After much anticipation, Springfield Armory has announced that their Hellcat OSP, Hellcat Pro, and XD-M Elite pistols are now California-compliant.
The Hellcat and Hellcat Pro are a pair of world-class micro compact 9mm pistols. Now, they are an option for Californians. [Springfield Armory]The ever-popular Springfield Hellcat is touted as the highest-capacity micro-compact pistol on the market. This polymer-framed striker-fired pistol is only one inch wide, yet it holds eleven rounds in flush-fit magazines. The OSP model is optics-ready and comes with tritium night sights. The California-compliant model has all of these features except it ships with two ten-round magazines.
The Hellcat Pro is the slightly larger version of the Hellcat, but it wears a 3.7-inch barrel instead of the 3-inch barrel found on the Hellcat. It is also 4.8 inches tall, eight-tenths of an inch longer than the Hellcat. This allows the Hellcat Pro to come with standard 15-round magazines.
At long last, the XD-M Elite 4.5 inch also gets the nod from the California Department of Justice. [Springfield Armory]The Springfield XD-M needs no introduction. Based on the HS2000 duty pistol adopted by the Croatian Armed Forces, it was first introduced in 2008. The XD-M stands for Xtreme Duty Match. It is a full-sized handgun with a cold hammer forged barrel and a flat-faced META trigger for best accuracy. It features a fiber optic front sight and a U-Dot rear and comes in a number of barrel lengths from 3.8 inches to 5.25 inches. The new California-compliant model is the 4.5-inch barrel Elite model, which has a removable magazine well and an ambidextrous magazine release and slide stop.
Like the Hellcat and Hellcat Pro, the XD-M California compliant is chambered in 9mm Luger and ships with two 10-round magazines. Unlike other models sold elsewhere, these pistols feature the inclusion of a loaded chamber indicator and a magazine disconnect safety.
At this time, all models are available and shipping now. The Hellcat OSP, Hellcat Pro, and XD-M Elite have an MSRP of $633, $649, and $609 respectively.
Terril is an economic historian with a penchant for all things firearm related. Originally a pot hunter hailing from south Louisiana, he currently covers firearms and reloading topics in print and on his All Outdoors YouTube page. When he isn't delving into rimfire ballistics, pocket pistols, and colonial arms, Terril can be found perfecting his fire-starting techniques, photographing wildlife, and getting lost in the archives.
