Springfield Armory ECHELON Takes Point!

Springfield’s got a whole new force multiplier called the Echelon, and it’s definitely taking point. If an XD, Hellcat, and SIG 320 had the world’s weirdest three-way and had a baby, this would be a result. There are lots of spiffy new bells and whistles, but you can clearly see the heritage of the pistol underneath.

For a time, Springfield (and HS Produkt, which manufactures Springfield pistols from its home base in Croatia) seemed to gravitate towards double-action, striker-fired pistols like the XDS and Hellcat, based on Glock mechanics. The Echelon is circling back to their tried-and-true Ultra Safety Assurance (single-action) trigger mechanics, which were first introduced in the XD Classics, improved in the XDMs, and further refined in the XDM Elite’s META trigger system. The Echelon adapts the mechanics for a modular handgun while enhancing the feel even more.

This is HS Produkt’s first foray into the modular pistol market, meaning that the frame is not actually the firearm. The frame acts as a cradle, housing a control group, which is the serialized firearm. For Springfield this is their second modular pistol—the first being the Prodigy.

Then and Now
The Echelon is the beginning of a whole new series segment for Springfield Armory. The modular frame allows for a whole world of endless options. At release time, Springfield has three different grip modules available, so it’s just a matter of time until we see subcompact frames and slides … or maybe competition-style frames. Another plus is that any time a top tier company like Springfield comes out with a major release like the Echelon, aftermarket companies will produce everything from new grips to muzzle brakes in a flash.

Out of the gate Springfield is offering four variations of the Echelon with the main differences being ammo capacity, sights, and barrel threading. More models are sure to follow—I can see the mold marks on the frame for where a manual safety will go, so look for that in the future.

This initial Echelon release is a full duty-sized pistol. It is not a gargantuan by any means, but it is not tiny like a Hellcat or XDS. If you have ever concealed a pistol the size of an XD or XDM, Glock 17, or S&W M&P full size, the Echelon is in the same class. The size has benefits in that the pistol fills your hands and makes it comfortable to shoot, and it eats up recoil.

Slide:
The Echelon slide is reminiscent of the XD classic with its blocky slide and grip serrations. Even looking at the forward trench relief cut a subtle nod to the two-stepped XD classic slide.

Springfield and HS Produkt’s optic mounting system on the echelon is revolutionary and game changing. It’s an amazingly simple concept that should be filed under “why didn’t I think of that.” Without adapter plates, the Echelon can directly mount over 30 different optics from different brands like Trijicon, Vortex, Viridian, EOTech, even the Sig Romeo2 and more! (Ironically, Springfield’s own house brand optic, the Hex Dragonfly, needs a Doctor footprint plate.)

The first-release Echelons come with a front night sight. One version will have a high visibility tritium front paired with a white line U-notch rear sight. The three-dot version is a traditional three-dot night sight paired with a blacked-out U notch rear. The rear sights on all Echelons have a nicely sized hook face to allow for single-handed racking. An interesting note: The sights are taller than the regular XD and XDM sights, but not as tall as suppressor sights … sort of in-between.

Since all of the Echelons are cut for an optic, a hybrid height sight makes sense for the users that will install an optic. Combined with the deep optics cut, this allows the factory sights to co-witness with optics nicely. If you do not plan on using an optic, the Echelon’s dovetails are same size as all of Springfield’s polymer pistols (except the Hellcat OSP and XDM5.25 rear sights). This means there is a whole host of sight options for your new pistol.

All of Springfield’s polymer pistols have used some type of loaded chamber indicator, always located on the top of the slide. While a loaded chamber indicator is a great idea, they seem to attract carbon like a magnet—sometimes to the point of getting stuck. On optics-mounted pistols the LCI and viewing port acts like a carbon funnel, blowing the nastiness right on your lens. The Echelon adds a hump to the extractor, making it serve double duty with one less thing to break or foul things up.

****GRIP ZONE GRIP ZONE GRIP ZONE****
Do I dare call the forward trench and flared rear areas of the slide “grip zones”? I love that they have kept the modified ordnance logo on top of the slide proudly showing the combined family crest. (I have that as a tattoo on my arm so I guess you can say I am partial to it.)

Frame
One of my favorite things about the XD and XDM series was the full-time ambidextrous magazine release. Even though the Echelon magazine release button looks just like the Hellcat release, it works just like the XD & XDM releases. The button works in either direction. One big improvement of the mag release over the round buttons found on the XD and XDM is that this new one is easier and smoother to use. Ejecting a fully topped-off magazine from an XDM Elite could sometimes require Hulk fingers, but a new improved cam surface geometry makes ejecting magazines much easier.

****GRIP ZONE GRIP ZONE GRIP ZONE****
The Echelon continues Springfield use of the Adaptive grip texture that was first used on the Hellcat and then Prodigy. This micro texturing does the job of locking the pistol in your hand, but not so aggressive that it tears up my delicate hands. Each Echelon is going to ship with three backstraps—large, medium, and small. Springfield marked each one at the bottom of each backstop for easy identification. Making the grip even more customizable, Springfield will sell a large and small frame that will be available without having to go through another background check. (Remember the grip module “frame” is not the firearm on the Echelon!)

To find out what size grip module you have, remove the backstrap and just below the bottommost square hole, you will see the size and caliber compatible with the grip. Each backstrap has a built-in armorer’s tool to help you switch out the backstraps, but I found it was easier and more reliable to just shove my finger up the magwell and push the release. It takes seconds to switch them, whereas the XDM requires a punch and hammer to remove.

