Thanks to Karl for being the only guntuber who knows the difference between “clearance” and “tolerance.”

The original upload of this video was corrupted and cut off early at 6:14, I caught it 38 minutes after publication and so this is the re-upload to fix that glitch. Springfield Armory did not send InRange a Hellion, I borrowed it. Yes, I know that’s more than a liter of water. InRange is proactively demonetized and receives no money from any sponsors or companies, only viewers via Patreon. I’m sorry you have a Tavor. I understand.

I first saw this bullpup in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2019. The Croatians were very accommodating when I expressed an interest into what was their VHS-02 with the CT-1.5x optic built into the carry handle. They had turned in their AK-47s for this new rifle. As a contractor, I was surprised not only at their level of English, but their new weapon. Overall, they really liked them. The only thing they didn't like was "too many parts" as compared to their old AKs. The Croats had some of the best and most modern gear. After returning to the US in September of 2019, I emailed Springfield about an import version, if they had an import version in semi-auto only, if there were plans for one here in the US, and finally if they hadn't planned on it, they definitely should. Never got a reply of any kind. I just found out that there here now with an MSRP of $2k. One finished a Gunbroker auction yesterday (19 JAN 2022) at $3,375 after 20 bids were placed. Compare the Croats to the Portuguese troops who were using the old wooden stock G3s and Walther P38 pistols (post WWII) and you can see why those guys were NOT happy! (The Portugues) LOL

Yeah, I figured the charging handle slot would be the biggest vulnerability going in, but mud seeping down to bind up the transfer bar was not the failure I expected from that.

I think this is the best bullpup on the market right now.

Seeing as being completely drowned in mud is unlikely and extreme, this rifle performed as good if not better than expected in my estimation

The more I see of this rifle, the more impressive it gets. The charging handle gap could potentially be an easy fix. Our national FAMAS and its wife the G36 can be proud of this offsrping, well done Croatia, amazing design!

Proof of a proper cheek weld, a moondust mud smear. Nice job.

Gotta say, for all the criticism that the AR charging handle gets, it does a really good job at keeping the dirt out.

"We got the goopiest of the goopy, right in the hole! We love doing that" Words to live by

Interesting as always. I know that some fancy AR trigger packs are "sealed" units - would something like that have helped in this case? I think Ian mentioned in his FW teardown video that it looked like aftermarket FCGs could be viable for this rifle.

It would be an easy fix if they really wanted to stop ingress in that area. An option would be 2 rubber flaps on either side so the charging handle acts almost like a zipper. May be picking one of these up in the future.

Karl, I'm of two minds about these tests. Watching these tests makes me cringe, but I also see the usefulness of knowing what to expect when things get dirty. I know how much you dislike cleaning guns, so thank you for putting this video out.

Sometimes I think we disagree on topics Karl but I appreciate your no-nonsense and straightforward attitude. Been a viewer for some time, just wanted to leave some kind words in return for all the hard work you do and content you put out.

You don't have to use a pencil to rewind this thing when it breaks so it's automatically better than the old VHS's

The Croatian Hellion did better than I was expecting, and it’s ultimate failure was not in the spot I was expecting either. Pretty decent.

Like i said in the corrupted upload version, this did quite well all things considered. Hopefully the aftermarket can make a gasket or some other dust cover for the charging handle area

Karl is just *glowing* in this video. Clearly he's thoroughly enjoying that rifle!

I was super stoked to hear your name pop up on Behind the Bastards. Hopefully they bring you back often. You're very well read and really added to the conversation.

Pretty sure nobody else has been dunking their fancy new bullpups! Keep up the good work and keep standing out!

Oh man I was so early in the first version. C’est La vie. Karl really wanted this bull pup to do well. Historically he has been pretty dismissive of the bull pup configuration so it was fun to see his affection for this one. It’s always cool when a rifle has genuine military bona fides. Enjoyed the episode. Thanks In Range.

I was wondering what happened. Thanks for the content Karl!

Awesome that you are on this so quick after release.

I have been wanting one of these since 2013 and Springfield is finally bringing them in! I’m not surprised that it did well in the mud test!

