The Springfield Armory Hellcat is a micro-compact striker-fired 9mm built for concealed carry. Springfield no longer makes it, so it's a used buy. It holds 11 rounds in a flush magazine on a frame 4.0 inches tall and 18.3 oz empty, with an extended magazine in the box that holds two more and raises the grip half an inch.

The front sight is tritium with a luminescent ring and the rear is a Tactical Rack U-notch, square enough at the back to rack the slide one-handed against a belt. Serrations are cut into the top of the slide as well as the sides, which gives a press check somewhere to grip, and the recoil system is a dual captive spring on a full-length guide rod. This build has no optic cut, so a dot means buying the OSP version instead or sending the slide out, and it has no manual safety. The 3.0-inch barrel is short enough to cut velocity, so a defensive load should be tested from this barrel and not a longer one.

If you are cross-shopping, the Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro OSP has an MSRP of $670, runs a 3.7-inch barrel for 15 rounds at 21.0 oz and arrives cut for a dot, so it answers the two things this pistol leaves out and costs grip height to do it. The Sig Sauer P365 is 0.5 oz lighter at 17.8 oz and 5.8 inches long, and it holds 10 rounds flush, which makes the Hellcat the higher-capacity gun of the two at nearly the same size.