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Springfield Armory's Hellion Bullpup 5.56 NATO Rifle: Review

Compatible with standard AR-15 mags, this unique, modern bullpup-style rifle offers rifle performance in a compact package.

Springfield Armory's Hellion Bullpup 5.56 NATO Rifle: Review

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Springfield’s new Hellion bullpup is a compact rifle with distinct advantages for close-quarters battle (CQB). It’s as short as most short-barrel rifles (SBR) but has a proper 16-inch barrel that provides muzzle velocity and terminal performance no SBR can match. The Hellion is a refined version of the VHS 2 Bullpup used by the Croatian armed forces. It’s built to Springfield’s specifications by HS Product in Croatia and features several crucial upgrades. It’s made for STANAG-spec AR-15 magazines, so everything from your old aluminum mil-spec mags up through the latest, greatest PMAGs work in it. It uses standard AR-15 grips, so if you don’t like what’s on it, you can swap the grip out for your favorite. It’s got M-LOK slots and QD sling cups everywhere appropriate, so you can accessorize it as lavishly or as spartan as you like. Most important for the civilian market, it’s semiauto function only. Before we unpack the features and characteristics of the Hellion, let’s just take a pause. What exactly is a bullpup? According to Wikipedia, “A bullpup firearm is one that has its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it.”

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Hellions are configured to use STANAG-spec magazines, so all proper AR-15 mags will fit and function.

A less refined way to look at it — but perhaps more intuitive — is that the action is sort of incorporated into the buttstock, so the barrel is much longer than it appears at first glance. The first bullpup concept weapon explored by the military was Great Britain’s Thorneycroft carbine: a bolt-action, .303 British-caliber firearm with a slanted action built right into the grip of the buttstock. Ergonomics weren’t great, and the Thorneycroft didn’t fly. However, it planted a seed that blossomed during the Cold War, and in 1977, the Austrian Land Forces’ Steyr AUG became the first bullpup to be adopted as a principal combat arm. Where did the moniker “Bullpup” come from? U.K. firearm historian Jonathan Ferguson’s research indicates that the term dates back to the 1930s and references the “squat, ugly but still aggressive and powerful” appearance of bulldog puppies — often called “bullpups” at the time. In modern colloquialism, the term bullpup typically refers to a CQB-length carbine, although there are exceptions: National Champion NRL22 shooter Paul Dallin (who recently won 2nd place in the 2023 Precision Rimfire World Championships in Italy) got his start in competitive PRS shooting with a long-barreled Desert Tech bullpup rifle. 

Practical Advantages of a Bullpup

What are the benefits of a bullpup design? Long-barrel performance in a short package, maneuverability, a rear-weighted firearm that’s easy to hold and carry at the low ready position for long stretches of time. This spells true ambidexterity in the case of the Springfield Hellion. We’ll take a deeper look at each of these as well as how the Hellion handles, functions, and shoots. Let’s start with that barrel-length advantage. The Hellion, with its 16-inch barrel, is similar in length to an AR-15 SBR with a 9- to 11-inch barrel. The 5.56 NATO cartridge loses about 50 fps per inch of reduced barrel in this length category, depending on the specific load. In that CQB SBR world, let’s call it an average of 300 fps gain to the Hellion. That translates into about a 10 percent advantage. Irrelevant? Au contraire! Often, that 10 percent increase enables a 5.56 bullet to yaw and tumble on impact as originally designed, rather than pierce straight through, leaving a hole like a knitting needle. Nothing against knitting needles, but they’re not my projectile of choice.

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Buttstocks are collapsible and have five length positions.

A Texas helicopter hog-control specialist once told me that there’s a vast increase in visible impact and terminal killing ability with the 5.56 when going from an SBR with, say, a 9-inch barrel up to a carbine with a 16-inch or longer barrel. Increased velocity also results in less wind drift, less bullet drop at distance, and greater on-impact energy. If you need to carry a short, compact carbine that can reach out a bit, the ballistic advantage is in a bullpup’s corner. That brings us to maneuverability. Whether peering around corners or facing threats in close quarters — so close you have to hold and use your weapon in a retention position — a Hellion is easier to control and to hold on to than an AR-15 or AK-47-type rifle with a 16-inch barrel. As for the rear-weighted characteristic, it’s an advantage I recognize but don’t like. If I had to stand guard with my fighting tool at the low ready for hours on end, I’d love it. But personally, I find that bullpups balance oddly. With use comes familiarity, and I’ve spent so many years shooting competitively in precision disciplines where rifle balance is crucial (and a bit of forward weight helps steady the firearm) that I don’t particularly like the feel of the Hellion. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the practical advantages of the rearward weight; it just doesn’t feel like home to me.