Yaaaay mud test. I always blow people's minds when I tell and show them these mud tests. I couldn't help but notice that on the second run the action was short stroking. It would clear the casing enough to eject it but the bolt didn't go back far enough to fully cycle and pick up the next round. Probably would have started running better if not finished the mag. Yes I am fully aware that mud had gotten into the trigger linkage, however had you caught this you may have not pointed the rifle up and cause mud to get in said linkage.

Very slick looking carbine, Thanks Springfield Armory! Thanks InRange!

I find it amusing how upset these videos make people. From their gun not doing good because Karl didn't shake it right, to the mud not being the exact same every time, and now it is because the bucket had more than a liter of water. Thanks for the great content, keep up the good work guys! P.S. This is coming from an AUG owner and someone who is considering buying an X95 AKA mud's arch nemesis.

I was so stoked to hear you on the last couple Behind The Bastards podcasts!!!

Karl, so nice to see you do this evaluation! You shot well with this BULLPUP at a recent match. 😉☝️I think this BULLPUP is going to do well on the market, hopefully!👏👍🙄

It did better than I thought it would. I figured since gasses aren't expelled out the ejection port, those tight tolerances would actually work against it as mud would eventually drip or flow into the action. Never suspected the charging handle slot to be an issue. Still performed pretty well.

watching your stuff is like taking holidays

Always love the mud tests

Great test, Karl!

Im picking one up today. Looks very well made

Very good test and assessment, Karl! Looks promising; would be a nice purchase.

Good stuff as always

Thanks guys!

That's damn a lot of mud :D You will never get that much in "real" situation ( combat situation ) where you will immediately clean up a bit before shooting. But yea, good test, it was obvious that charging handle will be blocked by that thick mud.

Nice job !!! Excellent video

no nonsense content as expected. thanks for the upload karl. had to do a double take after the first round, I couldn't work out why your beard had sprouted up you cheek :-D

As a proud hellion owner I found this video interesting. As a proud service member, I cried at the thought of cleaning that weapon before turn in.

Good video as always. Ive always thought the mud that you make for these tests is also very unique, likely due to the soil and sand in your area. Its probably the worst case scenario mud for a test like this

Yay mud test This rifle is awesome - I’m legitimately stoked to add one to my collection someday.

awesome video. Well done.

YESSS! i asked and you delivered. WHOOHOO! Thanks inrange!

NICE JOB ! A GREAT TEST !

It looks like the good ol' AR-15 still rules, though a very praiseworthy effort from the Croats.

I think this is the best of the bullpups so far. Im intrigued

Not a Springfield fan but that doesn't mean I can't dig a VHS-2. I'm impressed!

"The goopiest of the goopy, right in the hole." -Karl, 2022

Yayy another mudtest!

Garland thumb ice test brought me here…..seems like a pretty reliable weapon

Karl - you are absolutely right - this test is BRUTAL!!! I just imagined what would happen in almost any Army on this planet if a conscript would dare to treat his rifle like 5% as bad as you did - and got caught by his drill instructor😁😁😁 I really would like to see a follow-up vid what the gun looks like after proper cleaning and a liiitle bit of good gun oil like Ballistol - and how it shoots. And I guess others might fancy a look too...

Nice video and good shooting at the match.

That design really has a lor going for it, I'm rather impressed.

Dude that hoodie is badass.

Everybody else: "look at my cool new gun!" *Shoots a couple excessively cinematic segments* Inrange: scrapes the bottom of the wheelbarrow for the extra nasty mud.

Early in the video, I was thinking, "it's going to be that top slot where the charging handle is that's gonna cause a problem." And boom, called it!

Springfield must have sent one of these to everyone in the past week every gun channel has a review of this weapon

Honestly I’d still grab one. It performed pretty well given the test on it, Also not to mention ease of post use maintenance and cleaning due to modularity

this is the best mud test of bulps that i watched on this chanel. helion is champ.

"I'm going to give this an A-/B+, not a full pass." So we're going with Asian parent grading? A+ is average, everything else is a fail.

