New Springfield Armory Hellion Bullpup

Springfield Armory has been importing guns for decades. Back in the 1980s and 90s, they brought in rebranded CZ-75s, semi-auto FALs, and HK G3s from Europe. Notably, like 30 minutes after a Croatian company named HS Produkt introduced a polymer-framed striker-fired pistol with a grip safety called the HS-2000, Springer locked up the U.S. import of them and branded the guns the XD series.

Since then, HS Produkt has branched out into making rifles, with the VHS (not the Blockbuster-era VCR tape system that beat Beta-Max) 5.56 bullpup going on to be adopted by the Croatian military and sold to some other players overseas.Whelp, to give Keltec, IWI, and Steyr a run at the bullpup rifle market in the U.S., Springer has updated the Croatian VHS design so that it accepts AR-mags such as the Magpul PMAG it ships with and has released it as the Springfield Armory Hellion.

Price is a cool $2K, although this is likely gonna be a little lower at retailers once it starts being released in numbers.

By Michael Crites

Michael Crites has served as executive editor of AmericanFirearms.org since 2016 and previously held positions as associate editor and range correspondent dating back to 2000. He discovered his passion for precision shooting at age 12 during his first visit to his grandfather's shooting range, eventually earning an Expert classification in three different shooting disciplines before age 18. During his studies at University of Wyoming, he earned four varsity letters on the collegiate rifle and pistol teams, serving as team captain for three consecutive years. He became the first UW student to complete the NRA Range Safety Officer certification while maintaining full-time student status. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Communications. His diverse career has included roles as Range Safety Coordinator for the National Rifle Championships in Camp Perry 2001; editor-in-chief, Precision Shooter Quarterly; series editor, Modern Firearms Handbook collection; managing editor, National Shooting Sports Foundation Newsletter; editor, Competitive Shooter Magazine; operations director for Western Arms & Ammunition Co.; senior editor for the Shooter's Reference Annual (Cheyenne); content director for The Firearms Report, published by the American Shooting Coalition in Billings, MT; firearms correspondent for Hunting & Shooting, produced by Outdoor Sports Media Group in Jackson, WY; and publisher for Wyoming Shooting Sports Journal in Casper. He has contributed as a regular columnist for American Rifleman (NRA Publications), technical editor for Precision, a publication of the National Bench Rest Shooters Association (Phoenix, AZ); and as firearms specialist for the Gun Owner's Annual. As a digital content creator, he has written more than 400 articles on AmericanFirearms.org, developed shooting technique coverage for the Brownells Shooting Blog (Montezuma, IA) and Federal Premium "Range Notes" platform (Anoka, MN), and served as lead content strategist for International Defensive Pistol Association (Berryville, AR). Beyond Tactical Firearms, his current endeavors include content development for the Wyoming State Rifle Association (Cheyenne, WY) and technical manual production for High Plains Publishing of Laramie, WY. He has contributed to the 12th, 13th, and 14th editions of Modern Sporting Rifles Guide and edited The Complete Guide to Tactical Shooting and Competitive Shooter's Reference Manual (Gun Digest Books).

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