Moving onto the ambidextrous slide stop, these are simple platform nubs that stick out from the frame. When compared to the XDM Elite slide stops, these things are tiny and have a sharp edge. I think these are meant to be used as slide stops rather than slide releases. Forcing the slide stops down to release the slide was doable but the edge of the stamped steel will let you know it’s there. One of the more interesting things about the slide stop is that you use the nubs to remove the central operation group from the frame.

Internals
This is Springfield’s second modular pistol that utilizes a chassis (the first being the Prodigy). On the Echelon, the central operation group houses most of the working parts of the pistol, except for the magazine release. This housing is the serialized “firearm” and will be the common component that will be the basis for all future grip modules, slides and barrels. The COG is made to be easily removed from the grip module, so unless you start purposefully tapping pins out, the unit is self-contained. When you separate it from the grip, it won’t just start falling apart losing bits and pieces.

Trigger
The trigger mechanics of the Echelon depart from the XDS and Hellcat and return back to a XD and XDM style trigger. You will have a light, long pre-travel, that gets to a wall and then snaps. On my particular model there was practically no over-travel (extra reward movement of the trigger after striker release), as the trigger pull is timed that the frame acts as a trigger stop. Even though the trigger of the Echelon is polymer, that positive stop makes the trigger feel solid with less trigger flex.

The reset is fantastic, requiring only around 1/4 inch to reset then fire again. While it’s not the loudest or most pronounced one I have felt, you can definitely feel and hear it. When shooting speed runs with my finger riding the trigger, the reset was so small that a couple times I thought I had short-stoked the trigger—but each time the pistol fired until empty.

Firing Mechanism
The firing mechanism will be familiar to anyone who has used an XD or XDM pistol. As you pull the trigger, you have the lighter pre-travel. During this, the trigger bar is lifting the striker safety lever. Then as you get to the defined wall, that’s when the trigger bar contacts the sear lever, which as a unit then rotates the sear off the lug, allowing the striker to hit the primer. The unique part about the Echelon is that it uses a second safety sear. Since the Echelon’s safety sear is independent of the main sear, with its own separate safety sear spring, the Echelon has been tested to be drop safe. Even if the main sear fails, the safety sear is there to take over. On top of that, the Echelon includes a beefy drop safety that will keep the striker from firing…until you want it to!

Magazines
Unfortunately, the Echelon can’t use any stock legacy Springfield magazines. The Echelon magazine is a new tweaked design that has a relief cut for the magazine blocking lever.

Holsters
I was able to find several universal holsters that worked quite nicely with the Echelon. If you carry your pistols with lights attached, it is hard to beat the Phlster Floodlight. I had my Floodlight set up to carry my XDM Elite OSP and without having to adjust anything the Echelon and X300 fit nicely and adding just a little bit more retention and the combination would be perfect for everyday carry. I am a big fan of Safariland’s 578 GLS Pro-fit holsters. Not only does one holster fit dozens and dozens of different pistols, it does so in a locking holster for extra security. I found a perfect fit with the 578-83-411 “standard” sized multiunit holster. This same holster can be used with Glock, M&P, H&K, and Canik pistols, among others. Better yet, the holster is readily available even ready to ship on Amazon.

You should also know that every Springfield release is followed more or less immediately with holsters from CrossBreed and others, so you won’t be using a universal holster for long (unless you want to).

Accuracy
In less than one magazine I was easily able to take double tap shots. During fast strings of fire, I was easily able to keep all of my rounds in the A/B zone of target. I purposely shot the pistol first without my optics installed to get a feel for the gun. Being picky, I want to blame most of my B zone shots on a sight that I need to adjust to move my impacts to center. My shots were not low left, but center left and in a nice tight-sized grouping. Even shooting non-dominant left-handed, I was still left of center. More than adequate for combat shooting … and I can bump the rear over one millimeter, and I will be dead center.

Usability
Out of the box the Echelon was set up with the medium frame and medium backstrap. When I was dry-firing the pistol to get a feel for it, I was getting a slight click feeling when pulling the trigger. What was happening is that taking a comfortable grip, my trigger finger was not reaching far enough up into the trigger guard to fully deactivate the trigger safety. The click was the trigger safety hitting the safety shelf, then deactivating. (By the way even doing this, the trigger reliably “fired”—it was just annoying.)

Just by switching to the small backstrap that little bit of extra reach was enough to cure the issue and I was off to the races. This is a good example of why one size fits all is not usually the best approach. I could easily see how a small grip module and back strap could give some shooters with larger hands the issue of too much trigger finger. Experiment with the different sizes and see what gives you the most comfortable feel.

When field-stripping the Echelon, you do not need to pull the trigger. First you must remove the magazine and lock the slide back. Only then can you rotate the Disassembly Lever down pointing to 6 O’clock. Internally as you rotate the Disassembly Lever you are pushing the Magazine Blocking Lever rearward. This does two things, if a magazine is inserted into the frame will not allow the Disassembly Lever to rotate, and will not allow the sear to disengage. If no magazine is present, the rearward movement disengages the sears. With the slide locked back and now released there is no pressure on the striker.

Picking up the Echelon, especially after carrying a Prodigy and Hellcat for the last year, feels like coming back to an old friend. I carried or used a version of this gun for over 20 years. Springfield and HS Produkt have essentially come back to their bread and butter, and it tastes great. Springfield-Armory.com

James the “XDMAN” Nicholas Mr. UnPewFessional Himself