I really like it. I have been happy with some of the other offerings Springfield has brought over from HS, so I'd be surprised if this was any different. I know there are some that would disagree with me, but I have an XDS and have been very, very happy with it. I've never fired anything in bullpup config before, but there are quite a few I like very much. Some of the newest ones out there look to be outstanding, and this one really interests me. I'm glad you do these tests, because I absolutely cringe at the thought of doing it to one of my own. Lol.

Awesome!

I think it did pretty well you could always slap tape on that slot in the field when you reload your mostly going to drop the bolt anyway and the tape will tear out of the way go you need to charge it

Looks like the AR still reigns supreme in the mud test!! 👑

I'm still holding my breath for the swiss k31 and m1 carbine mud tests

The more I see of this tool the more intrigued I become.

Illuminating.

Oh man ^^ Already ?? ^^ I LOVE YOU Mr.K ! It's Soooo interesting

I love and enjoy each video that you put online and on patreon. i have one question: will the lady that do testing self defense item be back or did she create her own channel? as always thank you and thank you to everyone involved.

See this is the kind of thing that needs a mudtest. Very interesting.

Appreciate the reboot.

Way cool as always. I have not seen them listed on the wholesalers as of yet but I am interested. Love bullpups. Is there a contabulated list of the top scored rifles for the mud test? 🤔

I bought one. It's really cool!

I was actually interested in this French clone UT your test reminded me when the French version was available and it jammed up in ideal conditions without mud lol. Back then my buddy commented "we've seen enough". Man I sure am glad your video spoke volumes in reminding me of frence designed guns, albeit really kroatien rebadged Springfield Armory (SA), which also underscores SA decline in quality AR's yet pricey AR15's as well. ThNk you for saving me $2000

I like this platform a lot and is Aestheticaly pleasing as hell! Issue is though with performance being either equal to or very slightly worse then an AR-15 the Hellion MSRP of $2000 is going to be a hindrance when a quality AR is less then half of that.

I think its worth noting that you didn't directly mud the charging handle ingress point. I wonder how well it would of managed if you had. Having said that. I was impressed it got as far as it did.

Alrighty, finally we get to see the ending, too.

Now we just need a garand thumb freezing test.

Great weapon

quite an impressive gun

Started off pretty good. Better than the AUG that’s for sure. Of course I still love my AUG. But this looks like a good option as well.

Certain features on this gun have me interested. I wish there was a way I could range test one locally before I spent the money.

Flip Karl, I am never lending you one of my FA's

CRS Firearms just did an interesting couple of videos where he put an AR against and AK and others with a snow test. The AK failed similarly to your mud test and he offered some interesting theories as to why, basically saying the DI mechanism helps to “blow out” dirt and debris from the action. I think you should check it out, would like to hear your input!

Hey Karl, you think some rubber seals in the charging handle, like the ones in the FN FNC, would solve the issue?

Nice!

The AR15 has the advantage of the gas venting out the side of the bolt carrier, blowing away a lot of mud and gunk which is probably the biggest contributing factor to it remaining top dog in the mud tests. I could physically see the mud working it's way into the action as it cycled during that mag dump as it simply stuck to the side of the bolt (I love these high quality videos for that stuff). I'm not really surprised it failed but the mud test has shut down a lot of otherwise extremely reliable and robust guns before. Always interesting to watch anyway

So flip it upside down and shake/tap vigorously to dislodge from trigger group; got it thanks

A+

InRange could sell "mud test kits" and make a bunch. I'm always impressed with how nasty that slime looks. That the failure might have been due to an incorrect cleaning procedure calls for a redo. And it must either be a very, very, very good friend to loan Karl a rifle knowing what he's going to do with it.

I've been subscribed for years and mysteriously found myself unsubscribed to your channel. I did not do that. Thanks youtube.

Wonder how it would fair if the charging handle slot had a rubber seal like on the SIG 550 series

YAY, that was the first comment i left on the first Hellion video! i wish all dreams could come true like this XD

I would love to see a video on what it takes to fully clean a "victim" of the mud test (clean the gun, not clean the human)...

for a bullpup it is stellar.

The best way to keep a gun from jamming is to keep it away from InRangeTV

That guns so cool