What I do love is the ambidexterity. My oldest son — a passionate shooter and hunter — shoots left-handed. Just this morning, he grabbed the closest thing at hand (my suppressed AR-15) and shot at a coyote out on our farm. I had to remind him that blowback from the ejection port of a suppressed, right-hand AR-15 is dangerous to the eyes of left-hand shooters. Springfield’s Hellion isn’t just mostly ambidextrous; it’s fully ambi. The charging handle is a non-reciprocating affair with a handle that can be rotated to either side. The safety lever is a mirror image on each side. The magazine release is located right behind the magwell, and the slide lock is just aft of that; both are centered in the bottom of the stock and are equally accessible with a right or left hand. The only thing left is the ejection port, and while the shooter must designate what side is active, even it is fully reversible. It’s a toolless process that can be accomplished in just a couple minutes.

Tech Specs of the Hellion

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Field-stripping for maintenance or to switch right-to- left ejection port is easy, tool-less, and takes only seconds.

Springfield’s Hellion features a short-stroke piston operating system. It bleeds gas from the barrel via a port a few inches from the muzzle. The gas actuates the piston, which drives the bolt carrier. As a piston-driven design, the Hellion’s barrel can’t be free-floated. It has multiple moving parts attached to it and shouldn’t be expected to be quite as accurate as a well-built AR-15 that uses a gas-impingement system and has a fully free-floated barrel. That said, the Hellion we tested was plenty accurate as you’ll see in the performance chart. To load the Hellion, insert a magazine into the magwell located just aft of the pistol grip. Finger the self-folding charging handle from its safe space under the Picatinny optic rail, haul it all the way back, and release. The bolt will slam closed, chambering a fresh cartridge and rotating into battery. The charging handle will ride the bolt forward and fold out of the way as the bolt goes into battery. Shoulder the Hellion, aim, and press the trigger to fire. You’ll find that the trigger is unique; it’s two-stage with a long first stage and a mushy second stage. Sound negative? Compared to the feel of a match-grade Timney trigger in an AR-15, it is. Lousy triggers are a signature feature of bullpup firearms. However, as bullpups go, the Hellion’s trigger is reasonably good.

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Forends feature plenty of M-LOK slots, so it’s easy to add accessories wherever preferred.

The safety is AR-esque. It’s located straight up from the grip and is a rotating lever. Roll it down about 1/8 of a turn to fire. Click it back up to re-engage the safety. It’s worth noting that it’s really positive, meaning it takes deliberate force to function. That’s a good thing. However, I did find it a bit difficult to re-engage the safety with just my shooting-hand thumb. The solution was simple: Just raise the web of the hand, using the base knuckles of both thumb and index finger to unitedly lift the ambi safety levers — easy and intuitive. To remove an empty magazine, press the mag release button located at the top rear of the magazine housing. It’s a classic grip-n-rip design. The magazine well has no bevel or flare to help direct a fresh magazine in when under stress. With practice, reloads can be sure and smooth, but it does require some dexterity. I presume aftermarket magwells will soon be available if they aren’t already. There’s no external lever to lock the bolt rearward. It locks automatically on an empty magazine and stays locked as you replace the mag with a full one. A bolt release is located just behind the magazine well. To drop the bolt, pinch the sliding bolt release rearward using the thumb and finger of your support hand.

Springfield Armory Hellion Specs

  • Type: Short-stroke piston, semiautomatic bullpup
  • Cartridge: 5.56 NATO
  • Capacity: 30-rd. Magpul PMAG
  • Barrel: 16 in., CMV, 1:7-in. twist, Melonite finish
  • Overll Length: 28.25 to 29.75 in. 
  • Weight: 8 lbs.
  • Handguard: Polymer, M-LOK compatible
  • Bolt Carrier: Proprietary, Melonite finish
  • Stock: Five-position adjustable with cheek riser
  • Grip: BCM Gunfighter Mod 3
  • Finish: Mil-spec Type 3 hardcoat anodized sluminum rail; Melonite/nitride on all other metal parts
  • Trigger: 7 lbs., 3 oz. 
  • Muzzle: Four-prong flash hider, threaded 1/2-28
  • Sights: Full-length 1913-spec optic rail, low-profile flip-up BUIS
  • MSRP: $1,999
  • Manufacturer: Springfield Armory 

Better yet, slide a fresh magazine into the magwell and then maintain your thumb position behind the magazine while opening the fingers and rotating them up. Keep the palm open and flat to the carbine as your fingers come around and point vertically and then slightly rearward. With your thumb in a position to apply powerful force rearward, press the sliding bolt release back. It’s a fast, sure movement that can be accomplished with gross muscle skills and will eliminate a lot of pinching and fiddling when you’re in a hurry. As mentioned earlier, the Hellion has dual ejection ports. It’s factory-configured to eject out the right-side port, and the left port’s dust cover is locked shut. Switching sides takes only a couple minutes. Springfield’s website has an excellent instructional video on the process. Hellion barrels are made of chromoly vanadium and are rifled with a twist rate of 1:7, so they’ll reliably stabilize all magazine-compatible .223 Rem./5.56 NATO projectiles. Muzzles are threaded ½x28, making it easy to swap the factory-installed four-prong flash hider for a suppressor.

