Oh, Hell Yeah! Springfield Armory Announces the Hellion 5.56 NATO Bullpup!

in Industry News, Max Slowik, Rifles, This Week
Oh, Hell Yeah!  Springfield Armory Announces the Hellion 5.56 NATO Bullpup!
The Hellion bullpup is the VHS-2 updated for the American market. (Photo: Springfield Armory)

Springfield Armory is hitting the U.S. market hard with the new Hellion bullpup carbine. Based on the 5.56 NATO VHS-2 fielded by the Croatian armed forces and tested by the French military, this is the bullpup Springfield fans have been asking for.

“The new semi-automatic Hellion builds upon the solid foundation of the Croatian VHS-2, and adapts it to the needs of American shooters,” said Springfield Armory Vice President Steve Kramer. “With the changes applied to the design by Springfield Armory, the Hellion offers American shooters a truly unique and capable 5.56 bullpup.”

“Based on the internationally proven VHS-2 bullpup, which has been employed by the Croatian armed forces in demanding environments ranging from Iraq to Africa and beyond, the Springfield Armory Hellion offers American shooters a semi-automatic version of this highly capable firearm,” Springfield said in the announcement.

The Hellion is a fully ambidextrous bullpup with a 16-inch barrel, a Magpul M-Lok forend, a STANAG magazine well and a one-piece full-length flattop rail for optics and accessories. A bullpup, the action is tucked in the rear of the carbine in the telescoping stock assembly to make it as compact as possible.

Oh, Hell Yeah!  Springfield Armory Announces the Hellion 5.56 NATO Bullpup!
The Hellion is fully ambidextrous, modular, and packed with features. (Photo: Springfield Armory)

In addition to the magwell, the Hellion uses AR-pattern pistol grips and comes with a BCM Gunfighter Mod 3 grip. The optics rail has integral adjustable, 5-position aperture flip-up iron sights that stow away flush. The rail doubles as a carry handle and protects the non-reciprocating charging handle.

And it is truly ambidextrous, with a reversible bolt that can be set to eject from either side without any tools or extra parts. It can be set to right- or left-handed operation as quickly as it can be field-stripped and reassembled.

The Hellion is designed to eject spent cases safely away from the shooter in either configuration, and can be shot from the weak side with less worry about getting brass to the face. All of the other controls are fully ambidextrous including the safety selector, magazine and bolt release and the charging handle.

See Also: Springfield’s New SA-35 Brings Back the Hi-Power

The other main control is the stock adjustment lever for the 5-position adjustable stock, which also has an adjustable cheek riser. The Hellion has six quick-detach sling sockets to accommodate a wide variety of sling styles.

Internally the Hellion uses a two-position adjustable short-stroke gas piston system and multi-lug bolt based on the well-proven AR-18 family of firearms. The Hellion comes with a 4-prong flash hider and ships with one 30-round Magpul PMag where available.

Oh, Hell Yeah!  Springfield Armory Announces the Hellion 5.56 NATO Bullpup!
Who’s ready to add this bullpup to their collection? (Photo: Springfield Armory)

Overall, the Hellion measures in at just over 28 inches long with the stock collapsed and weighs 8 pounds unloaded. The 16-inch barrel has a 1-in-7 twist and a Melonite nitride finish along with the bolt carrier group.

This is an exciting announcement for Springfield fans and gun enthusiasts all across the country. People have been asking Springfield to develop this carbine for the American market for years, and they’re making it happen.

Pricing for the Springfield Armory Hellion is $1,999. For more information about the Hellion and other Springfield Armory products, check them out online.

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About the author: Max Slowik is a writer with over a dozen years of experience and is a lifelong shooter. He has unwavering support for the Second Amendment and the human right to self-defense. Like Thomas Paine, he’s a journalist by profession and a propagandist by inclination.

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  • Kivaari January 18, 2022, 8:54 pm

    The bill board sized “Hellion” markings could be reduced in size. A simple “VHS” would be better. I don’t like commercial names on guns.

  • Scotty Gunn January 14, 2022, 9:24 pm

    $2000 ? I can get a genuine Aug for $1600 new. Time tested and proven.

    • Mio January 17, 2022, 12:31 am

      Lol…not even close to quality of VHS2…

    • Mio January 17, 2022, 12:38 am

      VHS2 is battle proven and battle born well thought out rifle. This is not made by some commercial company, it’s made by military arsenal company.

  • Ang January 14, 2022, 8:37 pm

    5.56 is dead, move on already, make mine in 6.5 Grendel

    • Don January 18, 2022, 8:57 pm

      20 million 5.56mm ARs are not going away anytime soon.

  • Jim January 14, 2022, 5:07 pm

    Another Barbie Gun? Build one in .308 and I’ll think about it.

  • jerry January 14, 2022, 3:36 pm

    I love bullpups, especially those that can accept some AR parts, like this one. I especially like the long rail which will accommodate back-up sights. A word about bullpup triggers: Back in the day, I had a Bushmaster bullpup. It had the typical terrible bullpup trigger. It also had a defect where eventually the barrel extension separated from the barrel. I sent it to Bushmaster and it came back repaired and with a miraculously nice trigger. The point is, it is possible for a bullpup to have a decent trigger if the right “smith” works on it. God bless and stay safe.

    • Jarhead February 5, 2022, 12:11 pm

      I’ll wait til a 308 comes out.

