat is wider at the top of the frame than the P365 as the P365 tapers at the top of the frame, the hellcat has shrouded controls while the P365 controls sit proud of the frame, adding to the effective width.The design of the striker tip from an engineering perspective should be much more resistant to the forces of striker drag than the P365 striker tip design.Bottom line if you are looking for a carry gun in the slim subcompact size (G43/Shield/P365/etc) the Hellcat is 100% worth considering and in my opinion a fantastic gun. I am the type of guy to continuously search for what I consider the perfect item for a purpose. My flashlight collecting and searching for the perfect EDC eventually brought me to Zebralight, which led me to the SC64w HI. To me this is the perfect EDC light: enough throw to be usable at a distance, enough flood for up close work, battery life that can be measured in months on the lowest setting, blinding bright on high, easy interface, and almost impossibly small. The Hellcat is the SC64w HI of EDC guns: >10 round capacity, large enough to control during rapid shooting, but as small as possible otherwise, clear and quick sights, grippy grip texture, crisp medium-light trigger. For now I am stopping my EDC gun search as the Hellcat is my answer.AlbumInteresting find: the rear of the frame has mold lines that look like the mold was design for a manual safety version as well. Look closely in the pictures to see this.Ammo tested (about 400 rounds 100% function total before cleaning for the first time since I carry it now):Federal 115gr Brass CaseWolf WPA 115gr Steel CaseHornady Critical Duty 135grWinchester Super Clean Lead-Free 90grWinchester White Box 115grFederal Syntech PCC 130grMagtech sealed Nato Ball 124grTSJ Federal Syntech 147grPPU 124grS&B 150gr subsonicS&B 158grCCI Blazer Aluminum Case 115grS&B 115grSpeer 124gr +PFederal HST 147grQuestions from previous threads"Other micros like my sig are very difficult to drop mag one handed. How is this one?" – u/PaulsurSince the rear of the grip extends to the bottom of the magazine floor plate I found it easier than other handguns of this size to drop the mag one handed, but not quite as easy as something like a 1911."If you have a caliper, you could try to measure the bore axis, as I don't think we've seen that yet …pics of the casings" – u/Harry-BalsagnaBased on the link you sent me I would say the bore axis height is about 1.30 +/-.05. While that link defines how to measure it is up to the individuals to determine the center of the grip curve. I also get an alignment index of .92. See the album for a couple of casing pics: Album I would say there is minor striker drag, but I verified the drag is oriented vertically which means it is unlikely to cause a problem since this is a spade type striker, not a rod type striker. Spade strikers have a lot of strength along the wide dimension, which is the vertical dimension on the hellcat. In other words, striker drag is minimal (looks like more than it is because of the shape of the striker tip) and the drag is in the direction of most striker strength."While you're at it, would you take measurements of the length, width, and height of the pistol?" – u/cold40Length: 6.027”, Height: 4.203” to the top of the sights, 4.014” excluding sights, Width: 1.039” at widest point of grip, 1.058” at widest point of frame, 0.882” at widest point of slide. Compared to a Glock 43, slide looked nearly identical, grip on hellcat was a tiny bit wider (but NOT like a double stack Glock wide), height was nearly identical (G43 taller) and length put the G43 slightly longer. Overall very similar sizes."Fit and finish, how easy it is to manipulate (rack slide, insert/drop mag, load mag), trigger pull, reliability over lots of shooting." – u/USS_AahanFit and finish is very good, on par with pretty much all handguns in this price range to be honest. Racking the slide is easier than I expected for its size, definitely easier than the SW Shield, partially due to what I consider grippy slide serrations. Inserting and dropping a mag is easy, I find the button easy to activate, but not likely to cause accidentally dropping the mag. Mags are hard to get the first round in, I think due to how short the follower is and how far it sticks up, but normal for loading all other rounds, even the last round isn’t too hard. I don’t enjoying hand loading all metal mags though. Trigger pull is great. Much better than G43 or SW Shield, on par with a ghost connector polished G19 trigger, but the flat face is awesome. Pulling the G43 trigger after shooting this felt weird an uncomfortable. The initial take up is light, break has a small amount of creep, but clearly has a wall and the reset is short and positive. Again, trigger pull is lighter and crisper than G43 and Shield. Reliability has been 100% over many different types of ammo."The length of the inserted extended mag from trigger guard undercut to the bottom." – u/jc15632.248”"Is the trigger good?" – u/soggybottommanYes. Lighter (but not too light for a carry gun) and crisper than the G43 or SW Shield. The initial take up is smooth and light, then you hit a wall, then a clean break. Reset is positive and short. Trigger itself is comfortable for me, but I think that is very subjective.Let me know if you have any more questions and I will try and respond to those as well! via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/2Op8zVG
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