Springfield Armory Echelon

Ballistic Particulars

What really sets the Echelon apart is they did literally everything right. GLOCK makes a great pistol, but their controls are one-sided only and their guns look like they came off the lumber rack at Home Depot. The SIG M17 was good enough to satisfy Uncle Sam, but the front-heavy architecture feels just a bit weird and the stock grip modules don’t include interchangeable backstraps. It is clear the Springfield Armory guys took the mandate to do everything perfectly and ran with it.

They call the serialized fire control module the Central Operating Group (COG). That sounds like a secretive paramilitary intelligence service, but it is readily removable and formed from stainless steel. The COG also includes a unique secondary sear to guarantee the weapon will not go off if inadvertently dropped.

The slide embodies more raw technology than your smart watch. A cleverly-designed forward trench makes it easy to press check or charge the weapon from the front. Flared ears in the back enhance purchase when you are sweaty, rushed, or terrified. Pretty much everything else is still covered in deep easy-to-grab serrations.

The Adaptive Grip Texture covering the touchy bits of the frame is lifted directly from the Hellcat. There are nifty little parking pads left and right to give you a place to keep your trigger finger when you are not actively throwing heat downrange. The oversized trigger guard encompasses a superb flat-faced trigger with a built-in blade safety.

Three readily-interchangeable backstraps come with the gun and let you optimize the fit for your hand size. Interestingly, these backstraps do not alter the trigger reach — they define the frame angle. This way you can best approximate the geometry of the GLOCK or the 1911 as your heart desires.

Small, medium and large interchangeable grip modules do actually alter the trigger reach and makes nine different combinations if my math is correct. If you can’t seamlessly fit the Echelon to your hands, you might not actually be human.

Both the slide stop and magazine release are perfectly replicated on both sides of the gun. Some other bilateral mag releases suck … like a lot. By contrast, that of the Echelon is silky smooth no matter your handedness.

Iron sights come in either three-dot or tritium-powered U-dot variations. The U-dot sights were also pioneered in the Hellcat. What really sets the sighting system apart, however, is the unique Variable Interface System (VIS) for most any imaginable electro-optical sight.

The VIS consists of a series of included mounting pins allowing you to painlessly run as many as 30 different optical sights without a dedicated mounting plate. This design also keeps the optic way low on the gun to minimize parallax. If you can successfully microwave a Pop-Tart, you can swap out optics on the Echelon.

The gun comes standard with a flush-fitting 17-round magazine as well as an extended 20-round version. If you can’t solve your problems with 38 rounds of 9mm jacketed hollow point, you should really consider investing in some new problems. Of course there are also 10-round versions for you poor unfortunate slobs trapped behind the lines in places like New York, New Jersey and California. Be strong, my oppressed brothers.