  • Steven W Schusler January 14, 2022, 10:56 am

    Oh hell no! The FAMAS was a disaster. This is a clone.

    • Dietrich January 14, 2022, 4:09 pm

      That’s pretty ignorant in a couple of ways. Subjectively, the FAMAS saws tons of peacekeeping service in France’s former colonies and did just fine. It was only replaced because they were all going on 20 years old and the only factory that made them had been shut down. Objectively, this gun is not at all a clone of the FAMAS and operates considerably different (to my chagrin, I’d probably be more interested in a FAMAS clone than this). It just shares some controls/layout because HS Produkt was going pretty hard for the French contract (they were actually the runner-up to HK).

    • Gary Sandson January 14, 2022, 10:07 pm

      No…it isn’t.

  • J. Smith January 14, 2022, 9:40 am

    Im a fan of bull pups, the triggers are in issue, owned several even an fs2000 i wish i didnt sell. Two things that made me quit reading. 1. 1-7 barrel twist. I dont and wont own any 1-7 twist, they are terribly inaccurate. Here comes the but, but, buts. 2. The price. Id buy a IWI Tavor first, or go find an Steyr Aug. ill stick with 1-8 Wylde.

    • Dave January 14, 2022, 3:23 pm

      1-7 are inaccurate? What nonsense. I have more than one that shoots sub half MOA all day long. I guess that’s bad?

      • Jim January 14, 2022, 4:56 pm

        Depends on the cartridge your shooting. If your using a “Hot” cartridge then you may want a looser twist.

  • Kurt January 14, 2022, 9:36 am

    The cost is for SA’s super duper rollmark…it added a couple hundred $$ to the HS-2000 when they imported it as the XD so it’s probably worth about $4-5oo for this.

  • survivor50 January 14, 2022, 9:18 am

    Croatian you say ???

    Looks oddly like the FAMAS …

  • Robert January 14, 2022, 9:10 am

    Looks great. But, that price! Yikes!!!

    • Lee January 15, 2022, 8:28 am

      Hear everything good about it besides weird mag changes and the crappy trigger , I would like to have one but bad triggers not something I am looking for

  • SELDEN DENTON January 14, 2022, 8:37 am

    I’m a big Springfield guy, but this looks like a bust to me. Ugly, heavy, and way too expensive.

  • Anna January 14, 2022, 8:22 am

    Soooo the really big question, (assuming it not meant to be another toy gun); is can you fire it from BOTH soldiers WITHOUT changing the bolt? I ask because the last time I checked, I didnt need to change anything to switch shoulders with a AR. Even in gun games you have to fire around left and right side barricades. If you cant instantly switch shoulders and fire without fear of a face full of brass, then the gun is useless. The FS2000 solved this by front ejection and the P90 by bottom ejection. Having to switch the bolt makes it questionable at best for anything more then a range toy and certainly not worth $2K.

    Bullpups are great answers, Im just not sure what the real question is…..

    • I F January 15, 2022, 8:29 am

      I believe in the article it mentions one can shoot weakside without getting as you say “a facefull of brass”.

    • Mio January 17, 2022, 12:36 am

      There are multiple videos proving that you don’t have to do anything to switch sides, watch on range video by forgotten weapons.

    • Mio January 17, 2022, 1:07 am

      A design feature that Springfield does not say much about is the cheek riser on the butt stock. The raised front of this riser acts as a spent casing deflector. The result of this design is that you can shoot the gun right- or left-handed and not get brass in your face regardless of which ejection port you have open.

  • david branstrom January 14, 2022, 7:19 am

    Too expensive. Bought a Kel Tec bullpup for $899

  • JerryJones January 14, 2022, 6:29 am

    Not ONE Word, on the trigger….is it that bad?….. 2K dollars and its not mentioned at all

    • HD January 14, 2022, 6:58 am

      There’s no word about the trigger because this isn’t a review – it’s a product announcement.

    • Mio January 17, 2022, 1:07 am

      I have shot VHS 2, few years ago…in Croatia. Trigger is not high precision trigger, why would it be, it is what military wants. However It is not mushy like other bullpup rifles. It has a bit longer reset but it is smooth and clean and consistent.

  • No Pup January 14, 2022, 5:32 am

    A gun Americans have asked for??
    I’m a pretty avid gun guy and the vast majority of us aren’t bull pup people.
    What’s the purpose?
    You can have a great M4 for half that price.

    • Rohit Merugu January 14, 2022, 9:17 am

      There’s never anything wrong with having new guns on the market, thats how you get innovation. Plus not everyone wants an AR. I mean if price was the only factor, people would never buy other guns on the market like the AUG, SCAR, or heck even an M1A

  • Video Home System 2 January 14, 2022, 4:36 am

    Been saying for years Springfield should import these VHS-2 rifles into the US since they already import their XD’s from Croatia. Took them long enough 2022 is shaping up to be a great year for Shooters!

    • Andrew January 14, 2022, 9:08 am

      With the 89 HW Import Ban, expanded by Billy, bringing in rifles in a “ready to shoot” form isn’t possible, so I imagine it had to be “sporterized then de-sporterized” like every other imported longarm.
      Plus it had to be “compliant with the 68/86 legislation”, and the BatMen get to paw examples to make sure you can’t “easily convert something to BRRRT status easily or even not easily”.

      So it’s very likely this is the soonest it was possible to get this here, and “reconfigured to a similar platform to the original with US made parts”.

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