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All the fire controls on the Hellion are centralized. Note the rotating safety lever just above the grip. It’ll feel familiar to AR-15 users. Shown here are the backup iron sights, deployed. They co-witness perfectly with the Aimpoint ACRO.

To enhance suppressor compatibility, the gas block is a two-position design, one for unsuppressed use, the other for shooting with a silencer. Press the spring-loaded, knurled, slotted gas block knob in slightly and rotate 1/4 turn to switch positions. Up top, the Hellion features a full-length 1913-spec Picatinny optic rail. In each end is an awesome low-profile folding sight. Hit a button labeled “press” to flip sights up. The front is a post-in-globe type with a lovely little built-in dial to make fine elevation adjustments when sighting in. The rear is an aperture type with a large dial built in, which has apertures graduated from 0 to 400 yards, and a little window below the peep reveals numbers that correspond with the current aperture. They’re the best backup iron sights (BUIS) I’ve seen built into a fighting carbine. The buttstock is collapsible — rare on a bullpup — and provides five different length positions. A cheek riser serves dual duty to improve  cheekweld and to secure the ejection-port locking pin in place. The butt plate is slightly rubbery and will serve to prevent the Hellion from sliding to the floor when leaned in the kitchen corner. A QD sling swivel cup is located in each side of the buttstock. Forward, the handguard features several rows of M-LOK slots, making it easy to attach a weapon light or laser, forward grip, or bipod. I installed a short section of polymer rail and secured an Atlas bipod for accuracy testing.

Hellion at the Range

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Even in frigid temperatures and blowing ice, the Hellion ran with 100 percent reliability. Here it’s shown with the new 2-12x42mm H6Xi Steiner riflescope aboard for accuracy testing.

Although I keep an Aimpoint ACRO on the Hellion (and love it for its compact nature, light weight, and fast, intuitive use), I swapped it for one of Steiner’s impressive new 2-12x42mm H6Xi riflescopes for accuracy testing. It’s a wonderful new semi-compact scope ideal for a range of tasks from precision work at long range to fast work up close. If it weren’t for the 1.5-pound weight, I’d be tempted to just keep it on the Hellion. With the Atlas locked out and a sandbag beneath the toe of the stock, I set to work. It was a cold December morning with a gusty breeze blowing snow crystals across my bench. Temperature was well below freezing. Still, the Hellion never hiccupped. It chugged through every type of ammo I fed it, always ravenous for more. Before starting, I removed the buttstock and bolt carrier and squinted through the barrel to bore-sight the scope. As a side note, being able to access the bore easily is a boon when setting up a new optic — but it’s even more significant an asset when cleaning the barrel. I fired three consecutive three-shot groups for average with each ammo type without allowing the barrel to cool. Hey, it’s a combat tool designed to shoot long shot strings, not a lightweight hunting rifle. Knowing what sort of integrity the barrel holds when hot is important. To my surprise, all six different loads averaged less than 2 MOA, and five of the six averaged less than 1.5 MOA — great accuracy for a bullpup without a free-floated barrel. Top accuracy honors went to Winchester’s target ammo topped with 69-grain SMK bullets, which averaged a couple hundredths less than 1 MOA.

Recommended


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It’s a mild load, typically chrono­graphing a few hundred fps less than most, but does tend to shoot well. Remington’s Match ammo, featuring the same projectile, averaged 2/10-inch bigger groups but produced 300 fps more speed. With clinical accuracy testing complete, I attempted to remove the flash hider and install a suppressor to see how the Hellion felt and shot with a can aboard. The flash hider is secured via a crush washer, and it was tight. So tight, I couldn’t get it loose without applying more wrench torque than I was comfortable with while gripping the Hellion between my knees. I think a barrel vice will be required — at least on this specific example — to get the flash hider free. When the dust — or rather snow — settled at the range, I was impressed. The Hellion is more accurate than I’d expected, runs with stellar reliability, is easy to operate, and is flat-out fun to fire.  For personal defense? It’s ideal. In the world of fighting firearms, it’s innovative and capable. It’s discrete thanks to its compact size. I suspect Wyatt Earp would have cheerfully slung a Hellion beneath his long black coat and made good use of it when defending hearth and home.




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